[quote=briansd1]
The cratsmans are more like 1100sf with one bathroom, and no central HVAC.
I understand what you’re saying, but the local government should not empower those selfish fighters. Nobody is forcing them leave. But if someone wants to build a new house down the road, that’s their business.
People normally take the path of least resistance. Building a new residence is not easy — only people with wherewithal and patience do it. If you add fighting City Hall to that, then families will take the path of least resistance and buy new tract houses. The old neighborhoods end up in decay.
Neighborhoods normally stay the same for about 50 years, the useful life of wood houses. Beyond that, they need maintenance and rebuilding.
Without organic growth, we end up with neighborhoods frozen in the decades they were build.
Society changes and we need housing to change with the way people live. Building new housing is a long process which already lags the needs of people by years if not decades.
Just my 2 cents…. I know I will never get it my way.[/quote]
Brian – you’ve been spending time in Philly.
I lived in the northern burbs of Philly – Glenside to be exact. The house I lived in was wood framed – as were most of the homes in the neighborhood (not stone or brick). It was 85 years old when I bought it. It’s still there today. A family lived in it before me. I was single (but had a roommmate). The people that bought it have 3 children.
Somehow all of these folks survived with one bathroom. The same is true for most of the neighborhood – 100 year old homes, 1 bathroom (even some of the larger 6 bedroom homes only had 1 bath). Many have had additions put on – with a bathroom… but not all.
It is one of the most charming neighborhoods. Highly walkable (restaurants, bars, family run hardware store, the Keswick Theater – a venue that brings in well known national acts.)
By your logic the neighborhood should have been razed in the 50’s and re-razed again within the last 10 years… After all – homes only last 50 years and no one could possible live without central air. (My PA house didn’t have central air – just window units…. my current house doesn’t have central air and we don’t need window units.)
Seriously, dude, you can’t impose your ideas of what’s livable on others. The market place decides. Last I checked, older homes in Mission Hills, North Park, Kensington, etc are selling. People like these homes. Even if you don’t.
