[quote=zk][quote=flyer] “Why would anyone want to live close to any freeway–regardless of convenience?” [/quote]
They’re not rich like you, big guy. When most people shop for a home, they have to make tradeoffs. They can’t afford a big house with a big yard and a view in a quiet neighborhood in the best school district. Each of those things comes at a price. They can’t afford all of them, so they have to give something or some things up. For some of them, the tradeoff is noise. They give up quiet and get something else that they otherwise couldn’t afford.[/quote]
In real estate parlance, a freeway running in close proximity to a residential housing development creates “economic obsolescence.” That in itself devalues all residential development which will be affected by a prospective freeway’s “tire whir” (depending on elevation of development) up to 1.5 mi away, or worse, berm and elevated road vibration at all hours of the day and night due to heavy truck traffic. This happens in developments of ALL price ranges. Since San Diego County has essentially run out of land to build subdivisions at least 15 years ago in desirable locations, today’s developers are building on whatever scraps of land they have been able to scare up in recent years or quietly take it off the hands of developers, a section at a time, who may have been holding it but left the region. Anyone (developers and prospective homebuyers alike) can find out about a planned freeway route in a particular locale by visiting their nearest CalTrans office:
In addition, many planned freeway routes and new exchanges, bridges, etc, are displayed on the wall at the County Planning Dept up to 15 years before they actually come to fruition:
If county roads will need to be rerouted, lengthened or shortened because of impending fwy construction, maps of the new fwy route will be displayed on the wall along with their proposed adjacent projects (or they will have available handouts for the public) at County Public Works:
Since a prospective nearby freeway, interchange or overpass, etc is not something developers legally must disclose, prospective homebuyers considering buying into a particular new development would do well to do their homework on this issue PRIOR to visiting the developer’s sales office.
There has never been any excuse to buy into a residential development and then later be surprised to hear of a new nearby fwy or fwy overpass, underpass, interchange, or a new nearby entrance or exit or both. The information has always been out there.
flyer is right. Wise buyers who make “tradeoffs” because they can’t and won’t tolerate living near a freeway downgrade in size of home they will accept in order to be able to get accepted offers on homes which will never be affected by freeway noise and the additional traffic and air pollution it generates to the surrounding area (especially near its entrances and exits). These homes, more often than not, will NOT be new construction but will be in long-established areas. It has nothing to do with being “rich” as freeway construction occurs in areas of all socioeconomic levels. It has to do with being a smart buyer and buying right … at the right time (if possible) and certainly in as good of an area as the buyer can afford.
