Still Waiting for a Buyer at 506 W. Armitage in Lincoln Park
When we last chattered about this 2-bedroom vintage unit at 506 W. Armitage in Lincoln Park in August 2008, it was under contract.
But that fell through and it’s still on the market.
It was recently reduced $7,000.
Here’s the listing:
Vintage two bedroom in the heart of Lincoln Park with oversized South facing windows that provide a lot of light, 10′ ceilings, central air, original marble fireplace with wood mantle, original hardwood floor throughout, lovely built-in bookshelves.
Huge open living area, large closets, double vanity bath, in-unit laundry and big deck for entertaining. Lots of storage. Easy street parking. Pets welcome.
Carol Nevada Duran at Rubloff has the listing. See more pictures and the virtual tour here.
See the property website here.
Unit #1: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, no square footage given
- Sold in September 2004 for $312,000
- Was listed in August 2008 for $325,000
- Under contract in August 2008
- Still listed and reduced
- Currently listed for $319,000
- Assessments of $216 a month
- Taxes of $3,706
- W/D in the unit
- Woodburning fireplace
- Central air
- No parking
no parking, meh
These “no parking” comments never cease to make me laugh. Someone on here went so far as to say that people that consider buying condos that don’t need parking are a “hilarious subset” of buyers. OK…
Because there are no professionals who, say, live in LP and work in the loop and use the CTA. No, they are just hilarious hipsters who don’t live in reality. REAL people (americans?) are professionals who need a car for their job and require parking in their building.
:rolleyes:
You’re not from around here, are you?
I am a professional that doesn’t need a car for my job but I still have one. As does pretty much every other professional that I work with. Few to any of us use our cars to commute to work since we all live in the city (LP, Bucktown, South Loop, River North, Gold Coast, Streeterville, whatever) and either walk or take the CTA to work.
But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have cars. We do. And we want parking for them that isn’t on the street. Sorry.
(also I’ll just second what G said)
There are professionals who live in LP, work in the loop and use the CTA. Indeed there are a lot. The thing is most of them, those that could afford a 300k place with 550 in taxes, assessments & mortgage, have a strong preference for owning a car and having it as a convenient transportation option.
Also lets consider that most single people cannot afford this unit. Chances are its more in the price range of a couple. What are the odds that neither of the couple would like a car as a transportation option? Small subset indeed.
Third.. Have car, never use. Want space in bldg.
If a tad cheaper, would be perfect for a rental. I agree with TFT, parking is not required for a condo in LP (LP has permit parking)as long as it is at a low price point. 400K and above, require spots. I have a car, I use it once a week and park on the street with a permit like everyone else.
kp,
Speak for yourself. “We” don’t need parking. “I” prefer public transit and walking (even on the weekend) and couldn’t care less if a unit includes a parking space. One man’s deal-breaker is another man’s inexpensive home in a great location.
I’m in the market for real estate, not a delineated square of asphalt. I’ll only pay a premium for the former.
319K would be a decent price if there was no re-hab needed.
I have a car and park it unzoned/unmetered near work in LP but live in RN. has been working well for 4 months now. 0 tickets. no theft. Can’t afford $250/month in RN for parking…
A lot better than the $700+ in tickets i racked up when I tried to do the whole “day visitor pass” for a year when I first moved to Chi
I should’ve said, i take the CTA to/from work daily, but park my car in LP long term.
Why would you pay a premium for either?
Have lived for years in Chicago without a car, still don’t have one. I did own a car for a year while living in Edgewater (2002), but I drove it less than 200 miles a month…. Between parking, gas, insurance, and maintenance, it was such a waste of money. Now I use ZipCar once a month to meet my automotive needs…. So much cheaper that way, and besides, I can now live in a nicer place without having to worry about a parking space. I also get to justify having nicer toys (electronics) without carrying debt.
SRS 225.55 +48.72 (27.55%) up $20/share since i reported at 11:52.
Put yer $$ where yer mouth is if u think RE is still going down. don’t listen to my advice, I am not a professional)
Dave,
That is fine, I don’t think that all people are like me. I also don’t even think that people that don’t want parking spots are a “hilarious subset” of buyers.
I do, however, think that most professionals that are looking at buying places in the $400k+ range (which I grant you this particular unit is below) would want parking with their places.
