5 myths about big city land development

Urban preservation vs. reconstruction isn't a new problem. It is an economic phenomenon as old as the hills. When the ground underneath an aging structure becomes more valuable than the structure itself, the result is inevitable. City governments are forced to weigh the wishes of residence to retain the old and quaint feel of a neighborhood and the need for increased revenues to maintain city services.

Here in Norman near the University there is similar activity. Everybody wants to live in the area adjacent to the school because of the old houses and ivy covered walls. Three or four houses go the way every year for a multi-story, multi-family bee hive. The funny part is when it's all said and done, the quaint older 'hoods will be decimated and all that's left will be the high-density traffic infested commercial dormitories.

There are cities that have hurdled this problem and balanced preservation with development. Everyone should take notice of these cities and how they were able to accomplish it.

I am in southern California, and this is a huge issue. We have coastal counties that have enacted no-building ordinances very similar to Portland, and now vacancies are way down and prices are way up. It seems Californians want to have their cake and eat it too.

People complain about Orange County, how there are too many people and not enough open space. I tell them to move to Palmdale, Bakersfield, or Merced. They don't seem to agree.

There is a new development going up in Ventura County right now that is ~55 sfr's on about an acre each on the hillside. This will also include ~ 200 acres of open space. The people in the neighborhood have signs up saying "Stop the Hillside Development." These people have signs in their front yard of their hillside home. What do they think they are living in? A tee-pee that predates Columbus?

I spoke to one developer I was working with outside of L.A, and he said "it is a birth control problem, not a development problem." Very good point. People want to live in the nice areas, and people keep having kids. Those kids want to live in the nice areas.

Whacha gonna do? Welcome to capitalism. We could just build huge apartment blocks in Montana or Wyoming, plenty of room out there.

stan-0123, post: 372442, member: 11713 wrote: ..Whacha gonna do? Welcome to capitalism..

The wife's sister lives in Costa Mesa, not far from Newport Beach. There are several open areas adjacent to her residential area that have historically been considered parks, but not all of the undeveloped property IS actually parks. It's a good assumption that the quality of the property value in the area has to do with its proximity to the parks and open areas. The developers are starting to lick their chops looking at these properties. My poor SIL and her neighbors are armed with torches and pitchforks ready to storm the castle gate. One of their big things is someone at a City Council meeting years ago shot off their mouth and said "none of that will ever be developed"....sad. Like they actually owned any of it.

She asked me, "Can someone really just buy a piece of property and put up anything they want?" :pinch: I had to tell her, yes, as long as they meet the zoning and building requirements and have the municipality's approval. That is what fuels America.

Nobody wants a Wal Mart or Walgreens next door, but it happens everyday. I've always told people the only way to control what happens to the property next door is to buy it yourself.

I have been involved with dozens of Wal-Mart. Nobody wants them, but try going sometime when they are not crowded.

N I M B Y
O N Y A A
T C R
K D

I understand the sentiment as I am the same way.

" buy it yourself."

Works for me. In process on a bit more of that activity.

Those of you who live in those hellholes of zoning and regulation foolishness do not have to worry about me moving into your neighborhood. A cemetery someday will come closer than anyone else to getting away with penning me in.

Holy Cow, post: 372516, member: 50 wrote: " buy it yourself."

Works for me. In process on a bit more of that activity.

Those of you who live in those hellholes of zoning and regulation foolishness do not have to worry about me moving into your neighborhood. A cemetery someday will come closer than anyone else to getting away with penning me in.

Years ago I had a nice acreage (10 ac.) in a rural area. The terrain was somewhat hilly and wooded and I picked this property because it had a nice hill crest with a pretty expansive view. I built a house on top of the hill.

The acreage to the west (where my wonderful view was) was mostly rocky with some deep ravines. My west property line was on a gradual slope down to one of the ravines. There was only about 40' of the next lot between my property line and the ravine. I figured there was no way anyone could utilize that little of clear ground. The obvious building pad on that property was out by the road, and not visible to me because of the trees. I felt safe.

I came home from work one evening to find someone had dragged a ratty trailer house across my place, rutted my lateral lines and cut a fence to get that trailer on that little swatch of ground....right in the middle of my pristine "sunset" view. I had a new neighbor. Who by the way, continued to drive across my place for the next three months until he got a culvert put in across his ravine. Although 10 years before the movie came out, this guy was the model for the character "Cousin Eddy" in National Lampoon's Vacation.

