Housing Styles

[Friday]

Hey all, don't get on here much anymore, working in asp.net now and rarely need Access help anymore. I still peruse the Watercooler when I can and try to stay up on the latest news and such. (Col, your Xmas post in the Politics and Events area was hilarious)

Anyway, I ran across an article on the Bungalow style house that is (was) prevalent here in the midwestern United States for a long time. That article got me thinking about how housing styles have changed over here (not for the better) over the last 30 years. Average house size has increased while average family size has decreased. I grew up in a foursquare but I had 10 brothers and sisters. Today I see people living in 5000 square foot McMansions and there's only two people living there (or maybe they have two children). But still, that's 1250 square feet per person for a family of four. I raised my four kids in a single wide mobile home (under 1200 square feet total). I wasn't able to afford a real house until two of my kids were grown and out of the house, and it's only 1500 square feet. I sometimes wonder if people need that much room because they really don't like being around other family members?

So what is the prevalent housing style where you live?

Here in Kansas the McMansion seems to be taking over, even in this economy. The beautiful bungalows are rotting into the ground in the middle of town. White flight sent all the money to the suburbs, and crime has taken over in the older neighborhoods. The poorly built and energy inefficient ranchers that were built in the 1960's and 1970's are still around, hardly worth owning.

Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[JamesLast99]

1200 or 1500 small?http://demographia.blogspot.com/2009/01/australia-usa-have-largest-houses.html

 

[Friday]

1200 or 1500 small?http://demographia.blogspot.com/2009/01/australia-usa-have-largest-houses.html

Around here it is. What is the housing situation where you are living?

 

[JamesLast99]

Well from the stats from the link above - 1200 to 1500 would be average to bigger than average in the UK.

 

[Friday]

Well from the stats from the link above - 1200 to 1500 would be average to bigger than average in the UK.

What about the different styles of homes in your area?

 

[oumahexi]

Houses in our area tend to be like boxes, most people opt for 2 or more bedrooms, ours has 3 and a half, the half being big enough to use as a study or convert to an en suite. If a property has a garage you can add an extra £10k onto the asking price of the property. A few of our friends think we have a big house but, having lived abroad, we think it’s tiny. The first thing that strikes you is the size of the kitchens, my bathroom overseas was bigger than the kitchen I have here.

Here’s a link to the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Council so you can see some of the current listings for yourself.

http://www.espc.co.uk/UniversalPages/DetailedSearchResults.html

 

[Friday]

Houses in our area tend to be like boxes, most people opt for 2 or more bedrooms, ours has 3 and a half, the half being big enough to use as a study or convert to an en suite. If a property has a garage you can add an extra £10k onto the asking price of the property. A few of our friends think we have a big house but, having lived abroad, we think it’s tiny. The first thing that strikes you is the size of the kitchens, my bathroom overseas was bigger than the kitchen I have here.

Here’s a link to the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Council so you can see some of the current listings for yourself.

http://www.espc.co.uk/UniversalPages/DetailedSearchResults.html

That link returns:
The page you have tried to access has expired. This can happen if you leave your browser window open and unused for long periods of time.

 

[oumahexi]

Sorry about that Friday, if you feel up to it you can have a look at their website on www.espec.co.uk and see for yourself the types of properties available here. In comparison to the US though you don't get a whole lot of space for your money.

 

[JamesLast99]

The vast majority near me would be terraced, semi detached or apartments. With the terraced averaging 100 years old, the semis getting on that way and the apartments mostly being converts of 100 year old + villas/mansions or new builds.Theres all kinds of houses. But by your standards they are small. Unless you are really financially set.

 

[Fifty2One]

There are a lot of victorian era homes and late 1800 farm houses out where we are, and a small collection of modern houses built sporatically from 1970s and newer but these are on postage stamp size properties of 5 acres or less... well except the ones in town that are on very tiny lots.

 

[statsman]

Toronto has several different types of housing. This depends on the location where you live and is directly related to the time frame when they were built.

In 1902, the majority of what is now downtown Toronto burned to the ground in the "Great Toronto Fire". The insurance companies informed home owners they would not re-insure unless the replacement houses were built of brick. This give Toronto residential architecture its unique look.

From 1902 to about 1939, Victorian style row houses were the norm. They were much larger than their British counterparts as the lots were deeper. Each home had it's own stable in the back. A lane separating the rear of each home provided access. The stables were converted to garages over the years.
As you moved from the centre of town, and land was cheaper, single detached homes were the norm.
Following World War II and the housing boom, outlying areas (suburbs) contained much larger split levels and bungalows, again made of brick for insurance reasons. The lots were quite large.
These post war houses are now being knocked down and replaced with "Monster" houses. Large mansions which almost completely fill the lot. Stucco exteriors are the norm in these new houses.
About the only residential building being done in the actual City of Toronto these days are these monster houses and 40-50 floor condominium towers.