Even if I didn’t have a car I would still think that this is something important to consider when looking. Why? Resale value. I don’t have kids and don’t plan on having any for a while still (around 5-10 years). Still, whenever I see a property I care about the schools because I know that when I want to sell the people that will want to buy my place will probably care.
I would never buy a unit in the city w/o parking. There are still more people moving to Chicago than leaving, so parking will be even more of a premium. I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels some comfort when you have to go out at night for something unexpected, and not have to worry about finding a parking spot, let alone one within 5 blocks of your building.
Permit parking is great, but if you value your car at all, or own it for that matter, I think I’d rather have a spot than risk it getting dinged every day by people who could care less.
Any unit in the city that comes w/o parking loses quite a large % of potential buyers right off the get go. I don’t think this unit will be any different.
I’m in that small subset – dual income couple, we both work in the Loop, take public trans to the office, have the higher price point condo, and don’t have a car. While I have no interest in owning a car (thankfully due to iGo & Zip) the spot is invaluable for having guests over, especially those with kids.
I used to live on Cleveland just south of Dickens. Parking in this area is absolute cake… especially on Mohawk. Shouldn’t be a problem for the sale. That said, I would definately prefer keeping the car in a garage spot both for the occassional theft (incredibly unlikely) and the snow… you can call me a yuppie if you want.
The likely issues are that it’s a tired unit, it’s tough to find an attractive loan right now with a nearly dead residential lending environment, buyer uncertainty (both justified and unjustified), massive amounts of inventory (both new and old) and its on Armitage….
The future:
CondoOwner:”Well last spring remember we were offering $750k and best bid we got was $700k so we decided to take the condo off the market and rent it at a $1500 a month loss until the market came back”. So where do you think we should re-list it now?
Realtor:”$560k” but I’ll reduce my commission to 5% and I’ll be right there after my shift at Wal Mart is over.
I haven’t had a car in 17 and don’t want one. I actually think more and more people are going to rely on Zip or Igo instead of owning a car. That said, I would be a little leery to buy a place without a space because you lose a lot of potential buyers when you want to sell.
Besides that and the updating needed in the kitchen and bathroom, the bedrooms look really narrow. I was trying to figure out how to reposition the bed but not sure it would fit against the back wall. Plus those grayed out windows are creepy. I might put drywall up to cover the one on the back wall. Drop the price.
This place needs better interior doors and cabinets, I think those are shades over the windows (otherwise really weird).
I too don’t own a car and use zipcar, but I do own a parking spot and rent it out. What I find amazing is that my renter pays $350.00 per month, the guy own a BMW X5 and is out of town on business 50% of the month. So the car sits their most of the time; it would probably be cheaper to take limos around the city when needed. Some people really know how to throw money away….
Valasko,
Good point. A lot of people don’t truly add up the costs of car ownership, and if you have a nicer car but don’t use it often you might be paying $25+ per trip between depreciation, insurance, parking, and loan interest (if applicable).
Of course, if you use the car often then it makes greater financial sense. Further, many people justifiably place a dollar value on the convenience of having a car downstairs they can hop in and go at a moment’s notice, and a further dollar value on the “prestige” or “pride” of owning their status symbol car (not unlike real estate, I guess). However, for many people, at $25 per trip would save both time and money by simply taking taxis everywhere and maybe making the occasional weekend rental as needed.
Having the extra space for visitors is indeed a very nice perk when living in a congested area. And it’s fully reasonable that lack of parking would diminish overall resale value of the place because many people need a car for whatever reason. But calling a lack of included parking a de facto deal-killer in a yuppie neighborhood with available permit parking and rental parking is pretty silly.
$25 per trip is just a sample one-way average … e.g. each way to and from the grocery store. Someone with a new Beamer who makes maybe 2 roundtrips per week will pay much more per trip. Obviously, merely driving downtown you’ll pay $25 to park, but even where parking is free at your destination (e.g. groceries) you’re still amortizing the depreciation, insurance, and home parking costs.
What amazes me is that in this city the cost of a parking space is as much as the cost of a car. So your car costs you twice what you think it does. Personally I believe that someday people will rethink this whole living in the city thing as they realize that there are a ton of hidden costs that really aren’t so hidden. Over time people will move to lower cost of living areas and businesses will migrate as well when they realize they are paying a premium for labor that needs higher pay to cover the higher costs.
