there goes the neighborhood

[pinkytoe]

Twelve years ago, DH and I intentionally sought out our current house which is in a close-in, unpretentious neighborhood. As long as we have known it, things have remained pretty much the same. It has been a great place to live with an active neighborhood association and lots of community involvement.The existing homes are generally 1200 sf and up but rarely over 2000 sf. Many have carports. You can paint your front door hot pink if you wish and no one will get upset. It is a live and let live kind of place. With the recent influx of newcomers to our city, things are changing quickly though. One by one, the humbler abodes are coming down and in their place, what we call "monster houses" are being built - very expensively finished, 3000 sf houses with three car garages. And then come the new owners with their Range Rovers and Land Cruisers. I can see where in a few years, those of us with humbler lifestyles will be outnumbered. I never thought we would be on the receiving end of gentrification, but here it comes...good thing we plan on moving in a few years.

[bae]

My old neighborhood in California was a lovely collection of vintage Craftsman-style cottages, including a few structures of architectural significance by name-brand architects of the era. Most of them in the 1200-1800 sq. ft. range.

They all started getting knocked down, and 4000+ sq. ft zero-lot-line "Taco Bell"-style McMansions were air-dropped in. We mvoed out when the lovely farmhouse next door was knocked down, and three 5000 sq. ft. monsters landed on the lot.

[catherine]

Arggghhhh, that drives me crazy!! When I visited Italy, I loved seeing how buildings were created on top of rubble and rocks. Here, we had to get a former First Lady to save a truly remarkable landmark: Grand Central Station in NY--someone actually thought it would be a good idea to tear that beautiful building down!? I don't get it!

I live near Princeton NJ and it's the same thing--little 50s/60s ranchers are being razed and replaced with hideous McMansions. And in Ocean Grove, where there are a lot of things you can't do to the homes there because the town is preserved as a Historic Landmark, people go in the homes where there is more latitude and neutralize the character with the same old granite and stainless steel you'll find in any humdrum habitation.

A lot of people in this country have no imagination, and they enjoy being sheep.

[Zoebird]

i think it's really sad.

though admittedly, i live in a cottage here. the original cottage is 1910 or so, and probably about 250 sq ft. it was likely a "workman's cottage" from the look of things. Then, some time in the 1940s (i reckon), the addition was added to the front and the back. The front expands the living rooms and creates a second bedroom; the back created a bathroom and washroom (laundry).

These two additions are not exactly "graciously" done -- it's rather slap-dash -- but it does create more space.

If i were to buy this cottage, I could see three options:

1. renovating it as-is -- with the two cottage elements combined, just shoring it up a bit (redoing floors, redoing walls/insulation/roof/windows);
2. renovating as-is but more graceful (getting rid of odd walls and angles, redesigning the bathroom/kitchen, plus "shoring up");
3. knock-down and build a small, efficient, modern, insulated, etc space (i love modern architecture) which would allow is to more easily take the deal off-grid too, by building in cistern and greywater systems, passive solar processes, plus putting in possible wind and solar power combined, etc).

Obviously, these three increase in expense a lot too.

the house next door is a knock-down rebuild by my landlady. the original house was cute, the new house is nice but ugly. there are cottages on either side, and next to us and running down the street, and then some newer modern ones that are quite nice as well. Most everyone does like a little bit of outdoor land space, so interior isn't everything.

Anyway. . . yeah.

[CathyA]

Our rural neighborhood is the same way. What used to be fields/woods behind us is now 3 big houses. This guy's grandmother died and he inherited the farmland. He built a McMansion for his sister who had a kennel there. She moved and he moved in. He also built a big ugly Frank-Lloyd-Wright-looking house for his mother and sold another few acres to someone else who built a big "farmhouse"- looking house.
He rides his motocross motorcycle through his woods. :devil:

Its funny, (not), but before he built anything he sent all the neighbors letters saying "Hi.....just wanted you to know I love the country and want to make as little an impact as I can on this rural area." Yeah, right. McMoron.

