The Argument Against More Suburban Housing Development
If you need proof that the continuing suburban development of the American landscape has to stop, don't bother to read about the subprime mortgage crisis. Take a look at this picture, photographed in North Caldwell, New Jersey, fabled home of the Sopranos, and you'll have all the proof you need.
The Hilltop - an undeveloped portion of Essex County, New Jersey shared by the towns of North Caldwell, Verona, and Cedar Grove - was owned by the county for decades, where a tuberculosis sanitarium once stood. When that disease gave way to antibiotics, much of the Hilltop was on the verge of being sold to developers, but a good deal of it was preserved as open space. But not all of it.
A new housing development, built along the fringes of the Hilltop, was started last year in North Caldwell by the K. Hovnanian company. The plan is to build several upscale houses - McMansions - for eager upper-middle-class buyers. It's not working out so well. After over a year, only three houses have been started. None of them have been finished as of this posting. This is one of them.
The portable toilet is a nice touch, no? :-p
This portion of land was sold by Essex County to balance the county budget, rather than being included in the newly formed Hilltop Reservation. There are already enough starter castles in northwestern Essex County, and Hovnanian - who has ruined the landscape of New Jersey with their cookie-cutter houses and Army-barrack-style townhouses - seems hell-bent on building more than enough. What we have here is supply of houses for which there is a lack of demand.
The Argument Against More Suburban Housing Development
If you need proof that the continuing suburban development of the American landscape has to stop, don't bother to read about the subprime mortgage crisis. Take a look at this picture, photographed in North Caldwell, New Jersey, fabled home of the Sopranos, and you'll have all the proof you need.
The Hilltop - an undeveloped portion of Essex County, New Jersey shared by the towns of North Caldwell, Verona, and Cedar Grove - was owned by the county for decades, where a tuberculosis sanitarium once stood. When that disease gave way to antibiotics, much of the Hilltop was on the verge of being sold to developers, but a good deal of it was preserved as open space. But not all of it.
A new housing development, built along the fringes of the Hilltop, was started last year in North Caldwell by the K. Hovnanian company. The plan is to build several upscale houses - McMansions - for eager upper-middle-class buyers. It's not working out so well. After over a year, only three houses have been started. None of them have been finished as of this posting. This is one of them.
The portable toilet is a nice touch, no? :-p
This portion of land was sold by Essex County to balance the county budget, rather than being included in the newly formed Hilltop Reservation. There are already enough starter castles in northwestern Essex County, and Hovnanian - who has ruined the landscape of New Jersey with their cookie-cutter houses and Army-barrack-style townhouses - seems hell-bent on building more than enough. What we have here is supply of houses for which there is a lack of demand.