Quote:
Originally Posted by JAM
I was thinking the same thing. I would love to buy one of those houses and live in it. It's probably cost prohibitive in terms of initial price, upkeep, and then when you put $ into it, the city will come along and re-access.
Yes, they are very beautiful, and it would be nice to see them protected. I had a friend who had a historic home. They fixed it up, and the city reaccessed taxes, making it un-affordable for them to continue to live in. That does not seem like a very good way to protect these homes. This makes it affordable only to the fairly wealthy or to businesses that can afford it. It's actually pretty easy to understand from a financial point why some of these people let these things rot so they are condemned and need to be knocked down - not that I agree with it.
|
Yes, I agree that the city needs a way to create a tax incentive for historic homes to remain residential. They add so much to the character of the area....and the city. And people who live in them incur sooooo much additional cost to maintain them... I would gladly give up a bit of that tax base to have them around. I have at least been thankful that so many have stayed around as businesses.....
I think the area between 7th and MLK..... Guadalupe and Lamar should be open to new residential. It is a matter of time... why not set it up right now... put strong guidelines in place for historic properties before too many are bought by developers who can claim to be grandfathered into tearing them down.... there are plenty of properties not of a historic nature to be redeveloped...
BTW..... I walked past the Women's Club today. I truly do not see why they would object. No one live's there do they? They are simply a business in the area.... if thier business is not impacted..... don't see how they have much to say..... and the other businesses in the area will probably experience a rise in the value of their land, yes?
I think the project on 7th is a great use of underutilized land with teardown buildings..... and will insure the longevity of a great restaurant.... build it! I think it is the nature of folks to fight "encroahment". I am fine keeping Lamar as a fime limit..... but this land has long been mixed use.... and we will need the space in the future......