Progress, who needs it?

[pbray]

Progress has once again found my corner of upstate New York. The first Starbucks seemed to imply civilization was reaching out to us, but there are only two Starbucks within a 20 mile radius of my house, so I think that still counts as rural.

The latest sign of the times is a proposal to build the first gated community in the area. I'm watching this one with interest, since the proposed site is along one of my favorite bike rides. It's a rural area--a few scattered houses, dairy farms, and a Christmas tree farm. The proposed gated community would include a six-story condominium unit plus townhouses and single family homes. Given the economically depressed conditions of the area, I'm not the only one wondering just who it is that they think will buy into the community.

Of course it's not as odd as a competing high-end townhouse development that is being built on a parcel of land that floods every couple of years--last year it took days for the water to subside. You'd think that a development adjacent to a flood plain, and within sight of the floodgates might deter potential homebuyers, but we'll see.

Comments

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

A month or so ago, I noticed that an old, rundown home in my general neighborhood had been razed. This home sat on a nice-sized corner lot, so I'm wondering if I might be seeing the first local teardown (of which I'm aware).

We don't have a Starbucks yet. But we do have three cafe/coffee house-type places, all of which sell foofy sandwiches.

You know your community is trending up when you get the shops selling the foofy sandwiches.

(I would like to go on the record as being a fan of foofy sandwiches, roasted red pepper mayonnaise being a favorite condiment).

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I love my local coffeehouses with their foofy sandwiches. One of them is even mentioned on the acknowledgments page of the new book. Mmm, now I'm hungry.

[libwitch.livejournal.com]

I think they are hoping it will be populated by all those LM engineers that are demading high end housing.

Cuz LM has *such* a stable workforce, and those high paid employees will be here forever. Apparently, we have lost sight of what it means to be have a boom cycle based on contract bids.

Of course, the fact that we need lots of middle end housing means little, I guess. Not enough profit!

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Good point. By the time these units are built, LM is likely to be in the bust part of the cycle....