[Spartana]

Pinky Toe I know what you mean. I have seen gentrefication happen all over SoCal in a huge way. Kind of scary to see the little suburban neighborhoods torn down to make way for McMansionville. But I guess you could be thankful that your neighborhood is going "up" rather than "down" as so many older 'hoods do. You don't have to worry about gangs and graffiti or delapiated crack houses with weed-choked yards and numerous vehicles up on blocks in the front yard. There are many places here in SoCal - even in expensive and upscale Orange County ("The O.C.") - that have gone down rather than up. Property values drop drasticly, schools suffer from the low tax revenue due to decreased property taxes, homes are boarded up and trashed, squatters, druggies and the homeless often roam the street along with loose dogs, etc... This happens not only in suburban and urban areas, but seems to happen more often in rural areas. My Dad lived for over 30 years out in the country on a dirt road surrounded by horse ranches and little farms and open fields. But instead of new comers building giant mcMansions, the area eventually was nothing but crackheads in ratty old mobile homes with an unbelievable amount of junk in their yards. It was terrible - and unsafe - and his house values dropped by a huge amount even during the boom times!.

[Gardenarian]

This is happening in my town too. We were pretty much the last redneck enclave near San Francisco, with lots of hippies and bikers and new families, a real mix. But it was discovered and all the little cottages are going down and resprouting as giant generic boxes. What makes me especially mad is that people tear down so many trees. Luckily, there has been a lot of complaining and the Planning Commission is being really strict about how large a house can go on a small lot, and they have made trees of a certain size "heritage trees" that are not allowed to be cut.

Still, with the increase in housing prices a lot of people who had bought their houses for peanuts ($15k) in the 60s have cashed out - I can hardly blame them, but it has really changed the tone of the community. Far fewer VW vans and a lot more BMWs.

[pinkytoe]

I have seen gentrefication happen all over SoCal in a huge way
The funny thing is that many of the newcomers in our neighborhood building the big houses are from California lured by jobs and cheaper housing...and then they knock it down and start over.

[Spartana]

I have seen gentrefication happen all over SoCal in a huge way
The funny thing is that many of the newcomers in our neighborhood building the big houses are from California lured by jobs and cheaper housing...and then they knock it down and start over.

Yep! One of the things most of my OC friends talk about is moving out of state to buy an inexpensive house, even an already built McMansion, and then making it even bigger!! Guess you can take the "Californian" out of California but can't take the "California" out of the Californian!

[JaneV2.0]

So far, so good in my neighborhood, which was built piecemeal with ramblers and custom built houses interspersed. In general, I'd love to see a return to smaller, more thoughtfully-designed housing. Maybe a dismal economy will lead us in that direction.

[Gardenarian]

I'd love to see a return to smaller, more thoughtfully-designed housing. Maybe a dismal economy will lead us in that direction.

+1

[redfox]

+1

+2

[iris lily]

Hey OP, while on vacation we watched cable tv and there was one of those HGTV shows about house hunting that took place in Austin. They showed
the cutest bungalows! I wish I could remember the neighborhoods. The wife liked old houses, the husband did not. And oh yeah they had fairly ridiculous expectations of tvvrooms, but since they had no children, they could appoint a space or room for a 2nd tv. OTOH we regularly have 2 tvs going at one time, so I suppose it's the modern way of life.

[IshbelRobertson]

I'm lucky to live in a place where the whole area is considered to be in a 'conservation' area. We are even restricted as to colour of paint on doors and window frames. I think the last construction was probably (judging by the architecture) done over 120 years ago - and that suits me fine.

It is sad that in the 1950s and 60s, Edinburgh's town planners allowed really nice old shops in places like Princes Street to be knocked down and flat fronted monstrosities put up in the gaps. And now they are digging up the granite setts in the roads to replace the tram lines they removed in the early 60s.... Madness!