This weekend we went to look at some open houses nearby and were shocked to see that on one particular street most of the 1950s bungalows had been torn down and replaced with 3000sf high end houses. That is one huge problem with inner ring suburbs. Investors and developers snatch them up and put these monsters up because it is desirable to live close to the city center since our traffic is so bad. It is kind of sad to me that houses are seen only as investment and status these days rather than shelter and a place to have long-term community. We are paying dearly for our convenient location with property taxes being driven up by these upscale houses. I told dh that $7000 a yr is when we hang out the for sale shingle.