Overdevelopment in my perfect town

[HFWR]

My burb, and a couple more to the north, are growing like kudzu. Home prices going up, but I'm still at maybe 4% annual appreciation over 16 years, even with the recent spike. Taxes went up... Hopefully the taxing authorities will lower our rates to avoid a windfall. Not holding my breath...

 

[dixonge]

after a few years in Mexico, the traffic and cost of living seems quite insane here in Austin. Food? Over-rated and expensive. As soon as the wife gets her first pension check it's adios Texas, hola Jalisco!

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

after a few years in Mexico, the traffic and cost of living seems quite insane here in Austin. Food? Over-rated and expensive. As soon as the wife gets her first pension check it's adios Texas, hola Jalisco!

Still trying to convince the DW that Isla Mujeres is where we need to be long term. Love it there!

Sent via mobile device. Please excuse any grammatical errors.

 

[2017ish]

Still trying to convince the DW that Isla Mujeres is where we need to be long term. Love it there!

...

Beautiful, peaceful place. We will likely go back some time. (Short trip to experience the whale sharks, but the island itself made a nice impression; and so easy to get to.)

 

[H2ODude]

Lived 20 years in an area pretty much in the doldrums because of job losses from textiles and furniture, but a really nice place to live (NC) other than the income tax. Currently considering (mildly) relocation but the inertia after having been reasonably happy is overwhelming. Even in our current area I plan activities to avoid "rush" hours. Wait through more than one traffic light cycle? Not gonna happen.

 

[rayinpenn]

Guys I've got some bad news... People -there are more of them every day..
My blue ribbon school district town in Pennsylvania continues to grow as does the surrounding communities. The traffic has grown as well - I'm done I hate it. I might as well be back on LI.

As soon as DS graduates HS I'm selling the barn.. If I move 30 minutes out I'll be in a corn field..
You know what I think corn stalks make good neighbors... "Have you ever heard of one complaining or driving too slow?"


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forumh

 

[Chuckanut]

Up until a few months ago, I've loved where we live, but our house is in the blazing fast growth area between Austin and San Antonio. House values in our small subdivision have jumped 30% in 6 months. The area around our house was farms and fields, now they are building Taco Bells, Car washes, oil change places and both Walgreens and CVS, and at least 7 banks, not to mention nail salons...and I hear a Starbucks is next. They just built another strip mall across the street, with 1000 apartments coming next. Traffic of course is getting bad. I wanted to be close to town, but not this close. I wasn't planning on moving, not sure what the next step will be, as this is no longer my perfect town.

FWIW, Texas is always bragging about its great business environment, etc. IIRC, they have even run ads in other parts of the country inviting firms to move to 'business friendly' Texas. They want the new jobs. And new jobs bring new people.

http://www.kcra.com/news/Texas-advertises-for-California-jobs/18407456

http://www.expressnews.com/business/local/article/Texas-lures-out-of-state-craft-brewery-6532850.php

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/us/winners-and-losers-in-texas.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.sfgate.com/business/bott...ies-to-lure-California-businesses-4258193.php

Mr. Ryan’s specialty is helping clients like ExxonMobil and Neiman Marcus secure state and local tax breaks and other business incentives. It is a good line of work in Texas.



Under Mr. Perry, Texas gives out more of the incentives than any other state, around $19 billion a year, an examination by The New York Times has found. Texas justifies its largess by pointing out that it is home to half of all the private sector jobs created over the last decade nationwide. As the invitation to the fund-raiser boasted: “Texas leads the nation in job creation.”

Maybe the zeal to acquire new jobs and businesses, plus the lack of restrictions on how much growth is allowed and where it can take place are some of the reasons the above things can happen so quickly. I'm not saying that Texas is doing something wrong, only that you can't have your cake and eat it.

Plenty of states restrict growth in various ways. Some simply forbid it out side of certain areas. Sometimes they make it hard, if not impossible to convert agricultural land to other uses. Others refuse to install new electrical service, sewers and water lines so that new structures can't have basic services. Necessary highway improvements are not made thus chocking off growth in some areas. The state tax system can also restrict growth.

FWIW, I don't live in Texas but my area is growing also. We have more crowding, more traffic and higher housing prices. I feel your pain.

 

[Music Lover]

No one ever thinks that their house is too much for the neighborhood...it's always the ones that come after.

