In the ‘Hood
We found out last night that our friends (the ones that brought us a Mexican Feast when we moved in) bought the house right behind ours. They’ll be gutting it and remodeling the entire thing so we’re looking at next summer before they move in. We’re both mutually excited not only for the company, but also because we’ll both have built-in pet sitters.
And… after perusing the website of the Harrison West Society I got confirmation to some of the rumors that have been floating around the neighborhood. This is a bit confusing, but here is a map of all the BRAND NEW development that is going on just south of us. (On this map, west is on top, north to the right, etc. The street that you see on the far right of the drawing and can barely read is West Second Avenue. Ours is the next street to the right of that.) This whole area used to have factories on it, only in the last year or so have they cleared it out and started building. And building they are- the houses start at $300k for a duplex which means one thing to us- equity. We may live in a derelict house but at least it’s going to gain in value!
So all in all this development is a big part of the reason why we bought when we did, after watching the real estate market we could tell we were on the verge of getting priced out. Which I think at this point has officially happened- there isn’t a single stand alone house in Harrison West proper under $250k now. So even though we’re stretching ourselves a bit thin with it all, we consider ourselves insanely blessed that we were able to get something within walking distance of all of the places we frequent- including work.
In the midst of all this, after we moved in we found out around election time that Harrison West was trying to get what’s called a TIF passed. I’m not sure I fully understand it but it goes something like this… all the tax money that Harrison West generates from its 777 properties goes back to the neighborhood once the school tax money is taken out. We were hoping this meant some sort of cool neighborhood development but didn’t really understand what it would go towards. So back to the sketch of the development, notice the part along the top titled “Parkland dedication” and “Greenspace.” According to the notes of the Harrison West Park Committee, there will be a park with a playground for children, an apple orchard and a community center that overlooks the river which will have a café with outdoor seating, a terrace fireplace, and…access to the POOL! There are a number of reason I’m excited about this, but perhaps the biggest reason is for when we have kids. Part of what you give up by living in a dense urban area is the neighborhood feel. It feels less safe, more disconnected, and certainly less child-friendly than suburbs. And typically there are few surprises. Given that these neighborhoods are generally over 150 years old there usually isn’t a lot of room for development. But know that we know we’re going to have a park about a block away from us makes it feel like we’re not giving up nearly as much as we might have initially thought we were when we decided to settle in the city. Having people we know just a stones throw away, and having a safe place for our kids to ride their bikes, play on the swings and learn to swim(!) just makes it feel like we made the perfect choice. And surprisingly all this makes me worry less that our house isn’t perfect. Somehow finding out all of these unexpected changes are coming to the neighborhood gives me the feeling that there are so many other wonderful surprises in our lives that we just have no idea are coming.
And… after perusing the website of the Harrison West Society I got confirmation to some of the rumors that have been floating around the neighborhood. This is a bit confusing, but here is a map of all the BRAND NEW development that is going on just south of us. (On this map, west is on top, north to the right, etc. The street that you see on the far right of the drawing and can barely read is West Second Avenue. Ours is the next street to the right of that.) This whole area used to have factories on it, only in the last year or so have they cleared it out and started building. And building they are- the houses start at $300k for a duplex which means one thing to us- equity. We may live in a derelict house but at least it’s going to gain in value!
So all in all this development is a big part of the reason why we bought when we did, after watching the real estate market we could tell we were on the verge of getting priced out. Which I think at this point has officially happened- there isn’t a single stand alone house in Harrison West proper under $250k now. So even though we’re stretching ourselves a bit thin with it all, we consider ourselves insanely blessed that we were able to get something within walking distance of all of the places we frequent- including work.
In the midst of all this, after we moved in we found out around election time that Harrison West was trying to get what’s called a TIF passed. I’m not sure I fully understand it but it goes something like this… all the tax money that Harrison West generates from its 777 properties goes back to the neighborhood once the school tax money is taken out. We were hoping this meant some sort of cool neighborhood development but didn’t really understand what it would go towards. So back to the sketch of the development, notice the part along the top titled “Parkland dedication” and “Greenspace.” According to the notes of the Harrison West Park Committee, there will be a park with a playground for children, an apple orchard and a community center that overlooks the river which will have a café with outdoor seating, a terrace fireplace, and…access to the POOL! There are a number of reason I’m excited about this, but perhaps the biggest reason is for when we have kids. Part of what you give up by living in a dense urban area is the neighborhood feel. It feels less safe, more disconnected, and certainly less child-friendly than suburbs. And typically there are few surprises. Given that these neighborhoods are generally over 150 years old there usually isn’t a lot of room for development. But know that we know we’re going to have a park about a block away from us makes it feel like we’re not giving up nearly as much as we might have initially thought we were when we decided to settle in the city. Having people we know just a stones throw away, and having a safe place for our kids to ride their bikes, play on the swings and learn to swim(!) just makes it feel like we made the perfect choice. And surprisingly all this makes me worry less that our house isn’t perfect. Somehow finding out all of these unexpected changes are coming to the neighborhood gives me the feeling that there are so many other wonderful surprises in our lives that we just have no idea are coming.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home