Why not...to move?

[tloonya]

Just returned from picking up Amish chickens.
Drove trough some awful areas where I saw few front yards with vintage cars parked and those were made up really well and there weren't any 'for sale' signs. Also had seen beautiful houses 1x25 ratio that are surrounded by huts...
I was wondering for a while why some people have money but still prefer to be living in areas where it is unpleasant to look at?
Just because they are too lazy to move?

I know the difference because coming to USA I had lived in best part of Philadelphia suburbs, then moved to a not such a good part with scary schools and kids in them. I thought those were prisons for under aged.
Then I was lucky to score a house in great part of suburbs and staying put hopefully forever.
And my store is in so-so area, and I can't wait to drive back home at the end of a day where I am feeling...better.

So if you have money and living in area that went down but you are young enough to be able to restore antique cars back to life -
why wouldn't you want to move to nicer places?

[NancysSummerSip]

Drove trough some awful areas where I saw few front yards with vintage cars parked and those were made up really well and there weren't any 'for sale' signs.

Hey folks...should we tell Loony that old cars on blocks are not "vintage" cars in the U.S. of A.? We call those "lawn ornaments."

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

So if you have money and living in area that went down but you are young enough to be able to restore antique cars back to life -
why wouldn't you want to move to nicer places?

Because doing this sort of work is not acceptable in those neighborhoods.

A friend of mine (a dentist) had an old Suburban that he rejuvenated. Hell, he could have brought a spanking new Suburban for what he put in the old one! Anyway, all of the work was done at a facility outside of his neighborhood as doing it where he lived was not acceptable.

[tloonya]

Apr 29, 2014 10:26:17 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Drove trough some awful areas where I saw few front yards with vintage cars parked and those were made up really well and there weren't any 'for sale' signs.

Hey folks...should we tell Loony that old cars on blocks are not "vintage" cars in the U.S. of A.? We call those "lawn ornaments."

Vintage lawn ornaments

[tloonya]

Apr 29, 2014 10:29:09 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

So if you have money and living in area that went down but you are young enough to be able to restore antique cars back to life -
why wouldn't you want to move to nicer places?

Because doing this sort of work is not acceptable in those neighborhoods.

A friend of mine (a dentist) had an old Suburban that he rejuvenated. Hell, he could have brought a spanking new Suburban for what he put in the old one! Anyway, all of the work was done at a facility outside of his neighborhood as doing it where he lived was not acceptable.

So people loving restoration so much so they prefer to stay where they are as long as they can keep restoring?

[milee]

Also, everybody has different ideas about what's attractive and what bothers them.

A few years ago, our county had a snafu with the contractor that was supposed to be mowing all the grass easements along the public roads.  No mowing was done for several months. You would have thought babies were being tortured and killed if you heard the outrage of some of the locals. Many people obviously felt very strongly that not mowing was serious, horrifying and a near-emergency. I thought it looked fine. The first couple of weeks when it started growing out looked a little scruffy, like a new beard, but then we got wildflowers and all sorts of interesting native plants (and "weeds".) But it looked like a natural meadow, not - IMHO - bad at all. Just different. I was in the minority on that one.

But it's an example of how people perceive things differently and have different tolerances.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Apr 29, 2014 10:32:53 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Apr 29, 2014 10:29:09 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

So if you have money and living in area that went down but you are young enough to be able to restore antique cars back to life -
why wouldn't you want to move to nicer places?

Because doing this sort of work is not acceptable in those neighborhoods.

A friend of mine (a dentist) had an old Suburban that he rejuvenated. Hell, he could have brought a spanking new Suburban for what he put in the old one! Anyway, all of the work was done at a facility outside of his neighborhood as doing it where he lived was not acceptable.

So people loving restoration so much so they prefer to stay where they are as long as they can keep restoring?

You have to understand the mindset.  They don't consider antique vehicles eyesores and there is a LOT of work that goes into them to put them into shape.  My friend had the money to be able to restore his vehicle at a hobby shop, but it was not inexpensive.  I don't know what his shop fees were but I imagine that they were not cheap.

This is an obsessive hobby for many.  From the time they get home from work until they go to bed, they are out tinkering with those vehicles.  I have a cousin who pays a lot of rent to pay for a temperature and humidity controlled facility for his classic Chevelle.  The sale price of that car (if he could ever bear to part with it) would cost more than most houses in the area.

[Deleted]

Ha!  You should see my parent's place!  My stepdad builds street rods and driving in to get to the house you first go past the storage building and his shop, between and behind these it looks like a junkyard of cars/trucks from the 1950's. Dozens of them.  He'll spend years on a car starting with just a steel body that he found in somebody's field.  It gets stripped down to nothing and sent away to be dipped to remove the rust, then rebuilt from there.  Once one is done, they sell for a lot of money.

They're retired and this is what he loves to do, the cars in the yard don't bother them and they're kind of out in the woods on 15 acres so neighbors don't see them either.

[Deleted]

Not everyone wants to live in the same place.  Differences in people makes things interesting.  I can think of lots of reasons why someone would prefer to stay in a house.

First it is probably cheaper than a comparable house in a nicer part of town, giving the owner more discretionary money for hobbies.  Owner may not have children so the schools aren't a big deal.  This house may be closer to work or family, giving the owner more time and a short commute. 

