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I'm far from a school expert. But I've never seen Jackson on any list of top performing schools in Georgia.
Barring further information, I'm going to say this house fails the school category.
But let's see a link to the listing, anyway, and see what kind of house $250k will get you in Kirkwood.
And Arjay, I'm not sure if you are purposely proving my point or only doing it arbitrarily. The point being, if you can not, or if it is extemely difficult to, find a house that fits the qualifications that I laid out, sprawl is going to happen. Sprawl will always happen in order to make finding this type of thing possible. If, somehow, all of metro Atlanta gets ridiculously expensive, then expect sprawl to continue and go further out. If, somehow, more intown Atlanta areas get great schools and good affordable housing, then you can expect the brakes to put on sprawl.
But you can't say I love my awesome intown house that I love watching go up in value, yet I hate sprawl. That's what is driving it.
That's a little excessive. It has no garage since it was built in the 1920's. Media room is called the living room. All this extra room is not needed. How many times do people actually use all this space? The older homes and neighborhoods had it right. They had large porches that allowed people to see each other and interact, neighborhood parks for gathers, all this allowed people to know each other and build a relationship with their neighbors.
More than a little. Someone on here yesterday said they wanted those things and the fact that intown homes don't have them makes intown homes inferior. Whatever, different strokes. I just hope they enjoy their weekends spent vacuuming.
More than a little. Someone on here yesterday said they wanted those things and the fact that intown homes don't have them makes intown homes inferior. Whatever, different strokes. I just hope they enjoy their weekends spent vacuuming.
Exactly. All that house will keep them busy cleaning.
More than a little. Someone on here yesterday said they wanted those things and the fact that intown homes don't have them makes intown homes inferior. Whatever, different strokes. I just hope they enjoy their weekends spent vacuuming.
I live in a 950 square foot 2/1 house. I can vaccum about 96% of the place using only one electrical outlet (that one corner I can't reach really pisses me off!). Never said I wanted those things, or implied that makes a typical ITP house somehow bad. But, others certainly do want those things, as it's what they are comfortable and familiar with. That was in response to "atlanta not having enough inventory for everyone that wants to live here". There is loads of inventory. It just happens to be in a different form than what many people who choose to live way OTP have grown accustomed to.
You are now staring down a generation of first time home buyers that were raised in the far-flung suburbs that have exploded in the last 20 years. For them walk-in closests in every bedroom, pools all over the place, formal living rooms, big garages, vaulted entranceways, and a cul-de-sac are just "normal". To me, that's "enormous". It's how they were raised, and for most it probably did not suck having that kind of space. They are going to be understanably conflicted giving those things up for about even money to live in-town, and raising their children in a totoally different environment.
Exactly. All that house will keep them busy cleaning.
Usually with the money they save by buying inexpensive housing, these people have a maid that comes once a week, or once every two weeks. Or sometimes they save enough money to allow one person to not have to work, and it's much easier to take care of a home with 40 extra hours in your week.
Space is a real issue for a lot of people. I don't know how anyone with two children could possibly live in less than 2000 square feet because kids have all kinds of stuff. Friends and family are always giving them toys and they usually have a lot of clothes because they outgrow them so quickly. If your kid is into any kind of sports, they have athletic equipment...the list goes on, kids just have tons of stuff.
I mean, in all honesty, more important than living space is actually storage space. Space to keep all that stuff when they aren't using it. If you have an older house built on a crawl space, that might provide good storage. I know that when I bought a house, one of my simple joys in having an attic was that I could finally have an appropriate Christmas. I love Christmas and I love decorations, but living in an apartment it's really hard because there is no place to store the Christmas tree and all the decorations during the rest of the year.
I know a lot of people think that bigger houses = more room to mess up, but when I was living in 850 square feet I felt like I was constantly dealing with a mess because I didn't have enough room to put my things. Now that I have a 2000 square foot house, it stays much cleaner because it's much easier for me to stash away my things when I'm not using them. I grew up in a 4000 square foot house, so 2000 square feet seems really reasonable to me and it's not that bad to keep up with. Like everybody, I sometimes wish I had a maid, but that's just laziness. Having an attic, a garage, and a reasonable amount of closet space gives me the room I need to have all my stuff, but not have it out all the time.
I think about my niece and nephew and how much stuff they have, and I can't imagine how they would live in 1500 square feet. I would have felt guilty about buying my nephew the slot car set I got him last year becuase it has a pretty big footprint....but little boys should have slot cars, and they should have room to play with them. That's what I think.
I know there are people who live a lot more minimally than I do, but what can I say? Christmas decorations and stupid things like that make me happy, and why should I give up my happiness just because some people decide not to live that way? If you would honestly give up space because you are too lazy to keep it clean, then you are a lazy sack of crap and should go to Ikea and buy all the stuff to live in 550 square feet. But barring that, you at least need to have enough brain cells in your head to understand that a lot of people like or need to have a little elbow room.
