One-Level or 2 Level-Homes?

[brian_2]

Warning - my typical off-topic (mostly not completely) rant.

Single-level houses are easier on us older folks who find climbing stairs a bit more difficult, on the other hand, two stories provide a 'look down' perspective that is nice (depending on your outdoor surroundings, if it's the wall of your neighbors home ten feet away, well..who wants that (lot of people in Phoenix, etc. apparently)!?

I believe many people err in buying large square footage homes on dinky lots (I lived in LA before, I know of what I speak), and they are costly & wasteful to heat & cool (and will get more so even with those zone controlled thermostats) as energy costs continue to climb. Los Angeles living envied by many (4,000 SF vaulted ceiling dust traps with outdoor sprinklers swishing the grass at 12 am in those gated communities with the broken gates and people coming back from work at 7-8pm from their numbing commutes) - no thanks, been there, done that. No mas. Not worth the effort expended to obtain & maintain.

What I value is a garage separated from the house & not facing the street like 90% of the homes built/existing in the USA. IMO it ruins the facade of an otherwise nice residential house, the mindless sameness of attached garage doors facing the street (although with most .15 acre building lots these days what's an owner to do, still why all the ubiquitous twin (triple) street-facing garage doors)? There are other ways to build. I really like alley access garages, or houses with side or back facing garages. And smaller square footage for crying out loud! For all the yadda yadda about granite counters, stainless appliances, exercise/game/entertainment rooms these days, I go back to thinking about older homes that were designed for comfort, not isolation. No laminate flooring, flex tube duct runs, plastic plumbing for me thank you very much. I like the solid, older, smaller houses that had character and substance. Those are houses worth sinking money into. Maybe the younger generation will have the common sense about living within their means, and not having twin garage doors with twin guzzlers behind a common wall to the living space to take them .2 miles to the Quik E. Mart for a gallon of milk.

[gigi927]

Originally Posted by ajgranda

Thanks I don't understand why they are building so many 2-level homes in communities like DC Ranch and the new Windgate in Scottsdale. I guess they are trying to save on lot size.

They are absolutely trying to cram as many houses as they can into their space. Since a 2 story house generally has a smaller land foodprint than a single story (especially in large sq footage homes), they can shrink the lot sizes down, create more lots and sell them at a premium price. They can get away with it because Windgate is THE last new construction development in Scottsdale, from all the articles I've read. But if you look at Toll Brothers' Aviano community in Desert Ridge, they did the same thing there. You have to go into communities like Saguaro Estates, Saguaro Highlands, Sierra Norte and Cresta Norte to get either single story or 2 story homes on large lots by Toll Brothers in north Scottsdale.

[ajgranda]

Thanks for the feedback. I really like Toll Brothers and will check out those other communities.