Very valid points here. I have lived in Northpark since 1989, with the exception of a few years in Hillcrest. And, yes, I like North Park–otherwise I would move.
Northpark used to be full of crack heads, and meth labs. CVS (has been SavOn, Osco, and a couple of other names I cannot recall) is still ghetto. You can line the streets with gold, but it is what it is.
Approximately 10 years ago, the houses were selling for $200K, yet University Ave was filled with check cashing stores and 99 Cent stores. The houses got more expensive, and the cute little boutiques, and fancy soap stores started coming in. However, as the market begins to turn, many of these businesses are a day late and a dollar short, similar to those buying a house at the top of the market. I believe those businesses will fail.
The yuppies that view the area as “edgy”,”hip”, and “cool”, are the same people that bought condos at top of the market and/or on subprime loans. Many of them will face foreclosure and no longer be able to buy from the fancy soap store.
Now, I watched the construction of La Boheme. The floors are crappy–NO concrete, so it is bound to be noisy. La Boheme “looks” good now, but wait and see what happens. I suspect the place will gradually fall apart, and become more trashy as the units are rented out.
North Park town council focused on short term revenue, by approving any condo development that could fill out the paperwork. The stress created from the many new condos in the area is going to put more pressure on the infrastructure–plumbing, electricity, and create more frequent water main breaks. (Anyone heard what is going on in Little Italy? Constant street floods)
What North Park has is some wonderful old, solidly built, Craftsman homes. Not some cheap and tacky condos with some granite counters and stainless steel appliances.
North Park will not return to the 80’s/90’s of crack heads and meth labs, BUT, the sheer numbers of condos and apartments will just go ghetto. The SFRs will be okay, because people buy them because they LIKE older neighborhoods and old homes. The houses on streets that have few complexes and condos will see less of a decrease in price.
