What WON''T you live near?

[elrohwen]

As much as I love the country-side, the farms around one of the manufacturing plants I work at *always* smell like manure. I think they drag the fields with it? Or there are just lots of cows. I dunno. But it smells so bad alll the time. So I would be very selective of where I lived in the country and would make sure that it wasn''t a smelly area.

I currently rent right next to government subsidized housing and I''m sooo glad I don''t own the place. Especially now that they''re buidling a new group of houses for people recovering from drug addictions and mental health issues

As far as schools go, it really depends. I lived very near a small private school growing up and it was never an issue. And my current rental is very close to an elementary and middle school (though not next door or anything) and I never have a problem. So I think small schools would be fine, but I would avoid large public schools with lots of traffic.

 

[onedrop]

I grew up near railroad tracks and it wasn''t so bad. You do acutally get used to the trains rumbling by after a time.

Hadn''t thought about living near a school, but after what was written here, I can see that I don''t want that hassle.

Right now we live in a small townhome community which I love! We are near a major road, but I don''t hear any traffic even during rush hour. The only downside is that there are lot of folks renting their homes and renters (some) don''t seem to have the same committment to upkeep as an owner would.

Does anyone mind living hear a firehouse? We live about 2 minutes from one, and while we do hear sirens quite often, I am happy that they are minutes away just in case...

 

[musey]

Date: 4/21/2009 10:19:55 AM
Author: TheBigT

Date: 4/20/2009 7:26:11 PM
Author: musey
Alright, but that's sorta beside the point, isn't it? Manhattan is quite different from the rest of the country, as KimH pointed out. In your case, its applicable, but not in most peoples' cases. You didn't lead with 'you can't live in Manhattan without being somewhat near an apartment building,' you led with 'As a resident of NYC, I find this kind of weird.' So people were explaining the/their logic behind it, that's all.

Also, no one cited socioeconomic homogeneity at a high(er) level as a reason to remove oneself from neighborhoods with apartments. That may be a side effect (and often is, but not always as some apartment neighborhoods are quite upscale), quite obviously, but I didn't get the impression that anyone was trying to insinuate that that was a reason to avoid them. There are many logical and reasonable reasons to avoid neighborhoods with apartments, and a lot of them were already shared by myself and others.

Again, Manhattan (and other similar areas) is the exception, not the rule. No one said that YOU need to avoid apartment neighborhoods when shopping for YOUR home in YOUR area, people just shared that THEY would like to avoid apartment neighborhoods while shopping for THEIR home in THEIR area for X/Y/Z reasons. There's no reason to take offense to that, in my opinion (again, as an apartment dweller in a major city).

In fact, it's not beside the point -- it's the whole point. My point was that coming from NY, that criterion seems strange and almost inconceivable. I understand that people were explaining their logic behind it, and I understand their logic. Certainly there are reasonable reasons to avoid apartments in some cities, but my point was that because I have lived in NY for so long, that's strange and a bit amusing to me. And given the reasonable reasons you and others have given for wanting to avoid apartments, it seems you wouldn't be trying to avoid the upscale apartment buildings, anyhow. But if people want to avoid apartment building that's up to them; I never said it was wrong -- just that it was weird to me.

I'm perfectly aware that Manhattan is the exception rather than the rule, that was the entire reason I made the first comment that I did. I never believed that people were telling me what to avoid while looking for my apartment, nor did I indicate that.

We are not communicating very well, I don't think! What I was trying to say was that since you led with "as a resident of NYC, I find this kind of weird," it read a bit like you couldn't imagine the reasons behind avoiding living by apartment buildings. So people pointed out the reasons. Then you explained that it just wouldn't make sense for you, as it's not even a possibility in your city. So now the explainers are explaining why they explained in the first place, which seemed to bother you (though you said that it didn't and I'm glad, because I'd gotten that impression), and then there's more explaining to be done, which is sort of nonsensical.

The "point" I was referencing was the logic behind the reasons to avoid apartment buildings (since the thread title is "What WON'T you live near?"), not the "point" that you are referencing which is why you would personally live near apartment buildings. Of course what you say isn't "beside the point" for your support of living near them (or not understanding why one would avoid them), it is "beside the point" of the thread's topic of discussion (why someone WON'T live near them).

But to the other question you raised, I would personally (can't speak for others) avoid apartment buildings altogether when looking to purchase a home. Period. The sense of ownership is not the same for an apartment dweller on the average, and since apartment buildings house many people, there will be a number that do not treat the neighborhood with a sense of ownership (ie. littering), and that is just something I don't want to live near if and when I have the choice. The other even bigger issues are parking congestion (as LA is a driving city) and pure volume of people, which can lead to higher noise level and decreased safety (the more people there are in a given area, the higher chance of there being some sort of safety issue).

