Tuesday, July 03, 2007

curb appeal - humble houses




I reckon it's time to move the San Andreas Champagne engagement ring love shack grow-op down on it's way into the memory hole, and good riddance.

Call me crazy, but I have always liked this little house near Trout Lake. Nothing ostentatious about it, just a simple little house with some character, on a fairly quiet street. It's the kind of place that I would be willing to pay $250k for, plus another $50k, plus some sweat, to fix it up and live in it.

But alas, I'm sure that it will be bull-dozed, and some hideous Vancouver Specious will take it's place. That monster will have a bunch of suites in it, and the area will start on a slow decline.

It's all about "eco-density" (TM - Sam Sullivan). There's not much ecological friendliness in sending hundreds (if not thousands) of these houses to the land-fill, and bringing in machinery to tear things apart, and more machinery to haul it away, and more machinery to make it look "pretty" again.

There will be trees and shrubs and hedges torn out, and the yards will be paved with concrete. Painters will dump their paints and solvents down the sewers, and the streets will be littered with screws and nails that will find their way into our tires.

I'm sure that a lot of people would be glad to get a place like this for 300 - 350K$, but the more voracious have their eyes on it as a vehicle of profit, and they will build some junk on it.

I really hope that this madness ends soon.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

What does a place like this near Trout Lake go for? 700k? Only a greedy developer can afford that kind of money (and still turn a profit). That is why we are seeing the death of neighborhoods in Vancouver. Communities are being replaced with ranks of anonymous fortresses.

Nancy said...

To me this would be a great house for first time buyers. Youngish couples with no kids - or maybe 1 and a dog. Just a nice place to start with that you would always have lovely memories of.

But I imagine a youngish couple could not afford this place.


How Sad!

solipsist said...

Thanks for the comments. You both hit the nail square on the head.

It seems to come down to extrapolation again - ie: we can buy the lot, bull-doze the house, put up an ugly POS, and make 50G's for our trouble.

Meanwhile (as si fu said) it means the death of a neighbourhood, and as hadenough said - first time buyers with one kid and a dog (me) cannot compete.

I would never buy what will be built either - no matter how "cheap" it gets.

It pitts me off.

Nancy said...

We were living in Paris 15 years ago and decided to get married in Vancouver. We were very sad to see all the building that was going on. That was 15 years ago.

A friend from Paris was in Vancouver and was shocked and appalled at the houses that were going up. Monster Mansions etc. I thought 15 years ago when they were building the big ugly houses on tiny lots it would never happen again.

Anonymous said...

I really hope that this madness ends soon.

Frankly, I've given up hope of that happening. The numbers keep going up, up, and away to the moon. I'm starting to imagine that things will get more and more wonky...right til the run-up to 2012.

There isn't any logic that applies, it doesn't and can't make sense; because it's a lie.

Anonymous said...

Can you let me know the MLIS listing for this? I couldn't find it on Realtylink.org. Thanks!