This a small part of a huge project in the next town over. It has been a contentious project for a lot of people. It is a giant condo development, located in three different locations within a stones throw of each other. The crazy thing is that it will be six stories tall, and completely out of scale for the area. The mayor of the village where I live thought he had a letter of understanding with the mayor of this town, limiting the height of the structures. But he was told that the letter didn't matter. Everyone in our village is really upset. I will continue to document the construction here. Stay tuned
3 comments:
One picture is worth a thousand words or perhaps, in this case, a book of one thousand pages would be needed to cover this subject - but a few words come to mind seeing your post today.
1) Ever increasing population growth
2) Economics of land value & the greed of land sellers and developers
3) Gentrification
4) The privileged class moving closer to a perceived higher quality of life
5) Eminent Domain and the need for more public buildings and services
6) Mobile society where people can work anywhere with computers and cell phones
7) Nothing is forever - not too long ago Manhattan was farms and frame houses
8) Proximity of oceans, bays, rivers and lakes are magnets for growth
9) Maybe the building in today's post will turn out OK after it is completed
10 And so it goes.... the yin and yang!
Primo: Thanks so much for all your thoughts on this. All relevant. The problem with this project in Glen Cove is that it is WAY out of scale for the area. It will be huge, and overpower everything nearby
I am going to do counterpoint on this. Long Island grew as bedroom community in the post WWII era. In the 70's and 80's it actually started to build it's own economy separate from NYC. That came crashing to a halt in the 1990's. There is no singular reason (the end of the Military Industrial Complex & Cold War - Grumman etc is a big part). It has been unable to find its footing since. It relies on NYC as it's economic engine.
The world has changed and LI hasn't. It refuses to solve it's own problems. No freight railroad, no bridge off the island, no stomach to upgrade roads (see Rte 347), no tolerance for true downtowns. This has led to a massive brain drain, as the 21-35 set have no place they really want to live. Those who would be willing to invest are told, sorry you cant.
I won't even talk about the cost of government, unions, taxes, regulations, etc. which are just as much a state problem as a LI regional one. The NIMBY's and BANANA's have ruled the roost with their sole policy determinant being their perception of short term residential property value - the few kill it for the many.
Four years ago, I escaped. South Florida where I live now has it's own challenges like anywhere else. But an unwillingness to invest and build is not one of them. Hence, the economy here actually grows.
Just my two cents.
Mike
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