Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Neighborhood Coalition

I just returned from a neighborhood meeting with the purpose of exploring the formation of a coalition for eliminating (retarding?) the tear-downs of older houses and replacing them with what are called "McMansions." This is a cottage-type house neighborhood with nice setbacks and space between the houses. What's filling in are houses with 3-car garages, huge roofs and tiny yards. I have to admit that I was a little distracted at the meeting because one of the speakers was a woman who could pass in a minute as Dana Carvey and I was half-way thinking she would go into her church-lady act at any moment.

I've never been much of a joiner. This is new for me. But I so feel so strongly about this. These are older houses, well maintained, are being deemed worthless except for the land. Very sad -- especially when there's a For Sale sign across the street from me! This is not unique to my neighborhood - -it's a nation wide problem. But pieces of Tulsa are trying to do something. You can click here for more info.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great thing to get involved with -- people too often take their neighborhood character for granted. From what I know of your neighborhood, it feels meant to be made of smaller homes that are more connected to each other... besides, people these days seem to think they need so much more space than they do.

My neighborhood in Baltimore is going through something similar. Developers are really interested in huge high-rise buildings that stick out like a sore thumb around the 3-story row houses.

Hey, if nobody stands up for where they live, the only thing that will have a say is the market, right? Besides, I think if you all band together, you can have a real impact on the nature of development in your backyard.

-Megan

Sarah in Disturbia said...

did you feel like anything was accomplished at the meeting? How will the coalition go about stopping the tear-downs? Good for you : )

Connie Dooley said...

It's not as much about stopping the tear-downs as it is establishing some consistency in the rebuilding. There are some cities that have established Conversation Districts with rebuilding guidelines. That's what we'll work toward.