McMansionettes being torched in Dilworth

[monsoon]

Apparently there is a string of unsolved fires in Dilworth where expensive homes are going up in flames. Today a $850K home has burned, and the developer of the house, upon being interviewed on TV, said among other things,

"It's obviously escalating, and what's next?...."

An escalation of what? Is there some kind of war going on over there? We have talked about this before but could this be a protest of the over the top homes being built there?

[rockhilljames]

Actually, it was reported today that the suspected culprit is a young girl who has apparently started several brush fires. The brush fires have been getting more severe (such as being started next to cars lately), and during the last one a man saw the girl who set it, chased her, but wasn't able to catch her.

So I'm sure the context of escalating was referring to the fact that she started with brush fires, tried to set a parked car on fire, has allegedly set an underconstruction house on fire, and that they're worried she'll move on to an occupied house next.

I doubt this has anything to do with the type of home being built.

[monsoon]

Ahh ok. They didn't report any of this on the news. It would seem, that it shouldn't be too much of a problem to chase down a young girl.

[krazeeboi]

What a way to protest.

[Miesian Corners]

Strange, pyromania in young children is rare. Juvenile fire setting is usually associated with other conditions such as Conduct Disorder, ADHD, or Adjustment Disorder. It occurs more commonly in males, especially those with poor social skills and learning difficulties. Maybe she's simply young girl with an eye for bad architecture and feels the need to rid the world of such.

[monsoon]

It's interesting how this is being reported.

Channel 36 simply said that neighbors had seen a young woman near several of the fires.

Channel 9, always more sensationalist, referred to it as the work of a serial arsonest, and that neighbors need to be on the watch for more burnings.

[Rickydavisfan21]

I don't completely agree with that at all, you don't see ADHD kids starting fires thats a pretty angering statement to me, you can't attribute juvenile fire starting to a freaking disorder. A girl set a fire, thats the end of it.

[dubone]

That's okay, the ADHD kids have already forgotten he said it.

As for the McMansionettes (the female version of a McMansion, I guess,.... I'd hate to see their offspring), I wonder if the city should have a sprinkler ordinance for any structure that might make anyone mad.

[Miesian Corners]

I don't completely agree with that at all, you don't see ADHD kids starting fires thats a pretty angering statement to me, you can't attribute juvenile fire starting to a freaking disorder. A girl set a fire, thats the end of it.

Sorry, I didn't make it up. The APA is saying generally people who have pyromania are ADHD, NOT that all ADHD people are pyromaniacs. See below:

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Vol. IV American Psychiatric Association. 1994

[Rickydavisfan21]

yea I know It just pissed me off a lil til I lit my lighter and was like oh, haha I'm a pyromaniac, hehe

[monsoon]

It's interesting how this is being reported.

Channel 36 simply said that neighbors had seen a young woman near several of the fires.

Channel 9, always more sensationalist, referred to it as the work of a serial arsonest, and that neighbors need to be on the watch for more burnings.

Not wanting to be outdone by the big stations, channel 18 when doing their story on the fire had to add there was still a serial rapist loose in the neighborhood too.

[turbocraig]

Maybe the arsenist was running from the serial rapist and dropped her cigarette in the melee, igniting the house. I can hear the FoxNews storyline.. "The Accidental Arsenist?"

[monsoon]

According to the paper, this is a 4000+ sq/ft house. I didn't realize they had gotten this large in Dilworth now considering the size of the original homes there and that many of the lots are very small. Maybe this should be considered a plan old ordinary McMansion instead of a McMansionette.

[atlrvr]

Yeah.....800 sq. ft. teardowns now go for about $325k.....its all fair game as far as massing outside the Historic District.

[graydog]

I thought McMansionette was the smaller version of a McMansion like balconette is to balcony. And McMansionette sounds so Dilworth. I'm lovin' it.

[monsoon]

I thought McMansionette was the smaller version of a McMansion like balconette is to balcony. And McMansionette sounds so Dilworth. I'm lovin' it.

Yeah, I am torn on this one as I don't know that in the rhelm of Charlotte if 4000 sq/ft qualifies for McMansion or McMansionette status. When I was a kid in the 70s, 2000 sq/ft used to be considered a big house. haha.

[voyager12]

The latest street to get hit was Dorothy Drive, minor brush fires in front of several houses apparently. It does seem to be concentrated outside of historic Dilworth. I am going to the DCDA meeting on Weds and will hear what the police have to say. Last month they had no news at all..not that most of the people at the meeting cared. DCDA seems to be dominated by residents of old Dilworth and most consider anything behind Tremont and past Park and Ideal Way not "Dilworthy"

[monsoon]

... DCDA seems to be dominated by residents of old Dilworth and most consider anything behind Tremont and past Park and Ideal Way not "Dilworthy"

The area beyond Park and Ideal Way is not part of Dilworth. That is Sedgefield.

[voyager12]

Well, that is news to the Observer. They call it south Dilworth

[monsoon]

[monsoon]

This is Dilworth. People are often surprised to learn that Dilworth does not include the area across the street from Caribou coffee, i.e. Shomars, Talleys Grocery, etc. That is part of Myers Park Manor I believe. Also the people on S. Kings drive are surprised to learn they live in Dilworth rather than the much more desirable Myers Park. This is what used to be called living on the wrong side of the tracks. Oh and Queen's Rd is oh so close. LOL.

[voyager12]

Thx! That is very interesting. I always assumed everything fronting East was in Dilworth.

[dubone]

I'm not sure I agree with using planning commission area studies as official boundaries for neighborhoods. They usually use roads as boundaries for those studies, which is inaccurate for actual neighborhood boundaries. There hasn't been any time where the parcels on the south side of Stonewall street are now or were ever part of Dilworth. Also, the Sedgefield-Dilworth boundary is the creek/ravine between the Ideal Way parcels and the Poindexter parcels.

[monsoon]

I don't know about that, I almost bought a house once on Charlotte Avenue, and the realitor and the representative from the neighborhood were quite clear that Dilworth ended at Park road as indicated on the map above. I've also heard this many times over the years.

[voyager12]

I think it depends on how badly realtors want to sell houses I have also heard from long time residents of historic Dilworth that they don't believe anything beyond Tremont and Park is Dilworth. I heard that realtors started calling the neighborhoods along Ideal Way up to South,"Dilworth" when the values of the area started rising. The DCDA does include members from those streets so its become de facto Dilworth in the end.