Urban Lots

Good Movers

Adrian — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:12:40 +0000

Image Source:insiderpages.com

Be sure that the company you are getting has a good track record and try to agree on a reasonable fee for the entire move. Ask your family or friends for referrals or better yet, ask the company for references, so you can hear what the people who hired their services, has to say about them. A lot of professional movers sell insurance on your belongings with various coverage choices. Majority of them will ask you to make an extensive inventory of your belongings especially valuables and expensive items. Having a detailed home inventory is always a good idea. It will help cover you in case something is lost or damaged during the entire moving process. Plus, updating your home inventory will make it easy for you when the time for your home insurance renewal comes.

More Ways to Improve your Curb Appeal

Adrian — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:55:19 +0000

Image Source: mytorontohomeimprovement.com

Present a well maintained garden and remove your gardening equipment out of sight.
Put color in your front garden by planting new flower beds to avoid it having a barren look.
The front of your home should look spacious and clean by eradicating the clutter brought about by your children’s toys, bikes and scooters. You can do the same to your backyard.
Be sure that your porch, deck, windows (including the trim) and pool (if you have it) are squeaky clean.
Repaint your shutters in a new color, or if it’s within your budget, get new ones.
Check your existing locks and doorknobs if they are still in good working condition. It will be embarrassing if the buyer tries them and they fall off the door. Installing a new set will make your potential buyer think that you are concerned about security in your house.

These small changes are guaranteed to give your house character which is sure to attract even more potential buyers.

Moving to the City

Adrian — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:31:17 +0000

There is no argument that prices for the city are usually more expensive than that of the suburbs. With all the hassles that are said to come with city living, such as air and noise pollution, garbage and crime problems, health concerns, there are those who still prefer to live in the city. For the most part, home buyers are willing to pay higher to be located near their work, shops, nightlife and businesses. Also, the ever-increasing gas prices are driving buyers to the city, to minimize the long commute, car upkeep and expenses. Couples, singletons, and empty nesters are also choosing to buy property in the city, such as condos and lofts. The space may be smaller, but it also means easier upkeep and more free time. The amenities and convenience a condo or loft can provide, moreover, is another plus factor.

Making Your House or House Plans Child Friendly

Adrian — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:45:51 +0000

Image source: www.beachhousefl.com
When it comes to buying their first house, most newlyweds don’t have future children in mind at the time. When most newlyweds buy a home, children aren’t even a good idea yet. With that being said, there are many things to take into consideration when those dear babies do become a good idea. If you already have a child who is learning to crawl and/or walk, you don’t have to be told how much needs to be done to baby proof your home.
When you first bought your home with large luxury house plans the odds are pretty good that you didn’t think of preparing for those little ones to take over your home entirely. So those two sets of stair cases that you might have are no longer a beautiful entrance way, they are now instead a danger zone. Installing safety gates at the tops and bottoms of each staircase is the only way to keep those precious babies safe. And like it or not you will most likely have to drill into your baseboard and possibly into your banisters. Nowadays however, they do have adapters to allow you to attach the gates to your banisters without having to drill into them.

When hot property cools off

Adrian — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:25:49 +0000

After nearly a quarter of a century without a serious downturn, history finally caught up with the Central Oregon housing market in 2007.

Swooning like an oxygen-starved sprinter at the end of a too-long run, the region’s residential real estate market struggled by nearly every measure throughout the year.

Bend, the region’s largest city, averaged about 129 sales per month of single homes on urban lots throughout the year, down 27 percent from the 2006 pace and 46 percent off the torrid pace of 2005.

Median prices on the homes that did sell held relatively steady, settling in at $349,000 through the first three quarters of the year, according to Central Oregon Multiple Listing Service data.

But high sales prices were cold comfort to would-be home sellers who found it difficult to move their homes at any price.

Bend started the year with more than 1,100 unsold homes on the market, according to MLS data reported by Bratton Appraisal Group’s Mike Caba.

That number quickly soared to more than 1,600 by June as speculators and other homeowners tried to sell at the same time.

The number of listings gradually shrank to around 1,300 by early this month, as some homes sold and some would-be sellers opted to pull their homes off the market to wait for another season.

Still, at the year’s average monthly sales rate, it would take more than a year to sell off even that reduced year-end inventory level — more than the six months of inventory that most industry observers say is the hallmark of a well-balanced market.

Source: tmcnet.com

How does acquisition and protection of vacant urban lots benefit my community and me?

Adrian — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:06:12 +0000

In 1980, Congress found that increasing urbanization was threatening the ecological values of the Lake Tahoe Basin and public opportunities for use of public lands. Additionally, maintenance of the social and economic health of the region depended on maintaining the scenic, recreational, educational, scientific, natural, and public health values provided by the Lake Tahoe basin. Acquisition and protection of urban intermix parcels contributes to maintaining these values, and thus has created benefits to the communities in which they are located.

Urban intermix parcels provide open space areas of natural forest vegetation within developed communities. These forest areas reduce and filter the noise associated with everyday human activities, providing quieter, more enjoyable living conditions and recreational experiences. Additionally, urban intermix parcels reduce the scenic and visual impacts of urbanization by providing forested areas that help screen and blend development into the natural surroundings. Neighborhoods with publicly owned urban intermix parcels are more desirable to live in, and often have a corresponding positive impact on property values.

Source: fs.fed.us

Urban Lots Turned Miniature Ecosystems

Avatar — Thu, 29 May 2008 06:02:17 +0000

Much has been said and done about the many vacant urban lots that have become dumping grounds for everybody. The government fines people for not maintaining them and people hate them for they become so much of an eyesore and a haven for illegal drugs and many other criminal activities. People are hard at work in turning these lots with the help of local authorities and socio-economic groups, turning them into parks for all to use and enjoy. Vacant lots are maintained by some states which charge owners for maintenance such as stormwater fees, grass cutting and garbage collection (even if it is vacant, garbage does accumulate).
Public works departments do their share along with volunteers, clean-up crews and landscapers who work to first clear debris and then level the ground to give it the proper grade for proper drainage. There has been studies to see if these vacant lots can be used as a form of storm water collection system with much success that lessens the amount of water need to water them during dry days and lesssens runoff during the wet months. Suc eco-parks have become places frequented by people in and around the neighborhood with kids playing and sometimes even getting the people themselves to do the maintenance of the grounds with a little help of course.

Parking Lot Convenience – Pain for the Environment

Avatar — Sun, 25 May 2008 21:27:02 +0000

Just as we love malls and other commercial areas with tins of parking to spare that does not drive you crazy in your daily battle for parking, studies in the US are finding that parking lots outnumber resident drivers by as much as 3 to 1. They also outnumber resident families by 11 to 1 meaning we are really pushing it when it comes to parking.

“Even I was surprised by these numbers,” said Bryan Pijanowski, the associate professor of forestry and natural resources who led the study in Purdue’s home county of Tippecanoe. “I can’t help but wonder: Do we need this much parking space?”

Poor planning of such development has been a pain in the past but commercial developers have taken notice and are now taking measures to alleviate the lack of parking spaces to cater to their customers. Gone are the days of not enough parking and the never-ending scan for available parking space and in with ample, even excessive spaces to cater to all. The problem is that these parking lots entail a lot of concreted or paved spaces that most of the time serves no useful purpose. Parking lots are usually empty and only filled up during select times of the year and all that paved space translates to hotter climate. Water cannot seep into the soil, ending up in the gutters and drains lowering the water table. The heat the concrete absorbs during the day is released throughout the night making the microclimate warmer and warmer. Multi-level parking areas also pose risks for the toxic gasses that accumulate in them; especially in underground facilities are dangerous to your health. Higher gas prices have many taking busses rather than spend an arm and a leg on gas further complicating the matter. More planning and understanding of such development is indeed needed to lessen the impact of wasted space that is proving to be too much for nature to handle.

Urban Sprawl Debate

Avatar — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:04:14 +0000

Land use experts say that urban development is a sure sign of growth but scientists are telling them otherwise that that is not totally the case, for now. The resulting problems associated with urban development has been debated for quite sometime and scientists are beginning to utilize some of the most technologically advanced methods to begin studying the impact urban development has on the environment. Using satellite imagery, scientists are now beginning to gather and analyze historical data that used to be impossible due to lack of historical data that would allow quantifiable analysis. Even these scientists admit that;

“we know next to nothing about the extent to which development is scattered or compact, and how this varies across space,” they write.

that has prompted the studies of urban development to se if they truly are to blame for environmental problems we are experiencing today. This would allow planners and developers to work hand in hand for a sustainable tomorrow where development and environmentalism would allow better utilization of the land and the resources that are so limited to avoid some if not all of the socio-economic problems we have to date.

Urban Development Continues to Eat Up More Land

Avatar — Sat, 17 May 2008 21:02:26 +0000

In spite of the housing crisis, urban development has managed to gobble up a lot of previously rural lands even outside the suburbs. Fragmented land use such as developments that dot the landscape of previously fully agricultural land is continuing to mar the landscape and is sign that these areas will be inter-connecting soon resulting in expansion of urban sprawl.

“We found that the areas where sprawl increased the most were in the exurban areas - out beyond even the suburbs,” said Elena Irwin, co-author of the study and associate professor of environmental economics at Ohio State University.

People are moving away from city centers in hopes of getting some feel of the green outdoors while still in touch with the conveniences of modern life. This results in more demands on the natural supply and demand structure of the natural environment raising the risks of contaminated water tables and other urban problems farther from the city centers. After neighborhoods develop, malls and other support facilities soon sprout forever changing the landscape of the land.