 

[John Galt III]

Rant mode on! My once-perfect town in eastern Pa is also ruined, from my perspective. The NYC people and NJ people who are endlessly moving here may think it is great, since they grew up with horrible constant congestion, and they just bought a brand new McMansion here for cheap in a new development nobody here wanted except the realtors and developers. The traffic is just unbearable now. If you don't get out before noon, you get bumper to bumper on most roads, all SUV's and minivans. Where are all these people going between noon and 8 PM? Doesn't anyone have a job from 9 to 5? I guess not. Many many new business parks, storage facilities popping up, monstrously large warehouses, etc. And it KEEPS GETTING APPROVED even though no one wants it except the folks who profit from it. I suppose if someone local gets a decent j*b at one of these new businesses, that's one good thing that results from the overdevelopment. The planners say it will reduce taxes having all these businesses here, but the taxes just keep going up, and everyone knows it. Rant mode off! Time to check the garden.

 

[W2R]

Rant mode on! My once-perfect town in eastern Pa is also ruined, from my perspective. The NYC people and NJ people who are endlessly moving here may think it is great, since they grew up with horrible constant congestion, and they just bought a brand new McMansion here for cheap in a new development nobody here wanted except the realtors and developers. The traffic is just unbearable now. If you don't get out before noon, you get bumper to bumper on most roads, all SUV's and minivans. Where are all these people going between noon and 8 PM? Doesn't anyone have a job from 9 to 5? I guess not. Many many new business parks, storage facilities popping up, monstrously large warehouses, etc. And it KEEPS GETTING APPROVED even though no one wants it except the folks who profit from it. I suppose if someone local gets a decent j*b at one of these new businesses, that's one good thing that results from the overdevelopment. The planners say it will reduce taxes having all these businesses here, but the taxes just keep going up, and everyone knows it. Rant mode off! Time to check the garden.

If you do decide to move, you could try moving to a neighborhood where everything is less than a couple of miles away. Then no matter how awful the traffic becomes, there is no reason to drive very far in it. The savings in gasoline expense is great, too.

 

[johnnyfuego]

We feel and are experiencing the same pains just east of you over in Bastrop County, and it's just getting started and going to get worse. Carpetbaggers dream! Property tax valuations have just come out, and some have skyrocketed 30 and 40 percent in one year. It is the homestead properties only that are capped at 10% per year! but that is not always adhered to. In the city of Bastrop, there are only two narrow bridges crossing the Colorado river, and when there is a wreck on either bridge, which is pretty much every day now, the whole area is in gridlock until the wrecks are cleared. Interesting side note, when you get thru the last traffic light on SH-71 eastbound in Bastrop, there is not another traffic light all the way to Key West, Fl. All interstate...

 

[LARS]

Honestly I don't know where you "old codgers" expect all the people to go?

In 1995, US population was 262 million. In 2015, a mere twenty years later, the population is 322 million. Those 60 million people got to land somewhere... just glad it's not in my backyard! And, oh yeah, make sure the next guy in shuts the door behind him... ;-)


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[eytonxav]

Ace, I feel your pain.

Multiple subdivisions are building houses as fast as they can put them up plus a huge high school is under construction a few miles away. When it opens in the fall of 2017 it will house 3,000 students -

On the bright side, with 3000 students they might have enough concentrated talent to win state 6A football title

 

[bjorn2bwild]

As soon as I see smoke from a neighboring chimney.............

This modest place would do -

JETT BLACKBURN REAL ESTATE INC

 

[Greencheese]

No one ever thinks that their house is too much for the neighborhood...it's always the ones that come after.

I've always found this to be the case when celebrities build a huge mansion on undeveloped land between their environmental cause appointments.

 

[SpinDr]

My wife and I were in Silicon Valley CA in the early 90's during which time my wife had the mother of all bad commutes. Her door to door commute distance was 4 miles which took 45 minutes! Yes, a brisk walk may have been faster but the route, and her need to dress up for the position, required driving as her commute method. She was not a happy camper!

The funny thing is, is that this is what helped us decide on my next position with my company which took us on on a circuitous route thorough the South, North East, and then back to SoCal.

My max commute during those times was 1hour and is now down to 25 minutes. Hoping to never go past 30 minutes again until I retire.

 

[Vireo]

We live in Palm Beach county. Miami Dade and Broward counties are essentially built out because they can't build in the Everglades so all the development (except for the high rises in Miami) has moved north into our county. The only good thing is that a third of the population leaves in the summer to avoid the heat and the Hurricanes.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum