Urban Idea- DENSE

Our back gate is about 100' from the spot where I took these pictures. The top photo I took in March of 2008. The bottom photo I took in July of 2009. They were taken from the same spot, but I used some zoom on the top photo.

It is not known how many of these town homes have been sold. I've heard a lot of talk about "pre- sold units", but I have seen only one closure in the paper. We hope they sell rapidly as the starting square foot price is almost twice what we paid for our house.

The idea the developers are selling is density. The more people per block the more feasible the return of retail of all stripes to downtown, or so the theory goes.

The construction and the street closures are beginning to get tedious. I was looking over the bottom photo and I notice location marks for something sprayed onto the sidewalk. I hope this isn't to be dug up.

Now more than ever I appreciate that good fences make good neighbors.

In the bottom photo the town homes form one long structure along the back of the property. There are two single units on the front on both corners of the block. The plan includes three more double units in front along the side walk between these two corner units to be constructed.

The developers planned to do this on two more blocks of this street to the left. We toured the unit on the far end. It was trendy and neat, but not for us. We would want to have a closet in our bedroom large enough to hold our clothes. We also would definitely need enough space to have a queen size bed and at least a small dresser in our bedroom. We are too old to sleep on a futon and we have more than one change of clothes. We would also want some kind of landing in the front entry where at least two people would not be crowded. It has been awhile since we toured the place but the impression that remains is that going in the front door is like boarding a WWII submarine. Seemed kind of tight. (But I'm getting old.)
On the other hand there are lots of bars within easy walking distance of these front doors. Only on Friday and Saturday nights between the hours of 10:00 PM and 2:00 AM do we hear the sound of revving motorcycle engines coming from the biker bar just across from the far corner unit. Seldom are we bothered by the happy laughter and chatter of children at play. I guess children are bothersome anyway. They make life too complicated for some people.
We hope these urban condos sell. That will raise the price per square foot of our house. This is the development idea that dominates our part of town.
Maybe a few years down the road when the dust settles and the current generation gives way to the next the children and stability will come along. Otherwise this will be a fruitless garden; Just another crop of buildings men put their names on, only to be soon forgotten anyway.