And nor did I take offense to anything that was said (except I do think your use of the eye-rolling emoticon and excessive use of italicized words is a little disrespectful).

Just to be clear, my use of the eye-rolling emoticon was directly following my statement "I'm not saying that all apartment-dwellers are inconsiderate of public space

," and my intention behind that was that it would be ridiculous for me to insinuate such a thing as I, myself, am an apartment-dweller and obviously this issue is important to me, so it's not a problem with all apartment dwellers to be inconsiderate of public space.

I don't know what's excessive or reasonable use of italicized words, I just know how my sentences sound in my head, so I italicize to place emphasis where I "hear" it in my mind. Maybe I don't use italicization correctly, I don't know, but I certainly don't intend disrespect with it, it's just a method of emphasis - which for me, helps clarify meaning since text is so open to interpretation. I am avoiding them as much as possible in this post, though

You seem to think I'm personalizing things that I'm simply not personalizing. All I was stating was my opinion that as someone from NY, it seems particularly odd that someone would strive to avoid apartment buildings.

And that's fine, but isn't part of the point of stating an opinion to hear others' reactions to it? I know that it isn't for everyone, but it is for me, so I tend to read statement of opinion as an invitation for discussion, and especially when the thread is all about what you would avoid, it seems logical to provide the other side of the 'argument' for things you wouldn't avoid.

And after that, the thought struck me that in avoiding apartment buildings, people are avoiding the lower socioeconomic groups. I never said that was wrong. I never told you or anyone else they needed to be as socially liberal as the people I know. Nor did I even say that I wouldn't do the same thing. I avoid living and even going to certain places on the upper east side so I can limit my contact with certain excessively wealthy people. I'm okay with that, and I know it insulates me.

There's also a vast difference between avoiding violence and avoiding certain socioeconomic groups. I think your argument is a little intellectually dishonest, because safety is pretty universally seen is a normative value.

I hope you'll expand on this, because I'm not entirely sure where the discrepancy is. "Safety" is a luxury here - and rent prices are higher in safer neighborhoods. In turn, these are the "nicer" areas in which only people of a certain socioeconomic level can afford to live. So to me, it seems like a logical parallel to things like avoiding busy streets, industrial buildings, etc. It is something that not everyone can afford, and if you can afford it, you are "insulating" yourself from certain socioeconomic groups - whether consciously or not (in our case, it has been "not").

To be fair, we (my husband and I) have extremely high standards for safety after living in one of the most dangerous areas in LA for more than 4 years, so we have learned the hard way how much a premium is placed on a community that can offer a level of safety that gives us a satisfactory peace of mind - keeping in mind that we often have to be out of the apartment late at night by ourselves, walking quite far either with our dog or home from the parking spot that took us forever to find due to the level of parking congestion because of the high density of apartment buildings in our neighborhood. This is something I wouldn't even have considered in my old neighborhood - unless I was with a large group, I would not be outside after 9pm or so... and the times I had to make an exception were not fun. My personal definition of "safe" is a lot more strict than many others' due to my past experience (with theft and violence), so our neighborhood doesn't just need to be acceptably safe - it needs to be let-your-kids-ride-their-bikes-outside-alone safe (which is hard to come by here).

Again, I have meant no offense, and am glad to hear that you've taken none (apart from my formatting and emoticon choices), I was simply discussing. I don't think you and I have "talked" much on here so maybe we just don't know each others' writing styles or personalities.


TGal, I bet you didn't think this could lead to a debate, did you?

Or maybe you did, you sneaky sneaky girl...

 

[TravelingGal]

Ha Musey, nope I didn''t.

For the record, I am one of those who would not want to live next to, or at least one block from, an apartment building - upscale or otherwise. I live in one now and parking along the apartments is pain. I really want lots of parking for visitors and guests, which is something we don''t have now.

I love my apartment, it''s quiet and full of lovely people. But if I am going to go through the trouble and expense of buying a house, I want the lovely little quiet street and the entire enchilada!!

 

[musey]

Date: 4/21/2009 4:39:35 PM
Author: TravelingGal
Ha Musey, nope I didn't.

For the record, I am one of those who would not want to live next to, or at least one block from, an apartment building - upscale or otherwise. I live in one now and parking along the apartments is pain. I really want lots of parking for visitors and guests, which is something we don't have now.

I love my apartment, it's quiet and full of lovely people. But if I am going to go through the trouble and expense of buying a house, I want the lovely little quiet street and the entire enchilada!!

Yeah, I think that's exactly my reasoning behind it, too. I think in LA it's hard to see all the nice quiet streets with lots of parking and NOT think "ooh, I want to live somewhere like this!"

