Quote:
Originally Posted by Coco
My almost 90 year old husband wonders why people have, and continue to move into a "shady" (as in seedy) neighborhood - an ambiguous description to begin with? Low property values? Money to be made from escalating property values? Will they live here as long as he (and I) have, or flip their homes when something better comes along or they can do it all over again somewhere else?
This is my last post on this subject. I prefer a society where everybody respects one another for who they are, where they are, and where they want to go. I've come a long way, baby, and in this imperfect world, a lot of us have a long way to go.
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I typically describe the neighborhood as "gritty" to those outside the area, gritty becuase it still has a trash issue and becuase there are still obviously abandoned houses -- not to mention construction debris.
Why we moved here -- We previously lived at 11th and Spruce, gritty in a totally different way (lots of prostitutes) and when my husband and I decided to look at places to live, we priced what we could afford in Wash West, Queen Village, and Bella Vista. We liked that we could still walk to work (he's at 15th and Market, my official office is 20th and Market), that there was a neighborhood feel to the area, and that the prices here were lower than the other areas and we could afford a nicer house (Ours is a total gut/rehab). One of the major selling points for us is that we were able to make my house wheelchair accessible for under 6k. A huge selling point for my husband and I was that our house is a corner property and there was a vacant lot on the other side of us. In this neighborhood, we could walk to work, would know our neighbors, and could afford a house and extra space to use as a yard or if the market values in the area rose and we could justify it, expand.
Will we stay? Maybe. If the market values continue to increase and there is a demand for larger homes in the area, we will stay and almost double the size of our house into the lot we own. If the market values do not go up, I see us living in our house for 5-7 years and then moving into a slighly larger house that could accomidate an elevator instead of a stair lift which is what I use right now. As I get older I will probably have a harder time making the transfer from wheelchair to stair lift to wheelchair, and at 1200 sq. feet, our house does not have the space or the floor plan to meet my future needs without building in our lot.
Even if we do decide to stay for 10 years, I'm hoping that some day I will live somewhere where it doesn't snow and have a beach view -- unless climate change occurs a little faster, I'm thinking that our future does not involve Philadelphia. None the less, I'm a Philadelphian, a resident of SWCC, and a homeowner here....it doesn't matter how long I stay, what matters is that I continue to invest in the financial future of our area and participate in the community. You can't give a hierarchy to folks based on how long their going to live here or how much they paid for their house, regarless of the length of time they've been here or how much they paid, they're still a taxpaying resident of the area and deserve equal respect.
I too prefer a society of respect, which is why I have such a hard time reading the NIMBY posts whenever someone posts about a positive change in the neighborhood.
Best Regards,
Jenn L.