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Local Neighborhood
Investing in a new home,
either to live in, or for resale purposes must be a carefully thought out
decision. There are few people in
America whose home isn’t their largest investment.
Therefore, you should make
the most informed decision before you buy a new property. Naturally one of the things that you should
put at the top of your list, is, what kind of neighborhood is the
house/condo/townhouse, located in.
Not only that, but you
should also try and get a sense of what the neighborhood will look like in,
five, ten, twenty years. Variables like your neighbors, employment
opportunities, schools and parks, all change over time, but they change at
different speeds.
The following is a
comprehensive list; detailing how you should examine each of these variables
and how your evaluation may affect what home you buy, where, and for what
price.
The New Economy & Your
Neighborhood
What strategies has your
community employed to welcome new economy investment?
It is no shock to anyone that the face of
American employment is changing.
Gone are the 9 to 5 punch clock jobs with benefits and
stability. Today’s economy moves
fast and so do its workers.
A good mix of large homes with laws and smaller
more affordable semi-detached home will serve to attract both upper
management residents and the more itinerant younger workers, with lots of
disposable income.
What investments has your
community made to attract new economy money?
New economy money loves public space. I know in my community, the large
information technology company RIM was given a large plot of land by the
city in hopes that they would build something for the public good. RIM made good on their promise and they
built a massive recreation complex that is open to all members of the
community. It was a win, win
situation that will ensure a long lasting bond between the city and one of
its highest profile residents.
What steps has the
neighborhood taken for labor force flexibility?
Having information technology jobs is essential
for any city today, but these only make up a fraction of what is broadly referred
to as the ‘new economy’ The new economy also means, legions of short term
contract laborers and ‘temps’. It
means high paying manufacturing jobs.
It means sales jobs in both the retail sector and the inside
corporate sector.
All of these forms of employment work together
to make a healthy neighborhood workforce.
You need to determine whether your neighborhood, has ‘mono-cropped’
it’s employment. For instance, if
there is another information technology bust, like there was at the end of
the century, all of these high paying jobs could dry up. Just think of it as Flint Michigan,
with microchips instead of cars. A balanced economy can weather hard times
much easier than a mono-cropped one.
Public Space: The Crucial Frontier.
The neighborhood as a
living room.
This may seem a little hokey, but describing
your neighborhood public space is a great way to understand both the
negative and the positive aspects of public space in your neighborhood.
Very few potential homeowners will take the time
to investigate how much public space the local neighborhood has. It’s just not something you
consider. It should be
though. Public space has been
shown to lower crime rates, increase civic involvement, and believe it or
not, lower teen pregnancy. The
logic being that if there is public space people will not gather in
clandestine areas, and therefore everyone actions will be seen in plain
view.
It also fosters a feeling of collective
responsibility. If everyone shares
one space, everyone is in some way responsible for maintaining it. This community spirit will filter into
other aspects of the local neighborhood.
For instance, if your neighbor recognizes you, they will most certainly
recognize that the person who is not you, is trying to break into your home. If that person had never seen you
before, how would they know that maybe the thief was not just someone who
had been locked out of there own home.
Housing
Live/Work
When cities first developed as the entities we
know today, they were a product of the industrial revolution. Increased production meant that there
would be more workers, and these workers all worked in one relatively
small location. It only made sense
that they lived as close to work as possible. Therefore, entire neighborhoods were erected as barracks for
the workers and their factories.
Communities formed on their own (heck, everybody knew each other)
and to live and work blended into one sphere.
Things have obviously changed. However, live work options are really
all that most homeowners want anyway, but few choose to make it a
priority. They would rather work
in an area that has similar people and convenient amenities than live
close to their work. Thus: the
commute is born.
So, when looking at local neighborhoods to
invest in, think of the live/work possibilities in that area. Is it a sprawling suburb that will take
twenty minutes to get out of every morning, or is it a small enclave with
close by business where work is just a short drive, bike, or even walk
away. This feature can add
thousands of dollars to the costs of a home, but it can also add thousands
to its resale value.
Is there affordable mixed
housing?
Any urban planner will tell you that having
mixed income dwellings makes for more vibrant communities. In fact, statistics have shown that if
one in every ten houses has a significantly lower value than the adjacent
units, the value of the more expensive units will go up. The principle here is simple. Your home will look better next to a
cheaper one.
Mixed value housing also gives the community
some flexibility for development.
If there is a block of houses that are not up to the standard of
the local neighborhood growing around it, these units can be demolished
later on and replaced with a fixture that better reflects the desire of
the community. A school, baseball
diamond, go-kart track; it doesn’t matter.
Tourism
What tourist events and
celebrations have been planned?
Celebrations and tourist attractions may seem a
little tacky sometimes, but they a great way to boost the reputation of a
neighborhood. Here’s a for
instance. I live in a very large city in North America. Upon moving to the
city I really just stayed in my own neighborhood, not really venturing too
far away. That is until a cultural
festival lured out of my cozy confines.
He festival was amazing and I got to experience the new
neighborhood. This was a couple
years ago, and that festival was the first one. Now the festival happens each year, and that neighborhood is
one of the trendiest in the city.
Imagine what that has done to property value. IN other words, it
put the neighborhood on the map.
Does the neighborhood
have leadership?
Organizing a festival or celebration requires
some planning. Having members of
your local neighborhood get together to plan an event will go a long way
towards solidifying team work and leadership, that will ultimately make
your local neighborhood a better place to live.
Environment
How is the environment
quality being maintained?
Caring for the environment can be a tough issue,
as its benefits cannot be immediately seen. In fact it is an investment. Naturally (no pun intended) the livability of the local
neighbor hood depends on how well the area is being looked after. Thinking practically; who wants to live
in a neighborhood with trash on the ground?
Is the land being used
properly?
Environmentally friendly neighborhoods mean more
than just litter free parks. They
mean policy decisions at the highest levels of municipal and state
government. Is your neighborhood,
a) Conscious of the environmental issues facing the community. b) Willing
to act to protect the environment.
To increase value, your community should fight
for these policy changes:
Curb urban sprawl.
Advocate smart growth (mixed commercial, industrial
and residential space)
Viable public transport.
An effective energy grid, with little waste.
Recycling programs that do more than just give
people colorful garbage cans.
Human Development
Youth
Hey, we were all young once and we know the
pressures that face ids everyday.
They may seem like peanuts now, but when you are young, your
universe is much smaller. There is
no way to eradicate teen pregnancy, vandalism and drinking and drug use
(unless you are the Taliban).
Therefore, effective strategies to get these issues out in the open
are a great way to keep youth out of harms way. Public sports facilities, rock concerts, dance shows and
BBQ’s are all great ways to channel mischievous behavior into something a
little more productive.
Seniors
Not only were we all young once, but also one
day, we’ll all be old. Keep that
in mind when you are investing in real estate in a local
neighborhood. If there are no
seniors there now, where the heck are you going to live when you get
older? Do you really want to be
yanked away from your community to go live in some geriatric compound on a
hill somewhere, of course not. So
make sure seniors centers, and markets are in close proximity.
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