It's becoming a lot clearer to me that there are many posters on this board that are not "representatives of the new generation." They are extremist zealots trying to espouse their views on the majority of the population, most of whom they simply would not be functional for. If you made that decision, good for you. I don't applaud you or condemn you, it's just a lifestyle decision you are free to make. Don't assume your decision is right for other people, though.
Space is a real issue for a lot of people. I don't know how anyone with two children could possibly live in less than 2000 square feet because kids have all kinds of stuff. Friends and family are always giving them toys and they usually have a lot of clothes because they outgrow them so quickly. If your kid is into any kind of sports, they have athletic equipment...the list goes on, kids just have tons of stuff.
I know a lot of people think that bigger houses = more room to mess up, but when I was living in 850 square feet I felt like I was constantly dealing with a mess because I didn't have enough room to put my things. Now that I have a 2000 square foot house, it stays much cleaner because it's much easier for me to stash away my things when I'm not using them.
Exactly. Our house in NJ was about 950sf, with no garage, and we had three kids. When you don't have room to store things, you're tripping over them, and since so much is "out" on display, it constantly needs to be cleaned around. We had a shed in the yard for lawn equipment, snowblower, etc., but anything else had to be put in the basement, so you were always having to drag stuff up when you needed it (tools, seasonal clothing changes, etc). We now have just under 3,000sf, and it's much more organized and doesn't look so cluttered. It's nice not to have to switch clothes in and out of the closet every season, since we have a nice-size walk-in instead of a 5' double-pole closet in the master, and the kids have large closets as well.
Do we "need" all that space? Of course not. But having done the "small, old house that needs tons of renovation" thing several times already, I just didn't want to deal with that again. I also now have plenty of room to enjoy my hobby- restoring a '69 Camaro for my daughter- which I couldn't do when I didn't have a garage, and I've got the time to do it, because I'm not tearing out kitchens, replacing bathrooms, repainting wood siding, etc. "Home maintenance" now consists of changing AC filters....lol.
Space is a real issue for a lot of people. I don't know how anyone with two children could possibly live in less than 2000 square feet because kids have all kinds of stuff. Friends and family are always giving them toys and they usually have a lot of clothes because they outgrow them so quickly. If your kid is into any kind of sports, they have athletic equipment...the list goes on, kids just have tons of stuff.
Its called not being a hoarder and filling your life with crap you don't need. I grew up with 1 sibling in a 900 sq ft house, with 1 bathroom, and we shared a room. We played outside a lot and at the park, my mom didn't let us sit in front of the TV and I never had a game console. So its not really that hard to live in a small house if you try hard.
I congratulate those that can hire a maid or one stay at home, but that's not for me. I like my 1400 sq ft historic home in a diverse, walkable neighborhood.
And Arjay, I'm not sure if you are purposely proving my point or only doing it arbitrarily. The point being, if you can not, or if it is extemely difficult to, find a house that fits the qualifications that I laid out, sprawl is going to happen. Sprawl will always happen in order to make finding this type of thing possible. If, somehow, all of metro Atlanta gets ridiculously expensive, then expect sprawl to continue and go further out. If, somehow, more intown Atlanta areas get great schools and good affordable housing, then you can expect the brakes to put on sprawl.
But you can't say I love my awesome intown house that I love watching go up in value, yet I hate sprawl. That's what is driving it.
Sorry if we are talking past one another, ATLTJL. I'm not arguing that you can have your cake and eat it too -- in fact, just the contrary.
I don't believe, however, that difficulties in finding a great 2200 sf intown house for $250,000 necessarily leads to sprawl.
As you know, I'm personally a big booster of our suburbs. What would Atlanta (or any US city, for that matter) be without them?
But several things about that:
(1) Suburbs don't have to "sprawl." There's no reason whatsoever that they can't be compact, accessible and friendly to the environment. And lively and interesting, too.
(2) The relative priceyness of intown homes (and upscale suburban homes) doesn't automatically end in an either/or scenario. A lot of people are willing to take up the challenge of fixing them up, restoring communities and bringing their local schools to excellence. What's happened in Atlanta over the last 20 years shows how successful this can be.
(3) Pursuing the strategy in item (2) above, has payoffs that many people find satisfying. They may wind up with a more valuable house, they may find a sense of accomplishment in revitalizing the community better, they may enjoy living in a more eclectic community, etc., etc. Maybe they just like the vibe of living in a neighborhood that looks and feels more like the one grandma lived in.
(4) Change is an essential element of cities and their suburbs. They can be very different from one era to the next, and those changes can happen very quickly. The opportunity to be involved in that is part of what draw people to cities.
There are many other factors as well. The point I'm making is that we can't look at it one dimensionally. Sure, more square footage or a better school may be factors in where we live. How much we're willing to pay for a house, how much work it will take, and what the possibilities are for making it "our own" are a big part of it, too.
My next door neighborhood is selling his house that is just under 1800 sf, completely renovated, granite counter top, stainless steel appliances, 3 bedrooms all with fireplaces, and 2 baths. In the Toomer\Coan\Jackson cluster, all for $250K.
" I know a dude" isn't going to fly. Links or sources to MULTIPLE homes please.
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