[hoops902]

Having a beautiful house in a crappy area is still a lot less expensive than having a crappy house in a very nice area. 

Also when you talk about why don't they move...who's going to want to buy their nice house in a crappy area surrounded by huts?  Are they going to get enough money to actually move to a nicer area?

[tloonya]

Apr 29, 2014 10:59:43 GMT -5 hoops902 said:

Having a beautiful house in a crappy area is still a lot less expensive than having a crappy house in a very nice area. 

Also when you talk about why don't they move...who's going to want to buy their nice house in a crappy area surrounded by huts?  Are they going to get enough money to actually move to a nicer area?

I thought they will have enough money for smaller house in better area if they sold this one.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Apr 29, 2014 12:09:23 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Apr 29, 2014 10:59:43 GMT -5 hoops902 said:

Having a beautiful house in a crappy area is still a lot less expensive than having a crappy house in a very nice area. 

Also when you talk about why don't they move...who's going to want to buy their nice house in a crappy area surrounded by huts?  Are they going to get enough money to actually move to a nicer area?

I thought they will have enough money for smaller house in better area if they sold this one.

But maybe they don't WANT a smaller house, a smaller piece of property or the increased property taxes.

Different strokes for different folks.  I don't want a store either, but that's not going to stop you from having one.  And it shouldn't make any less of me for not wanting to have a store.

[tskeeter]

Apr 29, 2014 10:22:45 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Just returned from picking up Amish chickens.
Drove trough some awful areas where I saw few front yards with vintage cars parked and those were made up really well and there weren't any 'for sale' signs. Also had seen beautiful houses 1x25 ratio that are surrounded by huts...
I was wondering for a while why some people have money but still prefer to be living in areas where it is unpleasant to look at?
Just because they are too lazy to move?

I know the difference because coming to USA I had lived in best part of Philadelphia suburbs, then moved to a not such a good part with scary schools and kids in them. I thought those were prisons for under aged.
Then I was lucky to score a house in great part of suburbs and staying put hopefully forever.
And my store is in so-so area, and I can't wait to drive back home at the end of a day where I am feeling...better.

So if you have money and living in area that went down but you are young enough to be able to restore antique cars back to life -
why wouldn't you want to move to nicer places?

Some areas go through a process called gentrification.  People buy cheap homes in poor neighborhoods or old industrial areas, then set about improving the home and the neighborhood in hopes that the value of their home will increase.  From your description, it sounds like the neighborhood you went through was starting to go through gentrification.  (People who are willing to try to bring a downtrodden neighborhood back to life often have a penchant for driving servicable older cars.)   

[Deleted]

We have some serious PWT (poor white trash) yards in my area. But, when I am home I don't see anything but my natural land. I can't even see my road from my house/yard. 

I don't get the piled up junk and trash either.  My neighbors probably think I am insane because I have been raking my land now for the last year and removing all of the glass, metal and other man-made crap that is laying around. 

It is actually starting to look really amazing and I know that my dogs won't come home with cut feet if they are out there running around. And, in the process, I have left >100 pounds of sweat out there!

I am a giant fan of the local transfer station, free trash days, and all around "clean up the crap." 

I don't move because I have a paid-off house and water issues that will make selling a long prospect.  But, we are seeing a lot of people move here, even with no access to running water or electric, because the economy is hard. 

This may be to my advantage one of these days because I have electric (10K to connect), full septic that was re-done (12K to install here) and a well that is 820 feet - cost to drill here is $40 per foot + casing, pipe and pumps (40K+).

I don't like looking at the trashy house on the way to my house, but once I get here I don't really care because I can't see it.  It makes a nice landmark - drive past the PWT house on the left and turn on the next street...... 

[michelyn8]

When my parents purchased their 3 acres in 1990, there was nothing around them except a horse farm across the road and a single wide trailer right at the road - both properties owned by a brother and sister.  The trailer is a rental property and the horse farm is at the end of a 1/2 mile drive way so even now with trees having been cleared you can barely see the house.  There were a few older houses up the road - not in great shape but not dumps either.  Mostly older folks lived in those.

In the 20 years after my parent's built their house, its grown up and she is now surrounded by houses.  The land behind her is still undeveloped and the land beside her is owned by a timber company and not scheduled for clearing for another 5 years or so.  The rental trailer is still across the street but kept in decent shape. About 10-15 years ago, someone purchased the acreage directly across from her (beside trailer) and put a really ugly, really old single wide there.  We were a bit upset but they kept the property in good shape, kept the grass cut and didn't pile up junk.  After about 3 years, they moved the trailer sideways and started building a house.  Its a really nice house.  The trailer was moved to a piece of property a relative bought up the road behind another relative and is still there but again, the property is kept in good shape.  From what I gather, this family is selling this trailer between themselves and using it until they are ready to build.

So that is one reason you see nice houses in poorer areas.  You also have to consider that in the more rural areas, people are able to buy land from family much cheaper than the more upscale areas in a town/city.  I love living in the rural area I'm in.  Not all around me keep things the way I would but I figure as long as its not in sight of my home or in my own yard, its not my concern.  And if a new neighbor did start collecting junk in their yard, there's no HOA to stop me from putting up a fence to block it from my view.