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Die, die, monster home! Die! (McMansions)
CNN ^ | 8/18/05 | Les Christie

Posted on 08/20/2005 3:41:23 PM PDT by lowbridge

The American home is getting bigger. And fatter. And, to some, uglier. Now, towns are fighting back.

Chevy Chase, Md., an upscale suburb of Washington, recently announced a six-month moratorium on home construction to make time to examine how to deal with the proliferation of oversized single-family houses.

Call them what you will -- starter castles, McMansions, monster homes -- these houses have become increasingly visible in metropolitan landscapes. Many residents hate them.

Todd Hoffman, town manager, said that more than 500 Chevy Chasers, a significant number in a community of just over 1,000 homes, signed a petition expressing their "concern about the effects of 'mansionization.'"

Folks in Chevy Chase aren't alone.

New York city councilman Tony Avella from Bayside in Queens, led a rezoning effort last April that combats the trend. He said, "Overdevelopment is the No. 1 issue in my district. It comes up more than education or police protection."

The Los Angeles city council recently passed an ordinance that limits home size in the Sunlund-Tujunga area.

New Canaan, Conn., enacted regulations this year that limit the height of new houses. Nearby Greenwich and Westport have similar rules under consideration.

Other opposition has surfaced in Boston, the Chicago suburbs and the Bay Area in California.

What's the big deal? Are these new homes really so gargantuan that they should attract such fear and loathing?

Back in 1950, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the average new house clocked in at 963 square feet. By 1970, that figure had swollen to 1,500 square feet.

Today's average: 2,400 square feet. One in five are more than 3,000 square feet.

Oddly, as houses expanded, the number of household members shrank, from 3.1 people in 1971 to 2.6 people today. The average building-lot size contracted also...

(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: homes; housing; mcmansions
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There's also a poll on the CNN page:

1. Do you think American homes have gotten too big?

Yes 71%
No 29%

total responses to this question: 21219

1 posted on 08/20/2005 3:41:24 PM PDT by lowbridge
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To: lowbridge

How pathetic have we become when we worry about other peoples houses being too big?


2 posted on 08/20/2005 3:43:54 PM PDT by Dreagon
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To: lowbridge

The liberals (socialists) would rather everyone live in mud huts than have a few people living in mansions.


3 posted on 08/20/2005 3:44:45 PM PDT by burzum
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To: Dreagon

Think of the children.

Or

It's Bush's fault.


4 posted on 08/20/2005 3:44:50 PM PDT by Rastus (How come you're so wrong, my sweet DemonRAT?)
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To: lowbridge

I didn't see a question asking, "Do you intend to move to a smaller home this year?" in the Communist News Network poll.


5 posted on 08/20/2005 3:46:58 PM PDT by Lunkhead_01
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To: lowbridge

Who am I to tell someone what to do with their money and on their own land?


6 posted on 08/20/2005 3:47:34 PM PDT by mtbopfuyn (Legality does not dictate morality... Lavin)
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To: mtbopfuyn
"Who am I to tell someone what to do with their money and on their own land?"

I know, a supreme court justice.

7 posted on 08/20/2005 3:49:53 PM PDT by lstanle
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To: lowbridge

The problem with these houses, is not only are they big, but they're built like shyt.


8 posted on 08/20/2005 3:50:30 PM PDT by bikepacker67
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To: lowbridge

WHO GIVES A CRAP!!! If people have money to build big, then build big. Rediculous.


9 posted on 08/20/2005 3:50:39 PM PDT by vpintheak (Liberal = The antithesis of Freedom and Patriotism)
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To: lowbridge
Do you think American homes have gotten too big?

That depends on how much land you have to put them on.

If your cat jumps out of your bedroom window and lands in your neighbor's kitchen sink, then both of your houses are too damn big.

10 posted on 08/20/2005 3:50:51 PM PDT by Polybius
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To: lowbridge
WTH? This is wealth envy gone nuts... My money (i wish)
My land
My house.

As long as it conforms to pre-existing zoneing laws who's business is it if its huge and expensive.

All that money went into the local building economy, and all the property tax goes to the local government.

Where's the beef?