Outside the city, most of the best farm land in Canada is long gone for the construction of new residential neighbourhoods. Some of these new estates are 2-3 hours from Toronto where the residents work.

Personally, I live in one of the first condo towers built in the city (when almost no one knew what a condo was). When I tell people at work I live a 12 min. walk from the office (in downtown) they start telling how great it is to live in the middle of nowhere. When I reply that I paid off my mortgage years ago and that I don't own a car (I rent when required) and don't spend most of my life in traffic jams they start talking about peace and quiet.
Personally, I think they protest too much.

 

[Alc]

Personally, I live in one of the first condo towers built in the city (when almost no one knew what a condo was). When I tell people at work I live a 12 min. walk from the office (in downtown) they start telling how great it is to live in the middle of nowhere. When I reply that I paid off my mortgage years ago and that I don't own a car (I rent when required) and don't spend most of my life in traffic jams they start talking about peace and quiet.
Personally, I think they protest too much.

Doesn't sound like they're protesting at all.
You're boasting about living close to work and having no mortgage, they're boasting about living in more open countryside and having some peace and quiet.
Myself, I fall into the category of commuting in and out of Toronto. I'd rather not - purely because of the time involved and the appallingly unreliable public transport system - but I couldn't go back to living in a city. Too much noise, too much pollution, and too much traffic.

 

[statsman]

Alc:
It was not my intention to boast (although re-reading my comments I can see how you might think that).
I was attempting to point out that there are options to living a 2-3 hour drive from where you work in a subdivision that is a clone of what was being built in Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke in the 1950's.
If you have found a place you enjoy living which actually has some "open countryside" nearby then more power to you. Of course it's probably only a matter of time before they put a WalMart on your open countryside.
Personally, I will pass on the nerve grinding daily commute.

As a side note, I will occasionally peruse the Real Estate section in the weekend paper. They are now building estates that are a 4 hour drive from Toronto. Of course in the ads they state they are only a 40 minute drive from Toronto. At 4AM it may only take 40 minutes, but when everyone else is driving into town...

 

[Alc]

Of course it's probably only a matter of time before they put a WalMart on your open countryside.

No chance of that - there are already four of the damn places within a ten minute drive of my house.

 

[Friday]

No chance of that - there are already four of the damn places within a ten minute drive of my house.

Ugh...WalMart. A blight on the world. The main reason I whine about the disappearance of "neighborhoods" within the city is I would like to relocate when I retire to a nice (smaller) residence that is walking distance to shopping. Right now I live 7 miles out of town, in a rural area. I love the solitude, but would give it up for convenience when I retire.

 

[TessB]

Here in the Tampa Bay area, we have as many housing alternatives as you can imagine.

I personally live in a 4Br, 2B 1788 sq ft very modest home that we bought 11 years ago to house ourselves and three children. I do not live in the city, nor do I work in Tampa city limits. My commute is about 25 minutes just north of the "financial district" in Eastern Tampa

My neighborhood USED to be rather remote. The nearest grocery store was 7 miles away. Nearest restaurant was even further. But it has grown now, thankfully and if I absolutely HAD to, I could walk to the store for milk and bread. However, if you want a DECENT restaurant, you still have to go about 20 miles up the road and wait at least 45 minutes for a table at normal peak times.

Although the thought of stepping out the door of my high rise condo and out onto the busy exciting streets of the city is appealing, I am also a private person who appreciates pulling into my garage at night and disappearing into my quiet home with my own back porch.

My neighbors are close, (maybe 10 or 12 feet between us?) but one side is fenced for privacy, and the other has been vacant for months. (alas a victim of foreclosure and over borrowing on a home they owned OUTRIGHT!) We've no backyard neighbors and never will as it is a conservation lot.

I'd like more privacy, I'd like a little more room too and when the kids are gone, we're wondering how exactly we're going to use the extra space. It will be nice to stretch out a bit. But how to have it all? Is there such a thing as a comfortable, roomy, private environment that is within walking distance to popular social gathering places and your employment? Hmmmmm... downtown suburbia. What a concept! I think, environmentally, it is a wonderful idea!

 

[Rich]

I'd like more privacy, I'd like a little more room too and when the kids are gone, we're wondering how exactly we're going to use the extra space. It will be nice to stretch out a bit.

Make the most of the extra room when they first leave, it's not long before they come back with the grandchildren

 

[oumahexi]

Make the most of the extra room when they first leave, it's not long before they come back with the grandchildren

I always make the excuse "it's easier for us to visit you than for you to bring all the kids and the baggage that comes with them..." When they come to visit for the afternoon they usually arrive in a removal van! I dread to think what a weekend would bring

 

[Friday]

Make the most of the extra room when they first leave, it's not long before they come back with the grandchildren

Isn't that the truth?

 

[calvinshardy09]

Shown in the more popular sketches of several noted their main distinguishing features of the house designs.You must also consider the need for a basement.