We had a long love-hate relationship the entire time I lived there. I found out, quite by accident, If I left my garden hose run all night on my garden, his $50 Ford station wagon would get stuck in his own driveway. We were in a party-line phone area and I subscribed, knowing no one else would want a party line, so I had a private line for cheap. Eddy moved in and guess who I had a party line with??? I fantasized about shooting flaming arrows into the hay bales he skirted his trailer with, just to watch him burn down to the ground....

This was about the time I determined the only way to control what happens next door is to BUY the next door.

stan-0123, post: 372442, member: 11713 wrote: I am in southern California, and this is a huge issue. We have coastal counties that have enacted no-building ordinances very similar to Portland, and now vacancies are way down and prices are way up. It seems Californians want to have their cake and eat it too.

People complain about Orange County, how there are too many people and not enough open space. I tell them to move to Palmdale, Bakersfield, or Merced. They don't seem to agree.

There is a new development going up in Ventura County right now that is ~55 sfr's on about an acre each on the hillside. This will also include ~ 200 acres of open space. The people in the neighborhood have signs up saying "Stop the Hillside Development." These people have signs in their front yard of their hillside home. What do they think they are living in? A tee-pee that predates Columbus?

I spoke to one developer I was working with outside of L.A, and he said "it is a birth control problem, not a development problem." Very good point. People want to live in the nice areas, and people keep having kids. Those kids want to live in the nice areas.

Whacha gonna do? Welcome to capitalism. We could just build huge apartment blocks in Montana or Wyoming, plenty of room out there.

No thanks- they all show up here and all we hear is "Well down in California...."....
Me- Well I-15 does have a South bound Lane....

My address during my junior and senior years in college was about a half a block from one edge of the main campus. One day I had a conversation with a neighbor that went something like this:

Me: Why do you live in this house?
Him: Because I work here?
Me: And, who is your employer?
Him: The university.
Me: Why is the university here?
Him: Because the original little college was converted into being the first Land Grant School west of the Mississippi River.
Me: Any thoughts on why it was located here?
Him: I suppose it was because of all the agricultural land around here for hundreds of miles.
Me: Do you suppose dairy cattle were a significant part of that agricultural activity?
Him: Of course, everybody needs milk.
Me: So, which came first, the dairy cows or the university.
Him: The cows.
Me: And which came first, the university or the house you live in.
Him: The university by about 100 years.
Me: Have you ever looked at the dates on the dairy barns across the road from your house?
Him: Yes. I think they were built in the 1800's.
Me: So, would you agree that the cows and the barns and the university were here long before your house was built?
Him: Yes. Why?
Me: Because I get tired of you complaining about the "aroma" that wafts over this way from time to time while you earn your living because those cattle helped build the university where you work. It smells like money to me.
Him: No. It stinks. They need to move the cattle out.

There's nothing more frustrating than connecting the dots for someone only to have them erase the line.

[sarcasm]Don't blame him, his village failed him.[/sarcasm]

Steve

Holy Cow, post: 372654, member: 50 wrote: My address during my junior and senior years in college was about a half a block from one edge of the main campus. One day I had a conversation with a neighbor that went something like this:

Me: Why do you live in this house?
Him: Because I work here?
Me: And, who is your employer?
Him: The university.
Me: Why is the university here?
Him: Because the original little college was converted into being the first Land Grant School west of the Mississippi River.
Me: Any thoughts on why it was located here?
Him: I suppose it was because of all the agricultural land around here for hundreds of miles.
Me: Do you suppose dairy cattle were a significant part of that agricultural activity?
Him: Of course, everybody needs milk.
Me: So, which came first, the dairy cows or the university.
Him: The cows.
Me: And which came first, the university or the house you live in.
Him: The university by about 100 years.
Me: Have you ever looked at the dates on the dairy barns across the road from your house?
Him: Yes. I think they were built in the 1800's.
Me: So, would you agree that the cows and the barns and the university were here long before your house was built?
Him: Yes. Why?
Me: Because I get tired of you complaining about the "aroma" that wafts over this way from time to time while you earn your living because those cattle helped build the university where you work. It smells like money to me.
Him: No. It stinks. They need to move the cattle out.

Nice example of regressive thinking.