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 4/21/2009 4:58:29 PM
Author: musey

Date: 4/21/2009 4:39:35 PM
Author: TravelingGal
Ha Musey, nope I didn''t.

For the record, I am one of those who would not want to live next to, or at least one block from, an apartment building - upscale or otherwise. I live in one now and parking along the apartments is pain. I really want lots of parking for visitors and guests, which is something we don''t have now.

I love my apartment, it''s quiet and full of lovely people. But if I am going to go through the trouble and expense of buying a house, I want the lovely little quiet street and the entire enchilada!!

Yeah, I think that''s exactly my reasoning behind it, too. I think in LA it''s hard to see all the nice quiet streets with lots of parking and NOT think ''ooh, I want to live somewhere like this!''

Yup. I happily admit I dream of suburbia!!

 

[HollyS]

Busy highways
Industry that produces smell/pollution
Clubs/bars/restaurants because of smell, noise, and drunk drivers
Big stores like WalMart
Pig farms (at some point you WILL be downwind

)
Electric power plants
Large electric power lines
A creek (if it doesn''t rain, the stagnant water smells; if it does rain, they often overflow their banks)
A major airport
A major league stadium for any sport

 

[Diamond Confused]

a street with a stop light that connects two major streets. As the town grows, people start to use it as an access street. Major problem on the westside of Los Angeles.

 

[ChinaCat]

Musey- I think we may have gone to the same undergrad

, but I will keep that on the downlow. If not, I attended a similar institution with a similar safety issue in LA.

As far as the apartment thing goes- it also goes to zoning issues. Also, if you have an apartment building smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood of homes, it affects property values. Not getting into the arguments here, though I find it an interesting one, but regardless of the WHY, buying a home near apartment buildings simply isn''t smart or great for resale value in many areas.

That being said, NYC is just a whole other animal and you can''t compare apartment living there to other cities where it isn''t as prevalent.

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

Your list is a great place to start.

Busy roads - I live in a complex directly off a busy road. The road is 3 lanes - 2 each direction and a 2way left turn lane. They've now put in a subdivision entrance directly across the street. We have no signal here, and you literally can't turn left out of our complex in the afternoons with traffic. In the mornings, traffic backs up all the way (~300ft maybe) to the stoplight down the road. You can't even pull out because the traffic is past our entrance. Whoever planned all that needs to be kicked in the rear.

Power lines - even if you don't mind the look, remember that power lines back in woods and harder to reach areas have easements for the power trucks to get back there for maintenance. So if any kind of line goes through your property, there's a chance the guys and their trucks will periodically be driving over your land. They also have the right to cut the limbs in their easement area, no matter if it's your tree or not, no matter how dumb your tree looks or what happens to it. Then they usually leave the limbs in your yard for you to pick up.

Also, when tranformers blow or lines snap... it's not a pretty sight. Live power lines or huge explosions? No thanks. My parents live near one, and when a hurricane came through, a tree fell on the lines and pulled them out of the transformer. That thing lit up the sky outside like a rocket had just taken off - it was insane. Plus we didn't have power for weeks. But I know transformers are more common even on small lines, so you may not be as able to get away from them.

Water treatment plants - add that to the smelly list of dumps and paper plants to stay away from!!

Dog shelters, etc - I love dogs, but we have meetings sometimes in a building right beside the shelter, and I've never been there and not heard constant barking.

Schools - just ditto to everything else people have said about them. Most people waiting at the school have no respect for those living nearby.

Industries, plants, etc. - TRUCKS... make sure you learn the area and see if, even if there's no plant nearby, your street is on a typical path they may take to get to one. The tractor trailers driving by at all hours of the day and night are loud and obnoxious when they snort loudly for the whole time they drive by you. Not to mention the damage trucks do to the road.

Lakes/rivers - I've always feared floods. I'll never live directly near one, because when those freak storms come and dump unexpected rain, there's nothing you can do but watch them swell and rise. And it's so quick.

That's all I can think of right now.

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

Also:

Construction - I wouldn't want to be near any area that was still developing. I'd love to live somewhere where I had acres to myself. But I wouldn't want a house in a subdivision that was at the back of Phase 2, and they were starting soon on Phase 3 - those construction guys will be out there at the crack of dawn, even on weekends, to wake you up with their backup alarms and throwing around of materials.

Car dealerships - those darn announcements over the loudspeakers outside can be heard for FOREVER. I know a woman who lived in the same house for years and years, then one day a Toyota dealership came in right behind her back yard. They built a "noise wall" for her, if that's what you want to call it (yeah, 10 feet of brick is gonna make it sound like it's not there - woohoo!). But she can hear everything. I'd hate it.

Hehe and ditto Holly on the Hog farms - I have two words: P.U.

