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I don't really have a specific reason for asking, but have you ever experienced a situation where, years later, you happen to visit (even just driving by) the home you grew up in or lived in at an earlier time in your life, or a beloved relative (grandparent, aunt, etc.) lived, only to discover that the home or area it's in has gone downhill?
Either by being neglected and not maintained as well as you remember, or it's very apparent that the area that was once a nice area has become a bad area (bars on the windows of stores/houses nearby, sketchy people milling about, general sense of neglect, etc.).
I know the flip side is when a home that's close to someone's heart used to be in a sleepy area with not much going, and then becomes a trendy place to live, with the changes that go along with that.
Any thoughts?
Editorial note: I wasn't sure if this would be better for the real estate, this sub-forum, or another sub-forum, but since it involves sentimental feelings and that being negatively threatened, I thought this would be a good place to ask the question.
Definitely! My grandparents' home was such a beautiful, homey place. I lived with them for the first five years of my life and I loved their house so much. My mom's youngest brother owns it now that my grandparents have passed and he let his biker friends live in it. They destroyed the place. The roof is caving in, the windows are busted out. Every time I drive past, I see the side door flapping open and closed. I know it must be absolutely filled with rodents and heaven knows what else. It had beautiful hardwood floors and lovely chandeliers. My grandmother took such good care of that house. My uncle really showed a lot of disregard by letting it get to the point it is right now. I imagine they'll have to raze it at some point. That will really make me sad. The crazy thing is that he lives right next door to it. You'd think he'd feel bad looking at it in such disrepair.
I don't really have a specific reason for asking, but have you ever experienced a situation where, years later, you happen to visit (even just driving by) the home you grew up in or lived in at an earlier time in your life, or a beloved relative (grandparent, aunt, etc.) lived, only to discover that the home or area it's in has gone downhill?
Sort of - when my family lived in northern Arizona, we had family friends who lived in a nearby town, and there was a lot of back and forth visiting. A few years back, we were in the "family friend's town", drove past their old house, and I was a little saddened that the whole area was so much more.......downhill than I remembered it.
I don't really have a specific reason for asking, but have you ever experienced a situation where, years later, you happen to visit (even just driving by) the home you grew up in or lived in at an earlier time in your life, or a beloved relative (grandparent, aunt, etc.) lived, only to discover that the home or area it's in has gone downhill?
Sort of - when my family lived in northern Arizona, we had family friends who lived in a nearby town, and there was a lot of back and forth visiting. A few years back, we were in the "family friend's town", drove past their old house, and I was a little saddened that the whole area was so much more run-down than I remembered it.
Although I was raised in the military with constant moves there was always one home we eventually returned to. O our honeymoon my wife wanted to see where I was significantly raised so I took her to the harbor island and showed her 'my' home which my parents, by then long-passed, had sold some years before. The house, then worth almost $2 million, was still standing and looked almost the same as it had when we lived there. Even my mothers prized macadamia tree was still standing and had grown considerably. But that's all that was the same.
The island beaches had eroded significantly and instead of young families with children the island was full of the nouveau riche and fraught with conspicuous consumption. Some had purchased two, side-by-side houses and torn down those beautiful, 1940s and 50s, Mediterranean homes to erect on the two lots ghastly McMansions. High-end cars predominated, most of the stores I'd grown up with in the town (none on the island) were gone and high scale boutiques had replaced them. The laid back attitudes were gone and everyone was in a hurry. Condos had taken over on the bayside and traffic was horrendous. Thomas Wolfe's, You Can't Go Home Again was never more true. I found it terribly sad and painful. I've never been back nor will I ever be.
Physically, nothing's been run down. In my mind it has socially and in terms of quality of life. C'est la vie!
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
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The apartments I spent some weekends with my father in Southern VA as a kid were already run down and when i went down there last, they looked even worse. It doesnt bother me because that is the expectation I have for that city and I've accepted it.
Although I was raised in the military with constant moves there was always one home we eventually returned to. O our honeymoon my wife wanted to see where I was significantly raised so I took her to the harbor island and showed her 'my' home which my parents, by then long-passed, had sold some years before. The house, then worth almost $2 million, was still standing and looked almost the same as it had when we lived there. Even my mothers prized macadamia tree was still standing and had grown considerably. But that's all that was the same.
The island beaches had eroded significantly and instead of young families with children the island was full of the nouveau riche and fraught with conspicuous consumption. Some had purchased two, side-by-side houses and torn down those beautiful, 1940s and 50s, Mediterranean homes to erect on the two lots ghastly McMansions. High-end cars predominated, most of the stores I'd grown up with in the town (none on the island) were gone and high scale boutiques had replaced them. The laid back attitudes were gone and everyone was in a hurry. Condos had taken over on the bayside and traffic was horrendous. Thomas Wolfe's, You Can't Go Home Again was never more true. I found it terribly sad and painful. I've never been back nor will I ever be.
Physically, nothing's been run down. In my mind it has socially and in terms of quality of life. C'est la vie!
That's an interesting point about how an area can actually look better "on paper" but lose its charm by becoming overly pretentious. I can certainly think of some areas like that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bookspage
I have a theory that people think their old house or neighborhood got crummier over time But really it was never that great to begin with
That may be because their experiences there weren't the best at the time?
I can see that point physically too though. I can think of examples of housing that was built for factory workers that was decent but very basic when it was built. But there was at least some pride in the modestly built homes (often simple frame homes with no ornate our outstanding architectural features). When the economic engine that filled those homes declines or dies, the homes decay or are filled with people who have less than desirable behaviors and housekeeping habits and it shows. The same could be true of lots of lower end tract homes built today where the builder cuts corners, but they look pretty immediately after they are built. The problem is when the homes and neighborhood start to show their wear and tear very quickly.
It could be economic decline. Age is definitely a factor too.
When I drive around my old neighborhood, I'm shocked at how modest the homes are. They seemed much bigger and nicer. But I was younger (and smaller lol)
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