God-honouring property development?
For the last ten years or more, many homeowners in
To an outsider who’s never done this, it looks like a simple, surefire way to make money: chop down a few trees, level your yard if necessary, whack up a fence, plonk down a house, and sell it for a packet.
Over the same period, another, larger-scale area of property development has boomed—retirement villages. My grandparents live in one, together with a few hundred other ‘seniors’, in what used to be a paddock.
It’s sad and curious that these two trends are occurring side-by-side: we’re downsizing our blocks so that we can make money out of strangers living in what once were our yards; at the same time, we’re shipping off our grandparents to homogeneous villages that are almost fully self-contained.
An alternative?
How about a return to the horribly named granny flats? Looking after the elderly rather than making money. Radical. Or, to guesthouses, so that more visitors from out-of-town—or those who live in-town and need a bed—have a place to stay?
posted by Sauntering Walker at 6:25 PM
5 Comments:
Chris,
A self contained village without the worry of large lawns to mow, gardening and maintenance must sound pretty good to someone with arthritis or a walking frame.
I'd much rather spend my later retirement years surrounded by likeminded people playing bowls, Canasta (you know you do to…), and sitting by the pool in my Speedos tanning my old wrinkled leathery skin. The thought of waiting around watching Dr Phil in a dark little granny flat at the back of my future children’s house in the suburbs, waiting for them to finish work for some social interaction, doesn't sound like a day best spent to me. (Sentence needs some grammatical editing – thanks)
The granny-flat for in/out of towner’s is not such a bad idea though. Your lounge room floor on a swag works just as well though.
Previous post re: Helpful Hints – don’t think I’d ever imagined you so upset about something! Just like to add that I too am one of those people you despise. I send birthday and Christmas cards with little personal notes to existing clients for the sole purpose future revenue…tell me what you really think! Have I gone to far?
Why not just buy both halves of a split block and install granny in one half? She then has her independance while still being close, and when she has to go into a nursing home or passes away, her house can be sold, or rented out, without disturbing the original house. Just building another house on the same title seems rather limiting.
Is the issue more one of our society's infatuation with youth and vitality (eg hiding all symptoms of decay)? Perhaps another underlying issue is whether we really love people.
On another note, Chris, your suggestion might make some economic sense... I've learned recently that retirement village placements are valued in the hundreds of thousands range!
C'mon Chris more blogging. Almost a month already.
Hey if you want to borrow that Quarterly Essay just drop me a line.
Finally, some long-overdue responses…
Jeremy: I think your first point about how a low-maintenance home in a retirement village would sound attractive to an ailing old person is a good one. Your second point about the opportunities for social interaction and physical activities that retirement villages provide is also fair. I know my grandparents enjoy weekly dinners and drinks, darts and craft (yes darts) and the like.
However, I wonder whether the picture you paint of life in a retirement village comes out of a glossy brochure – just the picture many village proprietors want us to have. For example, the pool at my grandparents’ village is indoor, which isn’t too good for the tanning. And the decorative pond got algae in it, so it has recently been filled in. And from what I hear the ‘small-country-town-
syndrome’ – everyone knowing and talking about everyone else’s business – is common in villages.
My point: I’m sure life in a retirement village, as with life everywhere else, has its ups-and-downs.
Similarly, I thought you depicted a bit of a worst-case scenario for life in a granny flat – dark, lonely and stuck in front of the TV. Again, I’ve known cases of people in granny flats who are involved in community activities, gardening, and travel – and generally enjoy life.
Blandwagon: your suggestion makes sense; and if by “building another house on the same title seems rather limiting” you mean subdividing would make more money, I think you’re right.
Sandy: I think you’re at the heart of the matter when you write that the underlying issue is whether we really love people. Which leads me to…
Something that was underyling my initial comments: Namely, the verse from the bible that says: “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim 4:8).
When I think about responsibilities towards the elderly – or more specifically, toward my parents as they grow older – these words from the bible trouble me. (In the sort of way that loving my neighbour troubles me so often!)
As the words were written to Christians, I realise it’s unfair to except approaches and trends in society to be shaped by them. However, at the very least, they make me question societal trends and approaches, and wonder whether the way God wants us to live is different.
Do any of you know any helpful background to this verse? How it would have been received in Paul’s time and culture etc.?
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