The previous owners of the house across the street from us subdivided their lot before selling. The new buyers are now putting up a three story house in what used to be a backyard.
My posts are not usually quite this personal — I like to keep the focus on news, rather than my life — but this seems to be a part of a larger trend.
The pros: More attractive houses on our street should raise property values. That’s the hope, anyway.
The cons: WAY less open space on the street. When we moved in, there were three HUGE fir trees in that space. Now it’s going be a garage, I think. Last summer, birds in those trees woke us up. This summer, we will escape to the back yard to find private space.
Is all of Foster-Powell headed this direction?
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Yes, FoPo is headed this way. I have watched it happen all around the neighborhood the last three years. Like you mentioned, it has both pros and cons. Most of the new houses they put up though, lack any form of character or soul, like most of the older homes in the neighborhood.
I grew up in Reno, where development didn’t mean a huge house being put up across the street– it meant that miles of what used to be beautiful desert habitat was flattened, paved, and generally stressed until a mammoth two-hundred house subdivision appeared. My dad calls these “cookie cutter houses,” which is a little strange, since he really likes cookies. I guess he misses the “soul” you mention.Not sure what my point is… maybe that as ugly as these gargantuan houses are here, it’s much worse in many other parts of the country.
Sadly I think this is the way it is everywhere. Foster Powell is still seen as being relatively affordable and when one is a homeowner/landowner in a down economy with an option to subdivide see an increased profit, they can hardly be blamed. It stinks to see your skyline altered, to live with the construction for months, and to lose habitat but to the person who sold the land, maybe they can eat a little better or pay their bills for a few more months. The house next to us is also on two lots. I dread the day that they decide to subdivide and sell…they’ve already talked about it. My hope is that the economy will make it unattractive for a while and they’ll be content with renters until we can move to another place. I hope you’re lucky enough to get new neighbors who love to garden and are willing to share their bounty.
Because otherwise they just won’t have the room to garden. Seriously, I rescued my cat from the third story the other day, and as I was (very carefully and stealthily) descending down the back staircase, I happened to look out the window and saw that there was less that two feet between their back wall and the fence.You’re right, though, I can’t blame the people who are building the house (they’re just making a go of it!) or the people who will buy it (there are so few other affordable places in PDX).I guess we’ll have to share our garden bounty with them… which I’ll be happy to do.
Might as well be good neighbors, right?
Is there nothing to protect those old trees from development? I’d rather see infill than suburban sprawl, and as a decades-long neighborhood resident, I know things have improved greatly in this neighborhood of families and working people, but I’d sure like to see stricter rules for tree protection here and some firmer design review on new buildings–both residential and commercial–that are built in FoPo.Our neighborhood suffers because developers use the tired arguments that money-lovers always make against environmental concerns: development is good for the economy and brings jobs. In areas with higher property values and higher per-capita incomes, these arguments don’t always hold water, because those wealthy people want to maintain the quality of their neighborhoods, and they can afford to pull strings and hire attorneys to do so. I doubt seriously that big gorgeous trees in Dunthorpe are allowed to be cut down just because someone wants to build a house. Here, though, approval is granted, trees are cut, and somebody’s backyard becomes a less-than-optimal house.Over time, the sky becomes wider and wider, and I miss the shadows once cast by familiar trees and yes, the morning chorus of birds.There has to be a middle ground, and we need better rules–for all.