On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 1:01 AM, Stan Halpin <s...@stans-photography.info> wrote:
> You are letting facts (actual impact on real estate value) confuse you. The > issue is one of perception. In the early days of Americans' move from the > Cities to the Suburbs, part of the incentive was to appear to be "higher > class". Ruffians and naer-do-wells let their grass grow too long, paint their > houses garish colors, cannot afford modern conveniences like electric dryers > and thus hang their clothes out to dry, cannot afford a proper mechanic and > thus do car repair in their drive, etc. The way to avoid ruffians and > naer-do-wells therefore obviously is to ban signs of such behavior. At least > that way you avoid the appearance of being around such people. In one of the > early (1920's) developments in the Kansas City area, the developer objected > to the look of garages with open doors, and he wrote a prohibition on open > doors into the covenants. And on Sundays he and his family would go for a > drive, checking for open doors along the way. Here in the Wild West, the > attitude is that I can do whatever I want, and everyone else had better do > what I want as well. He with the fastest gun or biggest wallet wins. <snip> I think you hit the nail on the head, Stan. The inner cities of the early 20th Century were lawless, chaotic, dangerous places. The suburbs were places where young families could move to and raise their children in safety, away from the horrors and squalor of The Big City. The way to ensure safety is order, the way to maintain order is control. It's not ~just~ about appearances, it's lifestyle. Think the suburban subdivision in Edward Scissorhands... cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