Gary –
What amazes me is that people place so little value on their time and convenience. Personally, I’d like to believe that someday people will rethink this whole living in the suburbs thin as they realize that there are a tone of hidden costs that really aren’t so hidden. Taking an hour plus train or car ride to work everyday, takes an average 8 hour work day and stretches it into a 10 hour day. That is 25% more time devoted to work for the same pay, I don’t know about you, but for me, that loss is huge. I take a 10 minute bus ride or 10 minute train to work (It is nice having options by the way, unlike the situation if your car breaks down…) Door to door, my commute is typically 15 to 20 minutes. I can’t even imagine stretching that into hours upon hours of wasted time. The obsession with moving out to the suburbs for the jumbo house is a joke. City living isn’t nearly so expensive if you get your priorities right and realize what is really important. Maybe building your life around a car isn’t the best idea…?
If my experience in San Francisco is any prediction of the future here, there was a time when parking was easy in San Francisco, but is now impossible. When I bought my first condo, I had a garage before I had a car, and the space was worth about 15K more than other units in the building without parking. That garage space became quite valuable when I decided to sell, and deeded enclosed spaces in San Francisco are now worth close to 150K easily in better neighborhoods of high desnity. I can see the same value for parking increasing in Chicago over time. Whether you drive or not, when you go to “invest” in a condo purchase, wouldn’t you want a condo that has a better chance of someday selling and going up in value? Units with parking in this city are still a good value imho.
Red,
Please speak for yourself. My El ride is 45 mins door to desk, I live only 4.5 miles from work and I work with people who live in the burbs who actually have a shorter (and more comfortable) Metra ride and it covers over 20 miles. Making simplistic suburbs vs city comparisons is meaningless as there are numerous burbs and numerous city neighborhoods.
Also much of the job creation over the past two decades has been in the suburbs so I’m not sure we’re in for a grand paradigm shift quite yet.
Living near work or major mass transit hubs/highways however is a fantastic premium, something I put a lot of weight into and can’t be understated.
Morgan on the parking investment: Chicago is not SF. We don’t have the building height restrictions that SF has so parking high-rises can always be built. In fact I think one was built unintentionally called Waterview Tower.
It’s interesting. All of you are assuming that you have to live and work near a big city. If I had my pick of places I would go anywhere except the greater Boston, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and LA areas. I’ve lived in a lot of different places and the best quality of life I ever had was when I lived in Richmond, Virginia. I had a 3,000 square foot colonial home on an acre of land with a forest in my back yard that now goes for about $400K, maybe a bit more. It was at the end of a cul-de-sac and the kids played in the street. There was a pool in the community that everyone could walk to. It took me 15 minutes to drive to work, where I had a reserved parking space close to the building. Oh, and 25 degrees was an exceptionally cold day and it hardly ever snowed.
Come on guys. Think outside the box!
One other thing. You live in a place like Richmond and you can really sock away a ton of cash. Think early retirement.
Oh…and no potholes, very little traffic, no parallel parking, very little crime, and no corrupt aldermen. My wife actually left our garage door open several times for a few hours without consequences. She accidentally did that in Lakeview once for about one hour and two of our bicycles ended up in a garage where someone was living (yeah, in the garage) a couple of doors down from us.
And the local public school was awesome.
Morgan:
Isn’t it true that there are 2 cars for every 1 person in San Francisco now? Whose fault is that?
Parking is also a premium in San Francisco because SUVs won’t fit in many of the single family home garages there (believe it or not) so those cars have to be parked on the street even though they have a garage.
Brilliant.
Chicago doesn’t have the same density problems as SF (except in Lakeview, which is one of the densest neighborhoods in the United States.)
So you’re living in Chicago with a zillion things to do and you focus on the potholes, parking and aldermen? You’re in the wrong place, for sure.
When I hear your description of quality of life I think “family dominated suburbs far away from stuff in the South”. That is my nightmare.
Sounds nice as you describe it, but personally I will always prefer northern climates. Subtropical climates, especially the hot humid summers, would be unbearable for me. Lately I’ve been thinking Madison, Wisconsin might be the perfect place to live.
Gary Lucido:
I’ve lived in a lot of different places and the best quality of life I ever had was when I lived in Richmond, Virginia.
Hey Gary – Move then! What is keep ing you here?
