Rebirth of Urbanity
I had an opportunity to visit the marvelous city of Atlanta this past month. Actually, I hadn't been to Atlanta because my impression of it left me to believe there would be little to marvel at.
Indeed, it doesn't have the meat of Chicago, the glitz of New York, the charming edge of San Francisco, or the museum-esque quality of Savannah. Atlanta is new and now. It's also a seedling of what it has the potential to become.
Atlanta's streets are not filled with history--the skyline is filled with post-modern spires or recent construction. Skeleton towers of steel girders suggest the city is still growing rapidly. Even more impressive is the amount of residential condominium construction in the center city.
This is good news for the city of Atlanta. It's sure to mean the center-city population will double, triple, or more in coming years, filling the streets with people and the storefronts with businesses. It seems to have--or is acquiring--the infrastructure it needs to create a livable, efficient live, work, and play place in the center city (Midtown, anyway). It also has a little bit of meat, edge, and charm that it's sure to build on in the coming years.
While there is some row house construction I noticed on the site of an old Steel Mill, the majority of what's being built are condominium units (included in the mixed-use mill site as well). Condominium units are growing in popularity and attractive for several reasons. While they are similar to a rental apartment, a condo can be attractive as an investment. They are also easy to maintain, attractive to a modern homebuyer who moves often, and appeal to the decreasing size of the average household.
The National Association of Realtors reported that existing condominium and cooperative housing sales recently hit a record, increasing 4.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 899,000 units in April from a level of 858,000 units in March. The median condo price was $223,600, up 18.4 percent from the same month a year ago. Condo sales accounted for 12.5 percent of market activity--many of these in the most urban areas, like Midtown Atlanta.
Atlanta is not the only city that's seeing a flurry of condominium construction.
The Toronto Home Builders' Association reported recently that four in ten new homes in that city are condos. Sales of high-rise condominium suites continues to drive the new home market in the Greater Toronto Area, showing a remarkable 38 per cent increase in April, 2005.
In Denver, the average price of a previously owned condominium sold and closed in the in May rose to a record $195,567, up 7.5 percent in only one month.
A developer who has built high-rise condominiums in Chicago, San Diego, and San Francisco recently offered the San Jose Redevelopment Agency $28.6 million for a prime 1.48-acre downtown parcel--a new high for residential land in the downtown San Jose.
Reports from Chicago say record numbers of homes, including condos and town homes, are on the market inside the Loop. More than 7,500 have gone on the market this year, compared to about 6,200 last year--also a record, adding thousands of new residents. Buyers include first-timers, empty-nesters, and stock-weary investors looking for profit.
An Atlanta report suggested the growth in an urban lifestyle was in part due to television shows such as Seinfeld which popularize urban life. I seem to recall a show in the 1980s that was set in a penthouse. I also don't think the layout of Archie Bunker's neighborhood was so different from that recently built on Altanta's Atlantic Station mill site, though I can't imagine Edith Bunker browsing the aisles at the Ikea there.
Americans are rediscovering urban life, not because of fashion or fad, but because it makes sense. This is converting into a condo craze that could in-time re-urbanize the nation's cities on a scale similar to what the suburbs experienced in the last thirty years.
It makes sense to live near work. It makes sense to have access to, if not to rely on, public transportation. It makes sense to live close to where you can shop, meet friends, make new friends, and buy coffee. These days we have less time, so it's worth more to us, and we need to live where we can live efficiently. It makes sense that if we're cutting grass or waiting in traffic, we can't be spending time with friends and family (or making/spending money on things more tangible and rewarding than gasoline).
It is for these reasons the urban lifestyle and condominiums are again attractive. It's also for these reasons that the cities which embrace this movement by facilitating condo construction and enhancing the supportive network of infrastructure and services will be the ones to thrive in the coming years.
If you want a new and lively city, you'll find one growing in Atlanta. If you want museum-like streets, you'll still have to go to Savannah.
Eric Miller is editor of The New Colonist.
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