Jimithyashford OP t1_ivjsna0 wrote on November 8, 2022 at 2:21 PM

So I feel like I have a clear understanding here of what the people in that community DON’T want, which is for homes in this neighborhood to be anything other than single family dwellings, and presumably single family dwellings owned by the “right” kind of people, with the money to maintain them in a snazzy well manicured upper middle class kind of way.

So then what I don’t get is….what DO they want then? If you’ve got a big fancy house, an old, expensive, kinda a money pit, type of house, and it’s on the market for years and years, nobody wants to own it as a primary single family dwelling….well what then? I mean eventually someone has to do something with it or it will become derelict and fall into ruin and be full of squatters. So what do they want? I mean I know what they want, for these houses to be bought by doctors and lawyers to keep the neighborhood like it is, but most people with the kind of money to buy a big century old money pit are instead buying McMansions out by the river, they don’t wanna live in the middle of town anymore. So if the houses aren’t being bought….then what?

There are many other neighborhoods in town full of what we’re once grand of upper middle class or rich person houses, that are now in terrible shape or are trap houses. If someone doesn’t do something with them, isn’t the the fate they are inviting?

Aimless78 t1_ivnu6n3 wrote on November 9, 2022 at 8:56 AM

They want a single family home to be put up, not commercial property, apartments, or a combination of the two. The biggest problem with that specific property being turned commercial is that is the 2nd busiest intersection in the city and to add more traffic by making it a commercial property is just insane! The developer also wanted to knock down the other three 1930s mansions along National and get University Avenue closed right there to build whatever monstrosity he wants to build.

pexelto t1_ivxe9pj wrote on November 11, 2022 at 9:05 AM

You're missing the point, James. The house on the corner of National was just what people focused on because it was historic.

The issue isn't that one house. The people who live in the University Heights neighborhood will now have commercial traffic where they've never had it before. The development won't just be that one property. Because they're building on one of the busiest intersections in the city, the main ingress and egress will have to be on what used to be quiet side streets.

You can disagree with them and say it's progress, but at least know the issue at hand. It has nothing to do with anyone caring about the "right kind" of people. If you'd read the articles, you'd know that it's going to be a doctor's office, retail space, and "executive lofts".

The right kind of people, you say.

Jimithyashford OP t1_ivyd570 wrote on November 11, 2022 at 3:08 PM

Sorry, but by “right kind of people” I meant “people who have the financial resources to maintain that neighborhood in the condition it’s it”

Cause if you’ve got these big empty houses that the wealthy folks have moved out of, and you insist that is can only be a single family dwelling and you can’t tear it down and build lower income housing, then you are left with only two courses: either they stay empty and eventually fall into ruin, or the cost goes down down down until eventually you get a lower income buyer who cannot afford to maintain these grand old manicured properties and they fall into disrepair anyway.

I under stand their concern. But I don’t understand their solution. What on earth do they want? They want the “right” kind of people to buy the houses and live in them and keep them pretty. Right?

But it seems like Those buyers just aren’t there. Wasn’t that house on the corner for sale of ages?