3 ms·

In my city a couple of miles from me is a new housing community with $1M houses; only a few different models are available, featuring minimal paint color option

In my city a couple of miles from me is a new housing community with $1M houses; only a few different models are available, featuring minimal paint color options, all on zero lot line spaces, any closer together they would be one giant condo. A friend toured the model and reported how cheaply it was built. Yet they sold out. The average price of a house nearby is closer to $400k. I bet the developer made a fortune.

carapace 3y ago
Check out this "Summit Park" development: https://goo.gl/maps/Eherg24AUS4V1aX67?coh=178571&entry=tt https://goo.gl/maps/Eherg24AUS4V1aX67?coh=178571&entry=tt Someone finagled permission to build on Brotherhood Way and this is what they made. The houses themselves seem nice, but the neighborhood (if you can call it that) has a horror movie vibe to it.
- r00fus 3y ago
  These are mega-townhomes, right?
- HEmanZ 3y ago
  Throw in a small cafe, local pub, and corner store, and that looks like a really nice little spot. Give it 30-50 years and people will have painted them different colors, and it won’t look like a retirement home
  - carapace 3y ago
    > Throw in a small cafe, local pub, and corner store, and that looks like a really nice little spot. Where? As in, where would you "throw" them? The buildings don't have space. There's nothing for a mile or more. This is a drive-in only development. (The road is called Brotherhood Way because there's nothing on it but churches and temples. Until they built this.) > Give it 30-50 years and people will have painted them different colors, and it won’t look like a retirement home It's really creepy there. It's hard to convey, even google street view doesn't give you the full effect. Did you watch that movie "Vivarium"? It's the shape of the place. The way it's just houses with no integration with the world outside themselves or even with each other. Packed together tightly, so tall that they block the sun, no space to expand. The park next door might as well be a million miles away. They are lockers for people, not homes.
    - supportengineer 3y ago
      I looked at some of these on Zillow. I see attractive, modern homes, in a lovely neighborhood with lots of green space, at a reasonable price by local standards. Looks like a good value to me.
      - carapace 3y ago
        I dunno what to tell you. Visit in person and get back to me? I'm not actually trying to shun or shame people who are happy to live in such a place, there's no use arguing over matters of taste, eh? FWIW I've lived in a few places and I find I'm happier the more "homey" the neighborhood. I'd rather live in a smaller or less fancy place in a living neighborhood than a big fancy place in a dead zone. But that's me, eh?
    - crooked-v 3y ago
      People have downvoted this, but the "where?" is a very good question, considering that half the problem with places like these is that the zoning typically forbids anything that would give anyone any reason to actually walk around the neighborhood.
- supportengineer 3y ago
  Those are not mansions by any means - I see some multi-story homes typical of San Francisco. This is a peaceful little corner of the city, I'm not sure how you get "horror movie vibe".
  - carapace 3y ago
    I walked through it.
- tqi 3y ago
  The Summit Park development (https://www.fletcher.studio/summit-park https://www.fletcher.studio/summit-park) is actually pretty thoughtfully planned out imo. There are definitely compromises that have been made, and the developers are obviously not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, but they have spent time to address community concerns and seem to have tried to balance their bottom line against livability, sustainability, and affordability considerations. There are maybe 100 units in this entire phase of the project, and aside from a few apartment towers a quarter mile or more up a steep hillside, there's nothing else in the area. What kind of businesses could this realistically support, a 7-11? They threw in a dog park and a playground, probably because that is what a family oriented neighborhood is most likely to need/want. But then people like Kate Wagner come along and see the lack of a coffee shop and houses that don't look like they belong in the Mission, and immediately pooh pooh it (and implicitly the people who choose to live there). All while ignoring the fact that this used to be a ditch next to what is essentially a 4 lane highway... Despite Wagner's claims to the contrary, I can't help but conclude that all of this "thoughtful urbanism" is just thin veneer over a core of elitism.
  - carapace 3y ago
    > pretty thoughtfully planned Depends on your goals, eh? > What kind of businesses could this realistically support, a 7-11? That's kind of my point, they built a pile of houses and nothing else. Even the yards are abbreviated. > a ditch I played in the area that was destroyed to make way for this development as a kid, and calling it "a ditch" does it a disservice. It was thick with life. It was part of a wildlife corridor. I remember all the skunks and raccoons and even possums that wandered the neighborhood when they razed that area. Now it's people-lockers. There was no particular reason why this parcel had to be developed. The developers must have gotten a good fixer, greased the right palms, and made a quick buck. Park Merced up the street (the "few apartment towers") has been trying to rebuild for two decades? There's plenty of room to build w/o destroying wildlife habitat. > a core of elitism Who me? If anything the people buying these houses are the elite, surely?
    - tqi 3y ago
      A wildlife corridor? Doesn't look like it from this 2011 streetview: https://www.google.com/maps/@37.7143712,-122.4757819,3a,90y,39.21h,87.31t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sT9FwB4qBA2C_bqDzqnvmBg!2e0!5s20110101T000000!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@37.7143712,-122.4757819,3a,90y,... Regardless, your preference for preserving the status quo is absolutely valid. But other people's preferences for building SFHs is also valid. Maybe they would prefer the option not to live in large apartment complexes because of family or health or noise reasons. We live in a society, and part of that means sometimes other people get what they want even if it not something we want, and it is good and healthy to disagree with outcomes. But my point is that I think it is elitist to tell them that actually, their preferences are wrong (not just different). > Who me? If anything the people buying these houses are the elite, surely? Elitism isn't exclusively about money.
- jprd 3y ago
  This is eerily similar from Street View images to the Mueller neighborhood in Austin. I imagine a South Park episode about all of this is not far behind.