I'll tell you where: Rich Guy's big house makes Regular Joe's little house look small and cheap. This is ultimately penis envy carried to an extreme.

11 posted on 08/20/2005 3:52:14 PM PDT by konaice
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To: lowbridge
While I was building my house the guy came to put the gas line in for the furnace. He told me about a house that he had piped with 8 boilers. One of which was used for heating the driveway when it snowed. The irony is that I had to fill out and complete a Model Energy Home worksheet proving that I had properly insulated my home to reduce energy waste.

My wife wanted a 2900sq ft house. I told her, "I don't want to hear you complain when it comes time to clean it."

It's a bit too big but we felt that if it was smaller it would sustain its value in the surrounding market of homes that are now 3500 sq ft or bigger.

12 posted on 08/20/2005 3:53:10 PM PDT by raybbr
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To: lowbridge

The city will surely collect more property taxes on a 3500 sq foot house than they will on a 1500 sq foot home. Must be a jealousy thing.


13 posted on 08/20/2005 3:53:18 PM PDT by Normal4me
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To: Polybius

No...your lots are too small. That's the real problem, IMO...the "smart growth" advocates are forcing tiny lot sizes.


14 posted on 08/20/2005 3:53:26 PM PDT by B Knotts
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To: lowbridge

This sounds like a lot of nonsense unless you live in a town where McMansions are being built. We moved out of Ridgefield, Connecticut partly because McMansions were going up on small plots of land all over town. The standard plot in Fairfield county is two acres, but these houses damn near covered the whole thing. And the owners mostly had one or two children, but evidently they needed their exercise rooms, jacuzzis, etc., etc. It's a shame to see a lovely New England village turned into yuppieville.


15 posted on 08/20/2005 3:55:13 PM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Dreagon

It's not that. Those huge things also have a huge price. Affordable housing isn't being built because everyone wants to make a big profit during the bubble. If you want a house, you have to buy a monster that a lot of people can barely afford. What's going to happen when the bottom falls out? And a lot of these huge boxes are without character. House after house that are look-a-like boxes that few can truly afford.


16 posted on 08/20/2005 3:55:51 PM PDT by DJ MacWoW (If you think you know what's coming next....You don't know Jack.)
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To: Polybius

Lol. Have a friend who does grading work for Pulte Homes. He saved up and bought a big Massey-Ferguson tractor with all the bells and whistles and then found out that the homes only had a five foot easment to the side property line. He had to sell it and buy a little Bobcat tractor. :-)


17 posted on 08/20/2005 3:57:27 PM PDT by Normal4me
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To: lowbridge

The problem in Chevy Chase, MD (and nearby areas like Potomac, Bethesda, and parts of Northwest Washington) is that the underlying value of the actual land has increased to such a level that it isn't really economically viable to build a modest home anymore.


18 posted on 08/20/2005 4:00:16 PM PDT by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: B Knotts
No...your lots are too small. That's the real problem, IMO...the "smart growth" advocates are forcing tiny lot sizes.

Not where we are. Every town around is zoned 2 acres or more.

19 posted on 08/20/2005 4:00:25 PM PDT by raybbr
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To: mtbopfuyn
Who am I to tell someone what to do with their money and on their own land?

If it's two-stories-with-a-full-attic, painted a horrible pastel color, set exactly on the minimum side clearance from your property line, and not landscaped, you sure as hell DO have a right to make yourself heard in front of the ZONING BOARD before the monstrosity is BUILT.

About 3/4 mile away from me they seeded a whole bunch of McMansions on a new dead-end street: 80'x125' lots (quarter acre), barely 30' between houses, all plastic-sided, some built on SLABS 'cause they're on top of otherwise-unbuildable ledge, and the ONLY two adjoining property holders that got relief (in the form of a 40' wide heavily screened/planted visual barrier) were the two that SHOWED UP at the ONLY Zoning Board meeting they HAD for the 17-house development.

The OTHER (non-attending) adjoining property holders GOT SQUAT.

20 posted on 08/20/2005 4:00:39 PM PDT by solitas (So what if I support an OS that has fewer flaws than yours? 'Mystic' dual 500 G4's, OSX.4.2)
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