 

[saltymuffin]

Date: 4/20/2009 3:30:45 PM
Author:TravelingGal

Locations are considered undesirable if they are near:

Main thoroughfares with a lot of traffic
Railroad tracks
Commercial properties
Industrial properties
Apartment buildings
Utility structures such as waste, electrical or nuclear power plants
Cemeteries
Noise pollution from nearby airports or freeways
Garbage, landfills and recycling
Schools
Government housing or government buildings
Sports arenas
Wind pollution such as odors from neighboring farms or factories

What else do you consider a bad location?

This is a very "sub-urban" list. I also wonder what the definition of "near" is?

We live in core of a city and are "near" almost all of the things on T-gal''s list!! Many of them I wouldn''t live next to, but some of them I would actually want to live near to. Being within walking distance of schools and restaurants and stores was high on my list when we were house shopping.

We live near main throughfares that have heavy rush hour traffic. I walk to work so that doesn''t bother me. On the weekend, being close to major roads means quick and easy access to other parts of the city.

I wouldn''t want to live next to railroad tracks, but we aren''t far - 5 min walk - well beyond the reach of any noise pollution.

I wish we had more commerial properties close by! A grocery store within walking distance would be great. But again I wouldn''t want to live next door to it.

I agree with avoiding heavy industrial areas.

I have no problem with apartment buildings, but again I am looking at this from an urban context. I would not want to live right next to a suburban apartment complex.

A cemetary near by is fine, but I don''t think I''d want to overlook one . . .

I do agree with avoiding airport and freeway noise, and landfills.

I live near several gov''t buildings - what is negative about them?

And I live near a row of subsidised family housing, but have had no problems with that. I never see any of them!

The big things I look to avoid are noise and odors including construction sites. The noise and dust is awful. But I also avoid suburbs - I have to live within walking distance or a short transit ride to everything otherwise I feel disconnected form the city.

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 4/28/2009 2:16:50 PM
Author: saltymuffin
This is a very ''sub-urban'' list. I also wonder what the definition of ''near'' is?

We live in core of a city and are ''near'' almost all of the things on T-gal''s list!! Many of them I wouldn''t live next to, but some of them I would actually want to live near to. Being within walking distance of schools and restaurants and stores was high on my list when we were house shopping.

We live near main throughfares that have heavy rush hour traffic. I walk to work so that doesn''t bother me. On the weekend, being close to major roads means quick and easy access to other parts of the city.

I wouldn''t want to live next to railroad tracks, but we aren''t far - 5 min walk - well beyond the reach of any noise pollution.

I wish we had more commerial properties close by! A grocery store within walking distance would be great. But again I wouldn''t want to live next door to it.

I agree with avoiding heavy industrial areas.

I have no problem with apartment buildings, but again I am looking at this from an urban context. I would not want to live right next to a suburban apartment complex.

A cemetary near by is fine, but I don''t think I''d want to overlook one . . .

I do agree with avoiding airport and freeway noise, and landfills.

I live near several gov''t buildings - what is negative about them?

And I live near a row of subsidised family housing, but have had no problems with that. I never see any of them!

The big things I look to avoid are noise and odors including construction sites. The noise and dust is awful. But I also avoid suburbs - I have to live within walking distance or a short transit ride to everything otherwise I feel disconnected form the city.

I don''t know about government buildings, but the list couples that with government housing, and that you do not want to live near! (trust me)

 

[Mara]

Big T Said:
I wouldn't want to leave near a doughnut or cupcake place, because I have NO self-control.
_______

OMG I love this. I drive by 3 donut shops on the way to the freeway to get to work.. It's a daily struggle. HAHA. One sells custard-filled holes.

We live really near an Elementary school. Thankfully not too close to it because there is a lot of 'traffic' around pick up and drop off times which are sporadic through the day, ending as late as 6pm when I guess after school stuff lets out. I would hate to be right on top of the school.

I wouldn't want to be too near a very big road, near any big power lines.
It's hard to not be near any apartment buildings in California. They are peppered all over the place, even in expensive areas.
Ixnay on landfill or garbage dump. Used to drive through Foster City when I worked there and all these houses around the landfill would smell horribly on hot days. Gross!
No on sports arenas, ACTIVE railroad tracks (defunct ones who cares), too close to an airport or freeway.
Wouldn't mind commercial or industrial as long as it wasn't 90% that and 10% residential, 10/90 would be fine.
Near a cemetary...I have thought about it...we used to live kind of near one and it was fun to go walk around inside but across the street would give me the willies.

I have a good one. Not across the street from the Egyptian Museum. We have one in SJ that I love to visit but it backs up to residential and Greg and I would go walking in those streets (we lived about a mile from it) and decided that if we lived in the back of the museum we'd be totally creeped out about mummies coming to eat us at night.