carapace 3y ago

Check out this "Summit Park" development: https://goo.gl/maps/Eherg24AUS4V1aX67?coh=178571&entry=tt https://goo.gl/maps/Eherg24AUS4V1aX67?coh=178571&entry=tt Someone finagled permission to build on Brotherhood Way and this is what they made. The houses themselves seem nice, but the neighborhood (if you can call it that) has a horror movie vibe to it.

r00fus 3y ago
These are mega-townhomes, right?
HEmanZ 3y ago
Throw in a small cafe, local pub, and corner store, and that looks like a really nice little spot. Give it 30-50 years and people will have painted them different colors, and it won’t look like a retirement home
- carapace 3y ago
  > Throw in a small cafe, local pub, and corner store, and that looks like a really nice little spot. Where? As in, where would you "throw" them? The buildings don't have space. There's nothing for a mile or more. This is a drive-in only development. (The road is called Brotherhood Way because there's nothing on it but churches and temples. Until they built this.) > Give it 30-50 years and people will have painted them different colors, and it won’t look like a retirement home It's really creepy there. It's hard to convey, even google street view doesn't give you the full effect. Did you watch that movie "Vivarium"? It's the shape of the place. The way it's just houses with no integration with the world outside themselves or even with each other. Packed together tightly, so tall that they block the sun, no space to expand. The park next door might as well be a million miles away. They are lockers for people, not homes.
  - supportengineer 3y ago
    I looked at some of these on Zillow. I see attractive, modern homes, in a lovely neighborhood with lots of green space, at a reasonable price by local standards. Looks like a good value to me.
    - carapace 3y ago
      I dunno what to tell you. Visit in person and get back to me? I'm not actually trying to shun or shame people who are happy to live in such a place, there's no use arguing over matters of taste, eh? FWIW I've lived in a few places and I find I'm happier the more "homey" the neighborhood. I'd rather live in a smaller or less fancy place in a living neighborhood than a big fancy place in a dead zone. But that's me, eh?
  - crooked-v 3y ago
    People have downvoted this, but the "where?" is a very good question, considering that half the problem with places like these is that the zoning typically forbids anything that would give anyone any reason to actually walk around the neighborhood.
supportengineer 3y ago
Those are not mansions by any means - I see some multi-story homes typical of San Francisco. This is a peaceful little corner of the city, I'm not sure how you get "horror movie vibe".
- carapace 3y ago
  I walked through it.
tqi 3y ago
The Summit Park development (https://www.fletcher.studio/summit-park https://www.fletcher.studio/summit-park) is actually pretty thoughtfully planned out imo. There are definitely compromises that have been made, and the developers are obviously not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, but they have spent time to address community concerns and seem to have tried to balance their bottom line against livability, sustainability, and affordability considerations. There are maybe 100 units in this entire phase of the project, and aside from a few apartment towers a quarter mile or more up a steep hillside, there's nothing else in the area. What kind of businesses could this realistically support, a 7-11? They threw in a dog park and a playground, probably because that is what a family oriented neighborhood is most likely to need/want. But then people like Kate Wagner come along and see the lack of a coffee shop and houses that don't look like they belong in the Mission, and immediately pooh pooh it (and implicitly the people who choose to live there). All while ignoring the fact that this used to be a ditch next to what is essentially a 4 lane highway... Despite Wagner's claims to the contrary, I can't help but conclude that all of this "thoughtful urbanism" is just thin veneer over a core of elitism.
- carapace 3y ago
  > pretty thoughtfully planned Depends on your goals, eh? > What kind of businesses could this realistically support, a 7-11? That's kind of my point, they built a pile of houses and nothing else. Even the yards are abbreviated. > a ditch I played in the area that was destroyed to make way for this development as a kid, and calling it "a ditch" does it a disservice. It was thick with life. It was part of a wildlife corridor. I remember all the skunks and raccoons and even possums that wandered the neighborhood when they razed that area. Now it's people-lockers. There was no particular reason why this parcel had to be developed. The developers must have gotten a good fixer, greased the right palms, and made a quick buck. Park Merced up the street (the "few apartment towers") has been trying to rebuild for two decades? There's plenty of room to build w/o destroying wildlife habitat. > a core of elitism Who me? If anything the people buying these houses are the elite, surely?
  - tqi 3y ago
    A wildlife corridor? Doesn't look like it from this 2011 streetview: https://www.google.com/maps/@37.7143712,-122.4757819,3a,90y,39.21h,87.31t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sT9FwB4qBA2C_bqDzqnvmBg!2e0!5s20110101T000000!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@37.7143712,-122.4757819,3a,90y,... Regardless, your preference for preserving the status quo is absolutely valid. But other people's preferences for building SFHs is also valid. Maybe they would prefer the option not to live in large apartment complexes because of family or health or noise reasons. We live in a society, and part of that means sometimes other people get what they want even if it not something we want, and it is good and healthy to disagree with outcomes. But my point is that I think it is elitist to tell them that actually, their preferences are wrong (not just different). > Who me? If anything the people buying these houses are the elite, surely? Elitism isn't exclusively about money.
jprd 3y ago
This is eerily similar from Street View images to the Mueller neighborhood in Austin. I imagine a South Park episode about all of this is not far behind.