To each his own. Personally I love a brisk walk or jog at 30F and enjoy being able to comfortably suit up in full regalia – and find the southern humidity unbearable for spending any amount of time outside doing anything other than chilling on the porch talking about how humid it is. I shvitz like a meshugenah when in a suit and tie anywhere south of the Ohio River. I’m happy to put up with the awful indignity of parallel parking to avoid that 🙂
In re: SF’s parking situation, the aforementioned are all true, but it’s also worth noting that something like 80-90% of San Francisco’s neighborhood land area are historic preservation districts, meaning very little is torn down or built (relative to Chicago, at least) – and much of what’s there was built in the days before off-street parking. In contrast, Chicago requires off-street parking for new construction – 1 space per unit, generally.
Gary I have a friend from the Richmond burbs and according to him crime is rampant in the city proper. He does have a nice big house and a nice motorcycle and a nice big truck and his wife has a nice car too (DINKs there live in big houses not Roscoe Village crapboxes I admit).
Unfortunately the credit crisis is hitting everyone these days, especially in their industry. I really hope it turns out okay for them.
Perhaps you’re referring to Midlothian or a burb of Richmond as I find it hard to believe its Richmond proper. Or maybe it was awhile ago. Richmond proper has went downhill over the years according to him.
Also Gary if you research Richmond housing prices you’ll find that they more closely resemble the northeast corridor now than they do the south or midwest.
The cost of housing is far cheaper in midwest cities like Cincinnati, Indianapolis or southern cities like Atlanta. Guess too many beltway blue-staters moved down the I95 corrider and infected it with idiot pricing. Maybe it will correct now.
I lived in the west end. It was city proper and had no crime. We used to leave our doors unlocked on the weekends and the kids would wander in and out of houses in the neighborhood. They actually played outside without requiring adults guarding them.
As for why I’m here, Steve…I moved here for a specific business opportunity. Once we cashed out I wanted to move but the kids were entrenched in school and didn’t want to move. I’m stuck here for a while. I do agree that if you have business in the city the suburbs are a tough trade-off. That’s why I live in the city, but not downtown and not in the high rent districts. I’m a value guy.
David (the first one) said:
“In re: SF’s parking situation, the aforementioned are all true, but it’s also worth noting that something like 80-90% of San Francisco’s neighborhood land area are historic preservation districts, meaning very little is torn down or built (relative to Chicago, at least) – and much of what’s there was built in the days before off-street parking.”
I’ve never heard that much of San Francisco is a historic district- let alone 80% to 90%. Don’t forget- it was all wiped away in the 1906 earthquake! Actually- most of San Francisco was built AFTER autos came around because of the quake.
Most of the Sunset District, for instance, was built after WWII as housing for war veterans. Almost every single home in that neighborhood has a garage.
There is plenty of new construction in San Francisco, but the land costs and the permitting hassles prevent it from being as prevalent as in Chicago.
there are also issues with high rise construction in SF, having lived in SF for a couple of years, the city is basically an overrated POS
The parking shortage in San Francisco is mostly political. Various planning-zoning codes are now in place that PREVENT developers from providing parking in many new condo projects in San Francisco. As an example, a 300 unit tower may only have 120 parking spaces, the hope was that it would force people to give up their cars and use public transit more. What happened for the most part was that people would keep their cars but park them nearby on the street or in private garages.
My point was that I could see over time where in a city like Chicago that outlaws Fois Gras, there could come a day when they begin to limit developers ability to provide parking in new projects because of “traffic, pollution, etc.” This will make units with deeded parking even more valuable over time, as is the case in San Francisco.
I agree with Sartre, SF is “basically an overated POS”, but there are some disturbing trends in Chicago government that remind me of some of the nonsense that goes on in San Francisco City Hall.
Sabrina,
Well yeah, Sunset was basically the last part of SF proper to be developed, and it was mostly post-1920s – with the 1920s being the key turning point in the mass automobile era.
Check out the following:
http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/planning/preservation/PresBulletin10DISTRICTS.PDF
For a list of the historical districts. It’s basically the entire “old” city that still existed as of around the 1980s when the districts were widely established. As of 1998, the list of neighborhoods that are historical preservation/conservation districts is long enough that I won’t bother to copy/paste them here in the interest of space.
my experience has been that most buyers looking for 1 beds and esp 2 beds and above look for the parking space. something less than half of them actually have cars but they all say “i want the space resale” Resale most likely to another carless buyer. its kind of a self fulfilling myth. studio buyers don’t generally seem to care/own cars.
