Homestead mailing list

[bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

--- On Thu, 6/26/08, Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com> wrote:

> From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>

> 
> Do you ever lock your front door?

Yes, and my back doors.  And, I have a dog; And, I have a top-of the line
security system; and I am usually within short reach of a loaded firearm.  
The fact is ,I've never even had an attempted break-in nor do I know of a 
single instance on my street.  But, I am prepared.  I would have all of the 
same if I lived in Zanoni--except for maybe the security system.  This is 
actually a very safe neighborhood, and I live in the central part of the 
city.  

> 
> Much of my real estate work in Phoenix and Scottsdale was
> in gated   communities. I found a wide variety of reasons why people
> choose to  live behind a wall and a gate, with or without a guard, armed or 
>   unarmed. Some are pretty simple: couples with young.... hey, this is 
> America and we get to choose how   we live.

I agree.  I just don't like hypocrisy.  But, you did leave out a big reason 
why you did so much business within gated communities.  The relationship of 
the developers with lenders. The houses in those communities are generally 
less expensive and easier to finance than a similarly sized house in a 
central city historic neighborhood


> I have grown to strongly dislike homeowner's
> associations but I really  
> have no problem with people who choose for any reason to
> live in a  
> gated community.

I would never live in a community with a HOA, and, like you said and I said 
before, I don't care where people live.  I was pointing out a fact about 
living in the city.
 

Now people like you, who live in a place with so many
> neighbors so  close, that I have a problem understanding.

Remember, I live in the central city.  Most of the gated (or really any 
recently built) community, are going to be on 1/4 acre lots or less to be 
affordable and anywhere close to the city.  My house is on 1/3 of an acre in 
the central city.  That me be laughable to someone on a farm, but in the 
heart of the fifth largest city in the country, the difference between the 
two lot sizes means alot.  

I am darn close to my neighbors, but not  as close as if I lived in one of 
those ridiculous red-tiled seas of poorly constructed McMansions , an hours 
drive from downtown.  And, Scottsdale is not all that its reputation would 
seem .  Except for way out in North Scottsdale, the only overall largely 
affluent areas are in Old Town and central Scottsdale.  And, even then , you 
are still 45 minutes to an hour away from the city.
 

Gene you said on this list once that "homesteading" was a "frame of mind". I 
might be the only person left on the list that lives in a city, but I don't 
think so. I've never hidden the fact that I live in the city.  I intend to 
move back to the country in the not-too-distant future.  I already own the 
property.  But for now, I just hang in here and do the best I can do.    

I can't give you a good enough reason for why I initially moved to the city.


> Did I mention that the Phoenix house is in such a
> neighborhood?   Quarter-acre lots, cheek by jowl. A guy cannot yell at his 
> dog without   the neighbors finding it necessary to make mention of it at 
> some  inopportune time.

Then, Don't yell at your dog......<g>....bobford