  Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 442 Registered: 04-2006 |
Regard this article in Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/forbesli fe/2007/07/16/suburbs-growth-h ousing-forbeslife-cx_mw_0716re alestate_2.html Michigan does not have 1 of the fastest growing burbs out of a total of 100 on the list... However, I think this is interestingly a GOOD thing... gives us a much needed chance to condense our residents... though this is NOT happening, at least we arn't REALLY sprawling much right now... if not because of good policy, because our economy is tanking... | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 1540 Registered: 12-2005 |
The minute the economy comes around (wait...............)it's going to be more cornfields converted to McMansion subs. | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1019 Registered: 12-2005 |
quote: What do you mean by "condense"? Most municipalities and government agencies are barely competent enough to manage their affairs in periods of positive growth or zero growth. In situations of negative growth, they have neither the mindset or resources to do anything other than "tighten their belts" and reduce services (or stick their head in the sand and hope for better times). | ||
Jiminnm Member Username: Jiminnm Post Number: 1328 Registered: 02-2005 |
We are condensing. I just read a story that Americans are no longer the tallest nation. | ||
Catman_dude Member Username: Catman_dude Post Number: 190 Registered: 03-2006 |
That's no fair! They started using and putting more growth hormones in their food than we Americans do! Darn that European Union! | ||
Publicmsu Member Username: Publicmsu Post Number: 692 Registered: 11-2003 |
Juan and Jose, our new immigrants, bring down the average height. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 1215 Registered: 10-2003 |
Hmmm. Sherman-Williams' stock has gone up some 9%, due to people fixing up their homes instead of buying new ones in this poor housing market. I say good. Developers have been building neighborhoods before anybody needs them out at 85 mile road (JK) for too long. Fix your houses up instead of leaving a wasteland as you sprawl unnecessarily towards infinity. Sounds good to me. Sorry if convincing governments they need one less forest so they can have another community of lego-land Pulte homes out in the boondocks is no longer a profitable venture. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 1542 Registered: 12-2005 |
JohnLodge--I can't agree more with your summary, I wrote my post above through clenched teeth, knowing that people still haven't let go of the fallacy of "the house in the country with the white picket fence"--an unsustainable goal, unless you buy all of the land as far as your eye can see from your windows. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 1218 Registered: 10-2003 |
56 I don't think there's anything wrong with the house in the country. The problem is the Pulte development out in the country next to what was your house out in the country but is now just a house next to a Pulte development. Land developers only make money by developing land and selling it to builders. They MUST tear up land constantly in order to stay in business. They strongarm and bribe and everything else they can to change zoning laws and convince municipalities to let them tear up land and lay down infrastructure so housing companies can come in and build neighborhoods, even when there is only an artificial, speculative demand. We all know how capitalism works, though, and that is NOT a sustainable business strategy. So now there is a slump in the housing market. Developers are hurting. Fact is, there are enough houses for the population! Maybe more. And in my humble opinion, that brand new mass produced lego-land Pulte home has NOTHING on the charater of my 1920's bungalow. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 1219 Registered: 10-2003 |
P.S. and I SEVERELY doubt it will hold up over 85 years as well as those 1920's bungalows. My mom's house was built in the late 80's, and the thing is falling apart at the seams. The builder is rotting in a jail cell somewhere, too. | ||
Rocket_city Member Username: Rocket_city Post Number: 335 Registered: 04-2006 |
Yep, the dead economy, ironically, is probably the best thing going for us right now. One day "Macomb Township" will find its way over the Zilwaukee Bridge and start encroaching on the Mackinac. The suburbs up there will blame all their problems on a crummy, ghetto township suburb in Ogemaw County...which will be the "Detroit" of the future. ;) (wink) | ||
Focusonthed Member Username: Focusonthed Post Number: 1163 Registered: 02-2006 |
Johnlodge, absolutely. My parents house is about 6 years old, and it's the cheapest piece of crap I've ever seen. At least it's made of brick, but everything else is crap. Yet even the wood-frame houses on my street are nearly 100 years old, and doing just fine. | ||
6nois Member Username: 6nois Post Number: 383 Registered: 11-2006 |
Focus, I bet its not really brick but brick vener. Developer built houses are really no good, they are built to give the developer the biggest profit so quality just isn't there. These houses really don't involve architects and are the scurge of the design community. If you want a new house and you want it done right you should probably hire your architect, and hire the builder yourself. | ||
Jerome81 Member Username: Jerome81 Post Number: 1582 Registered: 11-2003 |
Wealth, abundance of open land, and cheap transportation is what allowed suburbs to grow in this country. Started with commuter rail lines and eventually spread to cars. Because the Uniteds States has incredible wealth, our residents could afford the large homes, there is a ton of open land, and cars are cheap, most people chose to go that route when they have the chance. Even all around the world, MOST PEOPLE (not all) still have the ideal that someday they'll be able to have a big, nice home in the country. Its just that in the US we actually had the money to do it. Well, that and the government didn't tax against suburbs like in, say, Europe. But bottom line is that it is about the $. Amazing isn't it, that once the $ sorta dries up, or at least consumer confidence goes way down, that suburban sprawl stops and people kinda stay put? It only makes sense that the same thing that allowed suburb creation is the same thing that would put an end to it. Who knows what the future holds, but if people don't have money, they won't move. Or, if transportation costs become so high people can't afford to live far from work/school/shopping etc, then you could see the end of new burbs and/or possibly even retraction back to a denser, smaller home setup. This is just the way it goes. Way back when you either lived in dense cities or on a farm. Even in the early 20th century, Americans were wealthy by world standards, but we still didn't have nearly the standard of living we enjoy today. Detroit is a prime example. Dense core surrounded by medium dense, suburban style homes. Thats what people could afford back then, so they got the biggest and best they could afford. Starting after WWII, we proceded to really start to get wealthy, and that's exactly why big time suburban sprawl started happening. We now had the money to buy the land and the house, AND we had the money to buy and run the car (before that, a lot of people still didn't own even one car in the household). Of course there were housing policies, Veterans mortgage guarantees, all that stuff. But the bottom line is that if people hadn't been wealthy enough to afford the suburbs, they wouldn't have shown up. I really think the best chance for Detroit revival is expensive energy costs. Hopefully people would condense. Of course we need a mass transit system or they'll condense someplace else. But I'm not so sure I'd bank on it. Its always about the $  | ||
Steelworker Member Username: Steelworker Post Number: 934 Registered: 02-2004 |
A couple of weeks ago i visited 2 of those on that list gilbert, chandler. Not bad looking suburbs thay remind me of HUGE versions of TROY. | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 6240 Registered: 02-2004 |
Michigan does have fastest growing suburbs. Sterling Heights, Macomb TWP. Troy, Novi, Canton TWP. Wyoming, MI. ( a suburb of Grand Rapids) and many more. |
