tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27842736.post4036471842420647391..comments2012-10-03T09:53:01.068-05:00Comments on Running In Place: A Walk Around My Neighborhoodrundeephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13268692799782942178noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27842736.post-408732341311491072007-07-21T22:04:00.000-05:002007-07-21T22:04:00.000-05:00I'm pretty depressed about the whole thing. I liv...I'm pretty depressed about the whole thing. I live in a historically blue-collar town. I get a little angry to consider how much money I make (okay, not super, more than many of my fellow homeowners I think), and how poor I remain. Fifteen years ago, you could get a big house at a third of the price at which I bought in, five years back. (My place is an overpriced ill-made little crap-shack.) When we walk, my wife and I try to imagine what the people in the spiffy new McMansions do for a living. They almost certainly don't work around here.<BR/><BR/>I know I've mentioned it before, but I'm growing in my conviction that good roads aren't at all the blessing they seem.<BR/><BR/>KKeifushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00287358319899471490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27842736.post-32134191764462225112007-07-21T13:30:00.000-05:002007-07-21T13:30:00.000-05:00Hey guys, thanks for stopping by. Yep, Keifus, I t...Hey guys, thanks for stopping by. Yep, Keifus, I think you are right -- age of the community is everything. Because in the days before good roads, you needed to have everything near your community, which meant all of its constituent parts -- stores, workers, factories, homes, had to be in something like proximity. (By the way, the place next to the mansion is not servant's quarters. The mansions come with their own service quarters, which have often been converted into places to stick your teenagers until the hormones get under control. <BR/><BR/>It is a very tight community indeed, though that's good and bad. If you, say, wanted to put a new restaurant in the business district, you have to deal with the aesthetic division of the local community association first. For a while, nothing other than "colonial colors" were permitted for the exterior, and people complained if the window boxes weren't properly cared for. Seriously, it can get nutty here, and more than one business has refused to settle here rather than deal with the wackos. <BR/>That said, it remains in my view the best neighborhood ever. Slate's architecture columnist lives here, and in one of his books (which, by the way, are excellent), the last chapter describes it. Also in the neighborhood are Pulitzer prize winners, internationally recognized classical (and jazz) musicians, famous actors, college professors, poets, teachers, doctors, lawyers, heads of public companies, butchers, bakers, college students (there's a college in the 'hood also), train conductors and anything else you can think of.<BR/><BR/>Not surprisingly, the average house price here has skyrocketed recently (and unfortunately). But I really can't imagine living anywhere else (except the South of France.) <BR/><BR/>And I do walk fast, but not as fast as you might imagine. <BR/><BR/>Twif: damn right. We have a small library and we're out of space.rundeephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13268692799782942178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27842736.post-18643517087982323082007-07-19T09:12:00.000-05:002007-07-19T09:12:00.000-05:00being within walking distance to a bookstore is ve...being within walking distance to a bookstore is very, very dangerous.twifferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07019975906761715327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27842736.post-53695252043861463232007-07-17T11:29:00.000-05:002007-07-17T11:29:00.000-05:00It looks lovely, and I agree about the garage door...It looks lovely, and I agree about the garage doors. There's something to be said for architectural consistency as well as conservatism. (Betcha the place next door to teh mansion was once servant's quarters, btw.) I admire the two-family schemes your neighborhood has worked in.<BR/><BR/>There are communities like that up here. They represent incomes varying from rich to really rich, with maybe the obligatory "raggy row" somewhere near the downtown. Such places in the vicinity of Boston I'm sure are better. Certainly nicer than where I'm at, but I can't afford either sort of upgrade.<BR/><BR/>I think to get a neighborhood like that, it helps to be laid out on an old model and all at once (as yours is). Newer homes seem to be constructed with a lot less love and care, but maybe the old crappy ones just didn't make it a hundred years. Another thing you need is low turnover of the population and a sense of community. (Grouchier people may call that gentrificaiton.) That's something that my crummy town actually <I>does</I> have, but it's a community with a piss-poor collective aesthetic.<BR/><BR/>My imagination, or do you walk pretty fast?<BR/><BR/>KKeifushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00287358319899471490noreply@blogger.com