Is One Crater An Out Of Date Business Model?

$800,000 hillside lots in a major forest fire area might seem excessive to some, but it wasn't all that long ago when such prices wouldn't have turned anyone's head. But fashions have changed along with the economy, and now all most people can do is look up and wonder what it was these people were thinking about when they dreamed up One Crater.

The American Institute of Architects have issued a study that backs up what quite a few people have been thinking as of late. This from an article in the Wall Street Journal:

"A new study out Monday by the American Institute of Architects shows that Americans have fallen out of love with McMansions. The 500 residential architects surveyed said that only 4% of their clients wanted more square footage in their homes this year, compared to 16% last year ... This desire isn't surprising, given both the recession and the fact that the most recent U.S. Census shows that there are 77 million people in the 'empty nester' phase of life, from ages 45 to 64, and 61 million in the first time buyer category, from 20 to 34."

Of course, somebody may wish to build a 1,700 square foot home on a lot costing the better part of a million dollars, but that probably isn't likely. No, One Crater literally screams out "McMansion!" And judging by the way those babies are moving these days, it would appear that nobody is listening. Who knows, maybe the place really is cursed.

Living Near A Freeway Isn't Good For You

Friends of ours have been staying at The Stuart, the often lampooned "Transit Village" that appears to lean against the parking structure attached to the Sierra Madre Vista Metro Station. They're only staying there for 8 or so weeks while their home is refurbished, but it has been quite an education for them. Needless to say, they can't wait to escape.

One of the truly awful aspects of the place is the noise. In true transit village style, The Stuart is located right next to our local manifestation of "light rail," the Gold Line. And since the masters of our somewhat diminished destiny have deemed that things like the 210 Trolly more often than not need to be located near busy roadways, the mighty 210 is part of that ambiance. Which for those living the less than fabulous transit village lifestyle means the endless roar of speeding vehicular traffic. But apparently there is an even more terrifying aspect to living in such places. This from Discovery.com:

"As famous for its traffic jams as it is for Hollywood star power, the Los Angeles, Calif. area has another dirty secret; Air pollution is sickening pregnant women who live near roadways, more than doubling their risk of premature birth, according to a new study."

I wonder if it has ever occurred to the urban planning community that the reason people flock to neighborhoods now referred to as "urban sprawl" do so because they know that living there is healthier? And that any efforts to move people back into the befouled urban core ala SB 375 will be resisted at least in part for that very reason?

Good News For Redevelopers! Sonia Sotomayor Is An Eminent Domain Fan

Apparently Barack Obama's very first nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court is a property snatcher. This from reasononline:

"Property rights were probably the last thing on President Barack Obama's mind when he selected Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter.But that hasn't stopped Sotomayor's nomination from reigniting the long-simmering national debate over the use and abuse of eminent domain ... The controversy centers on Sotomayor's voye in a 2006 eminent domain case, Didden v. Village of Port Chester. New York entrepreneur  Bart Didden says Port Chester condemned his land after he refused to pay $800,000 (or grant a 50 percent stake in his business) to a developer hired by the village. One day after Didden refused to pay those bribes, Port Chester began eminent domain proceedings against him ... As University of Chicago law professor Richard Epstein put it, 'The case involved about as naked an abuse of government power as could be imagined.' But that didn't stop Judge Sotomayor and two of her colleagues on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals from upholding the district court decision that ruled in favor of the village."

Welcome to the brave new world.