Posted on 12/27/2005 12:32:06 PM PST by Cagey
HAYWARD, California (AP) -- Developers looking to maximize the marketability of their homes are complaining about the city's street address rules, which they claim can scare off buyers who practice the ancient Chinese art of feng shui.
Under a numbering system established by Alameda County in the 1950s, addresses are assigned based on how far the homes are from downtown Oakland, a method that puts five digits on almost every mailbox in Hayward and other cities in the county.
The numbers have always been hard to remember, but home builders recently raised concerns that they may decrease property values because the odds are greater that an address will carry a number considered unlucky by feng shui practitioners.
Feng shui holds that the way buildings are designed can affect the fortunes and health of inhabitants.
"Now developers are saying, 'Why do we have to do it this way?'" Sylvia Ehrenthal, Hayward's director of economic and community development, told The Oakland Tribune for a Monday story. "There are some numbers people don't like to have in their address."
City Council members, five of whom live at addresses with numbers that start in the 20,000 range, voted unanimously last week to allow the builders of an upscale development to use shorter street numbers. In seeking the waiver, the builders cited convenience concerns as well as the potential for violating feng shui precepts, according to Richard Patenaude, Hayward's principal planner.
Real estate agent Lisa Coen, of nearby Pleasanton, who also runs a feng shui consulting firm, said she has advised developers on how to make homes attractive to buyers who would not want to live at the end of a cul-de-sac or where a door opens onto a staircase.
"It does matter to some people. It really does matter," Coen said. "They won't buy a house ... if the number's not right."
Most buildings don't have a 13th floor. I know it seems silly to many Americans that asians would find numbers significant, but it's not like the western world hasn't been doing for a significant amount of time.
As the wealthy Asian from China flees Communist control - I would venture a guess any city in China has bad feng shui...
Now they are saying homes in California have it?
Let's revise feng shui to American Way and stop this stupidity of buying into every nuance the Asian will place
on Occidental living habits.
Compare the two societies - which is the most successful???
Imagine this great country has been built without any consideration for feng shui, tarot cards, iris reading, skull bumps, zen, and puff the magic dragon as carpenter in residence!!!
"my hubby's cell # starts with 666"
Folsom? Soledad? San Quentin..?....snicker snort chortle..:)
heh heh - busted!
It's so ridiculous. Like the mysterious powers in charge of all the superstitious calamities don't know that the floor called 14 is really 13???? Ya gotta love the science behind this thinking.
It has to be Feng Shui or the highway...
LOL - I agree but there are a lot of people that just wouldn't want to set up offices on a floor numbered 13. The market for floors numbered 13 is lower than that of other floors so building owners are smart to skip over it.
But does he make a great Peking Duck?
I never knew that. I believe it though.
"You must hire my cousin. He is feng shui expert. Very good. Cheap, too.
But does he make a great Peking Duck?"
I would like to look up the actual Chinese word in my Xinhua dictionary. I've been to dozens of websites and not a single one has the actual Chinese phrase "feng shui."
Well here in the US, the asian population is pretty darn successful but that is irrelevant.
What is relevant is that the market value of house is a function of the demand. If an area has a significant asian population, the demand for a house will be lower if it has major feng shui issues.
If the changes to the homes to make them feng shui friendly are minor then why not make them so that the demand for home will be higher which will result in a higher selling price - even if a feng shui following asian doesn't end up being the ultimate buyer.
A developer building new homes in an area with a significant asian population would make a huge mistake to not make minor changes to make the homes more marketable.
A home with a ladder permanently affixed on the house in front of the main entrance might not seem like a bad idea but it would chase away a lot of American buyers.
Only 5 dorrahs, no more!
Hmmm, sounds like the chinese word for Kwanzaa...
Enough! Stop! Go to kitchen! Bring food!
You go Now!!
Then they'll go somewhere and buy a house where it IS right. Sheesh!
Sensible reply - thank you.
I however am not about to see the sense in catering to Asian or any other "ethnic" necessaries. The Asians purchasing homes in the U.S. are wealthy because they live within a huge family group and are willing to put with a different life style in order to attain their wealth. Good for them and I admire it.
Take for example - Orthodox Jews have many necessaries to accomplish their lifestyle. How many homes do you see developers building with two separate kosher kitchens? They probably provide for the added appliances and storage in their kitchens, but would normally provide the accepted by the majority "regular" appliance spaces and cupboards.
Let's not get foolish over Asian feng shui please... is no more than superstition. If an Asian is so serious about this lifestyle - then he can make his own adjustments, or purchase a singular home before it is completed to add the
demands of the practitioner.
I think it is rot myself. Live a good life, do no harm to others, be honest and hardworking. Feng shui not necessary to bring "good luck"..... good luck is a state of mind not some bed facing window kind of stuperstition.
The U.S. is becoming a sucker for all these weird demands.
The first thing an Asian family must ask is: Are there good schools for my family? Is the neighborhood one where there is little crime? Are there spaces for outdoor community living? Are the homes well kept? Are there any pedophiles located in the neighborhood? Are there places of worship nearby for my family? What the heck else?
It is called the AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE....it has worked well.
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