Looking at Teardowns from AFAR

These comments from a blog in Atlanta discussing current housing trends in older neighborhoods.

I’m a little bit shocked to be honest…in the UK any building of age (and 1920s buildings are pretty ‘new’ to us really) simply cannot be torn down unless it’s structurally unsound and can’t be saved at all. I suppose in the US it may be cheaper to rebuild than repair, I don’t know. But what a shame they decided to tear down that charming little building and replace it with a non-descript carbon copy of most other houses in any city.

Here in the UK a lot of new build homes/developments in the cities are becoming a little bit ’samey’ for my liking. The same style, design, interior fittings - no imagination! And a lot of refits are becoming that way too…it seems most developers just repeat the same interior and design the same way for speed and profit, and everyone’s house ends up looking the same. So I’ve taken the plunge and bought a slightly older property that needs a complete refit, and I’ll design it myself, with imagination. How long it’s going to take I haven’t a clue! Wish me luck…

In NYC it is the same tear down mentality. All the old walk-up building are being converted into these modern loft style chicken coop- condominium buildings, $1,000 000.00 and up. The neighborhoods become all the same, full of these cheaply made glass towers without any design. The rents for the commercial space have gone up so much that all those small restaurants and shops that use to make NYC so special are disappearing. Only the banks can afford the rents. Can you imagine how Paris would look like if it was allowed to be developed by [profit-only] developers.