SF is overpriced. the magic of the city is gone. its all rich dbags fighting over parking now
valasko –
“I too don’t own a car and use zipcar, but I do own a parking spot and rent it out. What I find amazing is that my renter pays $350.00 per month, the guy own a BMW X5 and is out of town on business 50% of the month. So the car sits their most of the time; it would probably be cheaper to take limos around the city when needed. Some people really know how to throw money away….”
Should someone who bought an overpriced glass box in 2008 really cast stones?
“Well yeah, Sunset was basically the last part of SF proper to be developed, and it was mostly post-1920s – with the 1920s being the key turning point in the mass automobile era.”
This applies to Chicago as well, to a greater or lesser extent – the Bungalow Belt was built with garages provided with the houses. This is thanks to the planning decision to allow alleys, which eliminates the front garage doors you find in SF both retrofits in 1880’s and 1890’s areas and post fire areas and the outer Boroughs of NYC (which have some particularly bad – and hideous – 1920s solutions to the garage problem).
G, who know what the future holds. I own a home with no mortgage, better off than most of america. I made my money in realestate 10 years ago an sold off most of my property 5 years ago. My realestate holdings are less than 25% of my net worth. Comparing realestate to the holding cost of a car is comparing apples with oranges.
Wow, I missed quite the conversation.
My original comment was really just an attempt to point out that there ARE people who don’t need a car and/or don’t need a parking space. And they aren’t a “hilarious subset” or “unrealistic hipsters.” I myself have lived in east lake view for 6 years (I rent) and have had a car only for the last two years. I don’t use my car much and use street parking. No complaints here: it is both possible and in fact not all that inconvenient.
I understand that the majority of buyers looking at 400K places probably want in-unit parking. But there are certain neighborhoods in which people are willing to give that amenity up, and there are buyers for units without parking out there.
I also agree with those who say that parking will become a more scarce commodity in the years to come. In that sense, buying a unit with parking is a good investment. But there is another side to that, as well. As parking becomes more scarce and more of a luxury item, more people will have to accept a parking/car-free lifestyle. In other words: the pool of buyers who don’t expect parking will go up.
I think that once prices readjust to more reasonable levels, a place like this without a parking spot will look pretty good to a certain class of buyers. That pattern will repeat throughout the city.
Why? They are both depreciating assets.
I’m not sure what the point was of bringing up your personal endowment. Was it something along the lines of “real estate always goes up?”
G, My opinion on realestate is not much differnet than yours. But based on what the government is currently doing- printing money, hyper-inflation is option on the table. If this happens your money in the bank will become worthless while realestate will hold up better. And yes personal networth has impact on an investment strategy and asset allocation. If you have no assets I would not advise that anyone buy realestate now. Short term realestate maybe a depreciating asset, but over a longer period of time it typically is not, but I can gaurantee you that a car is a depreciating asset over the same period of time. There is no comparision in my mind.
Valasko, the government is not printing money. (Yet.)
“For a list of the historical districts. It’s basically the entire “old” city that still existed as of around the 1980s when the districts were widely established.”
Yeah, Alcatraz, the piers and the cable cars plus the presidio and GG park and a small streatch of the Mission plus maybe half the area east of Van Ness and north of 16th is “80-90%” of EsEff’s ‘hoods. Maybe 80-90% of the tourist areas, but it’s well less than a quarter of the city and can’t be even 10% of the residential areas.
I could never give up my car. I live just 3.5 miles from my office in River North. I still have to drive to work because public transportation takes 45 minutes whereas driving takes 15 minutes. Having a car is a financial sacrifice for me, but I love the freedom of having a car far more than the money I would save by not having one.
I would consider buying a place without parking only if the street parking was plentiful. I’m probably in the minority here, but I would give up a bedroom before I gave up a parking spot.
For $319,000, I would except a kitchen with mid-grade cabinets, granite counter tops, and newer appliances. The wood floors and built in bookcases are beautiful though.
Kenworthey,
The government has been printing money for years which was being funded by the Chinese. The question is are they going to increase this to a level which destablizes our currency. At some point the world will stop funding america’s excesses.
Jenny,
Spot on! People like Dave, TftInChi, & Wiker, essentiall the anti-car crowd: really don’t have any idea the amount of inconvenience public transit in Chicago is. I always think it funny those who so vehemently espouse public transportation are often either those who don’t use it or those with menial jobs without a lot of time constraints on them.
