Musings on the Transformations Around Me

Like life, my neighborhood changes over time. Homes transfer ownership. New people spend weeks and sometimes months renovating, redecorating, refurbishing. Or they tear down a fine old home – one that needs updating, but has a warmness and positive vibe not easily duplicated – and build a larger building, a three or four-story house that covers the property, a sterile structure yearning for the comforts and feel of a lived-in space.

But I have learned larger, leaner, more expensive, modern, sleek is the way to go today. 

I walk around my community, or in hot weather sit on my porch, and observe my community. Babies grow into teenagers and leave home, cute puppies grow large and enjoy the attention of fellow dog lovers while avoiding devious young boys. Cats sit on window sills and peek between curtains as humans and other creatures go about their lives. 

Four homes recently acquired new owners. Coincidence, but an interesting happening, and a trend in my town. Sell high, take the money, and move on.

One resident retired and moved to the Arizona desert. We – his neighbors – think he is crazy, but he packed up his daughter, his gun collection, three cats, and drove away. The new owner gutted the place. He installed new siding, a mix of blue, beige, and pink, an improvement from the previous grey-white, built a balcony on the second floor, and replaced overgrown shrubs with trimmed bushes and flowers. Inside a new kitchen, flooring, freshly painted walls grace the house, with upgraded electric and plumbing systems. The owner’s extended Italian family visits frequently. The adults spend days working on the house while the younger ones flee to the beach. They all enjoy evening barbecues in the driveway. 

After sitting dormant and slowly deteriorating for over five years, another house is lived in again. New owners swapped overgrown weeds for eye-appealing greenery that, so far, are cared for. New paint, a fixed fence, hanging plants, a car in the driveway, and folks enjoying snacks on the porch – signs of life welcomed. 

A developer bought a house vacated by a woman who relocated to an assisted living facility. The developer replaced everything from floors to the roof, inside and out, to create a renewed, clean appearance. Neighbors walked through the house this weekend during an open house and remarked on the transformation, discussed the outlandish price (it won’t sell for that much…I guess they start high and leave negotiating room…how long will it be on the market at that price?…what is my house worth?), and wondered when a new family would move in. Will they be part-timers or full-time residents?

Another home, a duplex, also recently transferred hands. Both apartments are rented, and there has been no change in the building’s appearance. 

I wait for the next house to sell and hope new owners do not knock it down. I like the ambiance on my street, a mix of small to mid-size two-story homes built mid-20^th century. Unfortunately a slew of bathrooms, the more the better nowadays, was not a priority at the time. Folks want a lot of bedrooms and bathrooms, storage and closets, a sizable kitchen, and open space. I guess families post-World War II were content with a roof over their heads and didn’t mind sharing a bathroom. 

Life changes and neighborhoods change to accommodate new generations. I wonder if my house, and I, will become an anachronism, an old lady sitting on her rundown porch in an Adirondack chair watching the world go by.

Uh oh…that describes me! I am already a relic of a bygone era.