Well, I’ve posted it here many times before … and also to brian directly … having neighbors who adhere to the doctrine of “quiet enjoyment” for all is very important to me. Hence, I would NEVER live in an apt or condo unless it was just a short-term (day/week/month) rental while I was in the process of moving long distance. I HATED living in an apt when I was 17-22 years old and back then, I/we always rented a very spacious 2/1 or 2/2 apt or condo! Even back then, I COULDN’T STAND sharing walls (or floors/ceilings) and noises from neighboring units completely stressed me out! I can’t even stand SFRs built too close together with little/no land buffer between them (built on zero-lot lines).
Any block which had a home I was considering purchasing for a residence was personally vetted by me several days PRIOR to making an offer … at all hours of the day and night and doing staged rush-hour runs to work. I absolutely could not and would not be able to tolerate a block full of teenagers with boom boxes in their trunks, a block full of toys, wagons, tricycles, water cups, trash, etc (and chalk) left on sidewalks for days at a time. And I spent many, many years raising kids myself and I still wouldn’t choose a block full of kids/teens … even back then! Nor would I choose to purchase a home on a block on a busy street, under a flight path or next to a freeway (a block suffering from “economic obsolescence). I won’t even live on a block where I can hear constant elementary school bells or daily noises from recess, etc. I enjoy living amongst mature landscaping and get to hear birds from sunup to sundown.
I need a dog door installed on the back door and a big backyard for my dog to run in and my next home will be a minimum of 35 feet from any adjoining neighbor’s homes (would prefer 50-100 feet). I’d take a block full of “geriatrics” any day over living amongst the multiple-stroller messy, over-flowing garage, noisy family blocks because it offers me the continual “quiet enjoyment” of my home that I require. And never, ever would I live in a condo (buy or rent). I HATE the condo lifestyle and the fact that an “owner” owns a “fractional interest” and not any real land they can call their own (except PUDs).
brian, I concur with flu, here. However, I feel you should just cut your losses and move as the “fight” you are describing would be more aggravation than it’s worth in my book. Life is short! You stated you fully remodeled your place so I feel you can just rent it out or better yet, sell it and buy a SFR in LV. As you know, SFRs really don’t cost that much more than condos in LV …. and most of them have rocks or desert landscaping so your water bill isn’t going to go through the roof (like it would in SD). Give this some thought. In LV, condos are so cheap that they’re always going to attract the low-income “lowlife” families, etc as tenants or buyers. There’s isn’t anything you can do to change this phenomenon.
[quote=spdrun]FlyerInHI – disagree that living in an apartment is pathetic. It makes things easier, especially if you’re a single parent. Taking care of a house takes time, and we only have a certain number of hours in a day.[/quote]
spd, a condo (esp one which has another unit above or below it) is vastly inferior to a SFR for raising children. If the childrens’ single parents are BOTH raising them (as is usually the case in CA), then each parent has a percentage of time where the children live with the other parent (usually 50%). Single parents actually have more time than a married parent to mow, trim, paint, and otherwise maintain their homes than does a married parent as their responsibility is only to themselves when the children are living with their other parent.
I realize that households with children don’t really have a choice in the matter in Manhattan, NYC, where you reside.