The truth is Chicago mass transit STINKs if getting to your destination efficiently and quickly is a priority.
C’mon hipsters bring the noise: I’ve got facts and reality on my side and you have a failed ideaology.
Can they even print enough to make up for the massive deleveraging?
I don’t think so,
Printing money is a bad idea! Always is, always will be.
KP.. there goes the 775 SPX bounce. s/b buying it all here but I will not and probably get this one wrong.
Yeah, when we didn’t get any afternoon rally yesterday I was really interested to see what would happen today.
Went right down to the 776 and now have came back (a wee bit).
The question now is real support or dead-cat bounce? The next week or so will be real interesting (although how much of a signal we can get assuming weak volume b/c of Thanksgiving is worth noting).
Back to the property , if we may ? The BRs look really small, small window in BR2, awkward broken wall shape in BR1, is the surface below standard ? Not to mention rental kitchen, and is this the entry door right opposite the bar ? Re parking, what would prevent a buyer to purchase a parking space nearby ? I am struck by the debate parking/no parking as if there was no middle way ?
Textbook say close eyes and buy. Textbook say we go thru here and time to sell apples on street.
I am hearing almost every shop and every fund simultaneously firing right now. Anyone want a nice apartment on top of Hyatt at Water Tower. Was owned by a nice 32 year old from Citadel looking for any bid to get out.. 360 Spyder included… LOL
Its going to get far worse before it gets better.
Everyone buckle-up for the ride.
Bob, you are quite a piece of work. You’ve got the facts and anyone that thinks that the CTA is a viable mode of transportation is a “hipster.” Gotta love anonymous communication on the internet!
Listen, I’m not a hipster. I don’t know what the f’ that even means. I’ve lived in East Lake View for 7 years and have owned a car for 2. I rent. I’ve never had a parking spot and quite honestly, don’t think I really need one. I use my car, but don’t need it or use it to commute. I *gasp* take the train/bus to work.
I work at a small company and none of the 15 or so people I work with drive to work. Unsurprisingly, maybe, none of us are really “rich”. 4-5 come from the suburbs and take metra, the rest live in the city and take the CTA. Our office is located in River North. I’ve worked for several other companies in the loop and the ONLY people who drove to work at these 200+ employee firms were the really well-off: partners, traders, etc. Let me tell you, they weren’t buying 400K condos.
Again, I am not deluding myself that I am an “everyman” and everyone’s situation is the same as mine. But I do think that there are a lot of people in a similar situation to me: choosing where to live based on the ability to commute to work and the type of lifestyle the area provides. Do you really think my situation is so uncommon?
Try coming down off your high horse and actually listening to those of us in our “hilarious subset”…us “hipsters.” Not all of us are anti-car activists. In fact, most of us just can’t afford $15 a day for parking in and around the loop and the general upkeep of a car. The CTA serves us folks just fine. If you can afford the cost of driving and parking your car every day: congrats. I’d call you a hilarious subset or rich snob…but that would just be mean and pointless, wouldn’t it? But then again, this is the interwebs. Maybe I just need to get in on the name calling…
Everyone should be forced to ride bicycles from April to October. Widen up the lakeshore path to 5 car lanes wide… Would solve so many problems.
“Everyone should be forced to ride bicycles from April to October. Widen up the lakeshore path to 5 car lanes wide… Would solve so many problems.”
Don’t need to widen the path–just use Lake Shore Drive.
Nicest thing about Chicago, to me, was that bike path.
anon (tfo),
This argument will ultimately be circular. The congested areas of SF (from a parking standpoint) are precisely those where there is no hope of ever alleviating the parking situation because of the historical conservation restrictions.
SF has outer areas with ample off-street and on-street parking – just like Chicago. But the fact you can park in Sunset doesn’t help when looking for parking in Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Pacific Heights, Haight Ashbury, etc. – just like ample parking in Gage Park doesn’t help much for someone parking at Clark/Broadway.
I think I meant to say that historical conservation districts apply to 80-90% of the residential areas wherein parking is a problem. True, it’s not strictly 80-90% of SF’s overall land area (though if I can find the map I have in mind you’ll be shocked just how large it is). But that’s still distinct from Chicago, wherein even in congested areas (e.g. Streeterville, Gold Coast, even Lincoln Park) the gradual drip-drip of new developments adds more off-street parking spaces. For example, the new highrise at Sheridan/Oakdale in Lakeview is being approved with not only off-street parking spaces for units in the building, but spaces for rent available to surrounding residents. Such things are, well, very rare in the congested parts of SF.
