Monday, June 16, 2008

Editorial supports smaller homes

The Idaho Statesman newspaper published an editorial Sunday supporting a developer's request to include smaller-sized homes in a new Kuna, ID subdivision. The developer's request to build several homes less than the 1,400-square-feet required minimum size was turned down last week.

Several customers recently told the developer they wanted homes in his subdivision, but didn't need 1,400 square feet. The developer focused on 1,250 square feet which “wouldn't detract from the values of nearby, larger homes. One hundred and fifty square feet less than somebody else isn't going to ruin a subdivision."

"The city should protect a neighborhood's integrity. Very few investments in our lifetime are more important than our house,” said the planning commissioner.

“When I signed the development agreement (minimum 1,400 sq ft), we were at $2-a-gallon gas,” the developer said. “Green, energy-efficient homes that are what you can truly afford - that's the marketplace right now.”

The newspaper urged the planning department to work with developers and builders to educate residents that with good design, construction and maintenance, even a small house can look great and uphold neighborhood property values.

5 comments:

Steve said...

Have you visited the placein Suthside Park development near 4th and T Streets just south of Sacramento?

I went to a baby shower in their community room,and it seemed like a nice place.

mmhere said...

Haven't visited Southside Park yet but do know about it. You can find the locations of all the communities located nearby. There are many right here. On the blog, a link to the Cohousing organization is listed under "More Information".

Jesse G (the original) said...

Yes, I'm interested! I've been following the cohousing listserv and see very little interest in lower cost cohousing. I'm in northern california too... I am talking with what is now a small group of people about creating a cohousing community, possibly based on mobile homes or something similar.

Please email me but DON'T publish my email address - thanks! This form says "email followup comments to" [my email] so I should get any comments you send - your email?

Jesse G (the original) said...

Yes, I'm interested! I've been following the cohousing listserv and see very little interest in lower cost cohousing. I'm in northern california too... How do I get in touch with you without posting my email on this page? (want to avoid spam...)

mmhere said...

Jesse - Both our emails are kept confidential under comments on blogger. i've no way to contact you directly. I'd love to hear more about the group looking at creating a community. The best way to discuss this is to join the Google Group http://groups.google.com/group/low-cost-community-housing. You can chose to keep your email private or you can create a new gmail.com address just for use on this list. This list lets users email each other anonymously. Or you can contact me again via this blog.