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Next Downtrodden Neighborhoods


MZT

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I would think that the University area is the next downtrodden part of town but based on my recent shopping experience in some big-box retailers there recently, it already is downtrodden! Seems as if big-box retailers left Northpark Mall and elsewhere along Tryon closer to uptown to escape the bad area, but those people who live in the bad area still have to shop somewhere, so they just come to the newer stores. Seems as if an Eastland-style decline is going to happen in that area shortly.

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^ I would hope not but all signs seem to point to the areas decline. Just look at North Tryon between UC and Uptown. Like someone mention earlier, most developments being built aren't meant to last and end up looking really trashy within a few years, and instead of being re-developed, retailers just move somewhere else. Same thing with the housing in the area. It's oversaturated with apartments and starter homes, that won't always be flashy and nice.

Hopefully, it won't get to bad since the University and the Research Park will remain in the area, plus LRT within the next few years, although crime and bad local schools could push more people to nearby Cabarrus County.

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One thing that makes these cycles of neighborhoods going up and down is this: lower income people have to live somewhere. people who do things most of society doesn't like (deal drugs, trade sex for money, etc) have to live somewhere. Public housing has to be located somewhere. When one area changes, the people who lived there don't evaporate, they move to a new location.

The west side was always considered the "bad" part of town, now many of those neighborhoods are becoming the new "hot" place to live -- urban pioneering. I grew up on Central then past Eastland -- that area was considered a nice part of town at that time. Now it is becoming more run down, is saturated with rentals, has tons of foreclosures.

Obviously no one wants their part of town to become the next down side of town, but it will happen somewhere.

The solution would be to eliminate poverty, crime, drugs, but I think we all know it ain't that easy...

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The problem is, most of the new starter-home neighborhoods will have a very tough time to even attract (sub)urban poineers in the future. Most houses have little inherent charm, or quality to the construction and the areas are characterized by (suburban transportation networks, which are going to be as popular as leaded gas in 20 years).....area prices are going to have to rise greatly and the population is going to have to grow greatly to create a desire to reinvest in these neighborhoods once they bottom out......I see sad days ahead for University City, the Mt. Holly-Huntersville Rd. corridor, Sandy Brown Rd area is SW Charlotte, and the Beverly Crest area...these are the places that I think start a severe downward decent in the next 10-15 years that may be unrecoverable over the long run....UC maybe be even sooner than that, with LRT being its only hope of survival.

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The problem is, most of the new starter-home neighborhoods will have a very tough time to even attract (sub)urban poineers in the future. Most houses have little inherent charm, or quality to the construction and the areas are characterized by (suburban transportation networks, which are going to be as popular as leaded gas in 20 years).....area prices are going to have to rise greatly and the population is going to have to grow greatly to create a desire to reinvest in these neighborhoods once they bottom out......I see sad days ahead for University City, the Mt. Holly-Huntersville Rd. corridor, Sandy Brown Rd area is SW Charlotte, and the Beverly Crest area...these are the places that I think start a severe downward decent in the next 10-15 years that may be unrecoverable over the long run....UC maybe be even sooner than that, with LRT being its only hope of survival.

You mean my mothers Ryan home from 1982 with aluminum siding, 8' ceilings, carpet, and cheap windows won't age well??? Oh, thats right, it already looks like crap.

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I was right there with her.....my wife and I rented a patio home from my mother-in-law that was located in Candlwyck and was built on the cheap and cheaper in 1984. Once we moved out and bought our place, I demanded that my mother-in-law sell it.....since selling it last year for $142k, I haven't seen a property even listed that high since.....maybe it's already peaked.

Another issue with these homes is that the likely purchaser is typically very sensative to interest rates. I would say that the window of opportunity only exists ever 15 years or so for homeowners to swarm into low-priced communities.....that has really helped places like Belmont and Seversville lately, but with so many neighborhoods out there, it will make it even more unlikely that the "charmless" hoods will receive enough investment during the windows of low interest rates.

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Every purchaser except for the exceedingly rich are sensitive to interest rates. Places like Candlwyck were built in the 1980s because mortgage rates were in the high teens at the time if I remember correctly and even the very well paid had difficulty paying for places that cost much more than that. If we ever see a return to those type of rates then these places are going to be in high demand again. Even if rates rise back to the 10% range, you will see a dramatic shift in what is popular in Charlotte and what isn't. I do remember a time when Dilworh and Myers Park were full of abandoned homes.

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