Other than SoMa and maybe some parts of Mission, I’m not sure where SF is really allowing anything resembling unrestricted development on a large scale.
Anyway this is all seriously OT…
Valasko, selling treasuries (going into debt) is NOT the same thing as printing money. If the government literally does start printing money, rather than borrowing it, welcome to Zimbabwe. That’s not going to happen–the Chinese would go to war with us first.
“I’m not sure where SF is really allowing anything resembling unrestricted development on a large scale”
They aren’t, they never did, and they never will. They aren’t allowing it in SoMa or the Mission, either. Your fundamentally right, but the hyperbole/typo-by-omission of “80-90% of [sf] neighborhood land area” was too much.
I do think you underestimate the parking problem out in the Avenues. Almost the entire city has constrained parking, in part b/c of the small lots and the existance of curbcut driveways leaving little space for legal on-street parking in outer areas and the (current) high price of land making surface parking lots (don’t try to build a single-use parking garage in SF) prohibitively expensive.
Kenworthey,
Agreed; but what if China stops buying our treasuries. Which could be a reality soon- who will fund this ongoing bailout? What has currently been allocated doesn’t seem to be enough. I beleive soon all countries will become somewhat protectionist and stop buying foreign debt. If this happens it will get very ugly.
I’ve been so busy at work I don’t get a chance to post. So many good topics!
Cars: I lived in Chicago near Loyola and in various other parts of the city near the (red & brown) el for nine years without a car. Feasible? Yes. Impractical at times? Definitely. I was younger then and I often relied on others with cars to get stuff done. And I also spent a lot of money on cabs.
I rode the el 5x a week to and from downtown to get to my part-time jobs and once in a while on the weekends. During the summers I biked around and in the winters it was cabs. It was easier because my friends all lived in the neighborhoods where I could walk/bike/cab to with relative ease. Now that I have a full-time job with responsibilities I couldn’t live without my car.
Even now my car sits in front of my apartment 5 days weeks and gets used only on weekends when I go to the grocery store, target or go out to eat. But every so often (like the last few days) I’m traveling all over the county and a car is a necessity. And on those days the oversized lots and few rentals means rock star parking everyday. If I have to walk more than 60 or 70 feet to get to my car I get irked.
Ze: What’s the story about the 32 year old from Citadel? Is that fictitious or based on information and belief?
Someone else will buy our treasuries. It’s considered the safest place in the world to put money and the yields reflect that. I think people realize that America will weather the worldwide economic storm better than most other places in the world. Which isn’t saying much but at the end of the day people still want to live here as compared to most of the third-world hellholes on this planet.
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valasko on November 20th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Kenworthey,
Agreed; but what if China stops buying our treasuries. Which could be a reality soon- who will fund this ongoing bailout? What has currently been allocated doesn’t seem to be enough. I beleive soon all countries will become somewhat protectionist and stop buying foreign debt. If this happens it will get very ugly.
“Ze: What’s the story about the 32 year old from Citadel? Is that fictitious or based on information and belief?”
First, the “32 year old” is now 40 years old.
I also am curious about that earlier post as well. The penthouse Ze refers to is of course owned by Ken Griffin, and I know first hand that over 13 million was spent on interior work alone, and have heard nothing about any planned or un-planned moves. I will say it is perhaps the most well detailed contemporary penthouse interior in the city. If you ever get an invitation to see it, do NOT pass it up. If there any money problems in the Griffin household, they could just sell one of the Degas, Cezannes, or the recently purchased 60 million dollar Jasper Johns painting, that are hung on the walls.
TftInChi,
I don’t drive to work either, thankfully. If my downtown parking tab was paid for I probably would. Sorry didn’t mean to offend I guess I didn’t have enough caffeine and was trying to bait. Idealists are so much easier to bait.
I’m not really rich either (far from it) but a basic car in this city doesn’t cost much. I guess its all about priorities-my job bounces around and goes to suburbs at times so a car is a must. And lets not forget the ability to get to places cheaply not within a stone’s throw of El or Metra stops. Some days of the week I hang out in different neighborhoods in the city, using my car to get there.