RALEIGH - THE “TEARDOWN” DEBATE
Raleigh, North Carolina. “Teardowns” change subdivisions. Recently there have been a number of newspaper and magazine articles about builders tearing down older homes and replacing them with much larger and more expensive ones. Residents in the subdivisions say they are out of keeping with the character of their neighborhoods. For the most part the subdivisions are located in what is known locally as “inside the beltline.” I think this is the business of the homeowners being “impacted” so I won’t get into the debate other than to say that I think, for the mostpart, it increases the value of their homes. I will, however, make a couple of comments as to the why of it.
Very simply, the forces of supply and demand are at work. The massive growth and renovation of downtown Raleigh is making Raleigh’s core area and the areas surrounding it more and more desireable as a place to live as well as to work. The number of people projected to work downtown during the next five years is skyrocketing. More corporations are housing their offices in the buildings being built there. More restaurants, shops and stores are opening to meet the needs of these people. It is only natural that more and more people want to live close to their place of work and escape a long daily commute. As many of them have high paying jobs a sizeable number want single family homes rather than condos and town homes.
The core area blight that has infected many of our major cities has certainly been a problem for Raleigh as well. Fortunately, we have people some forward thinking leaders who are doing something about it and the change that is taking place is nothing less than astounding. As the core area growth continues the replacing of slum and semi-slum areas in south-east Raleigh that are close to it will, I think, gain momentum as well. While Raleigh’s slum areas are certainly not nearly as extensive as those of many cities our size they do, none-the-less exist. I would not minimize the problem. There are many homes in south-east Raleigh that are in very bad condition and approximately 80 are totally boarded up. The demand for living space by those that can afford it usually has the effect of displacing those that can least afford it. Along with displacement comes a lot of anger and resentment. The efforts of organizations like Habitat for Humanity are to be applauded but they do not being to meet the needs or solve the problems of people who live in such areas. Because of the forward looking attitude being evidenced by some of our city planners and because of the size and number of medium to large sized corporations that are in and moving to the core area, it is my guess that they will band together to create some kind of master plan to make major inroads into the problem. None-the-less, the “haves” who are living in established neighborhoods surrounding the core area see them being replaced with larger homes and more businesses and activity. The “have nots” who are either being displaced or feel that nothing is being done to solve their problems see the growth as no benefit to them. One way or another, both are going to continue to feel the squeeze well into the future. Frankly, I would rather or city be in a position of replacing bad with good and good with better than either do nothing or fight to try and stay even.
Home owners inside the beltline are not the only ones seeing homes being torn down and replaced with larger and more expensive ones. North Ridge, an area whose commerce is also experiencing tremendous development, expansion and renovation is also seeing the same thing happen; especially in the North Ridge Country Club area. Three or four years ago one of Raleigh’s top residential builders more or less got the ball rolling in that area when he tore down a golf home and replaced it with one that is far larger than the homes in both its immediate and surrounding areas. It sat on the market for several years without being purchased. Without going into the reasons why suffice it to say that someone always has to be the leader. The area is a natural for it and in the intervening period the same senario has played out many more times.
John Fish - Tel. (919) 696-3474 Email: Marvmax@mindspring.com Website: www.JohnFish.com
