This picture shows the walkway along Eagle road, just outside the fence atop the berm enclosing the subdivision. Lots of grass and a nice, curvy sidewalk.
Inside the subdivision it doesn't look so Tuscan.
Looking down on the subdivision from a hill also shows that it's just a nice subdivision, and not a real slice of Tuscany, of course.
Finally, here's a picture of the cheesy park in my subdivision, which is the only common area we have.
That cheesy park costs my homeowners association around $7,000 a year for maintenance and insurance, in case a child gets hurt on the playground equipment.* That is almost the entire homeowners association budget, and my annual assessment is $90.00. That's not so much, but no one in my family uses that park so we aren't getting much for our dues.
Have another look at "Tuscany." I don't know much it costs to mow all that grass and keep the fountain up, and plant flowers each year, but it's got to be significant. Since the Tuscany common area really isn't usable space like our park, what are the homeowners there paying for?
Well, for one thing, they're paying for advertising for the developer. The developer puts up that beautiful entrance, builds the cost into the subdivision, and then the homeowners take over paying for it over the ensuing years. The entrance entices folks into the subdivision. Have another look at the fourth picture, the one from the hill top. See that dirt field at the bottom, with the two backhoes in it? Know what going in there? Yep, Tuscany, Phase II. These developers are smart folks.
If any of you live in a subdivision with a beautiful entrance, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about your entrance. Is it worth the ongoing money? Does it make you feel good about living in the subdivision? Are you proud of the entrance?
*Update: added the following. Idaho Code 36-1604 exempts landowners who allow recreation without charge on their property from liability. It says "Statement of Purpose. The purpose of this section is to encourage owners of land to make land and water areas available to the public without charge for recreational purposes by limiting their liability toward persons entering thereon for such purposes." I suspect we don't really need insurance on the park.
7 comments:
Ungated gated communities. The appearance of a structure at the single entrance to a subdivision serves as a "gate" to keep those of lesser "class" out.
We're looking at a house in one of them tonight. I'm feeling very torn, but where else can you find a decent neighborhood and affordable houses that won't depreciate?
Having the entrance is in vogue right now. It would be tough to find a reasonably new subdiv without one.
Do you get where I'm coming from, though? It creates an invisible gate that indicates where people don't belong. The exclusionary nature of these "vogue" entrances might not be the greatest community device ever thought of.
Or maybe it's just me.
Well, I think you're probably right. When I drove into the subdiv to take the photo of the interior, I sort of felt like an interloper, like I could get in trouble or get run off.
Good point.
So I would wonder if a single entrance neighborhood is statistically safer than one with multiple entrances/exits. Does the pretentiousness of the entrance reduce crime? Of course, there is no exact measurement of pretentiousness, but I would think that the Hummer variable would be in there somewhere.
I'd bet a single entrance helps keep out the riff-raff, and may lower the crime rate. It'd be hard to measure the crime rate based just on the entrance. Nicer subdiv's will have more homes with security, etc, that will also effect the crime rate.
Heh, there are probably *several* genuinely-gated communities in Idaho Falls, unlike the square-mile(s) ones in metropolitan areas, they're small. My favorite is one in the heart of IF that has roughly 12 building lots. It's about 4x5 houses in size. Surrounded by an 8' brick/block wall, with a lane that runs the full length inward, turns a corner, and then has the gate. I saw a realtor's sign pointing in, and drove in to check it out. There are 5 houses built. The ONE street makes a spiral in to a cul-de-sac, and the dearth of trees and houses makes it feel more like a JAIL than a secure neighborhood.
All the paranoid isolation of the big city, none of the rich cultural counterweights. Small wonder the other 7 lots are vacant.
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