Topic: Things seen in the neighborhood

[evil_twin]

First summer living in the new hood and the nice cars are coming out of storage.

Alpina B7 that the wife drives and he drives a m4.

The Alpina is a pretty rare bird, but there's actually another one at the house on the corner of Lexington and University.  Gold one.   I just assume he's had people killed as he's got a B7, an S63 and a Quattroporte.  Seems like an odd collection of overlapping cars....

[OliverD]

First summer living in the new hood and the nice cars are coming out of storage.

Alpina B7 that the wife drives and he drives a m4.

The Alpina is a pretty rare bird, but there's actually another one at the house on the corner of Lexington and University.  Gold one.   I just assume he's had people killed as he's got a B7, an S63 and a Quattroporte.  Seems like an odd collection of overlapping cars....

A bit odd for sure but I guess he just like large, powerful sedans. He should probably add an S8 Plus to the stable.

[evil_twin]

First summer living in the new hood and the nice cars are coming out of storage.

Alpina B7 that the wife drives and he drives a m4.

The Alpina is a pretty rare bird, but there's actually another one at the house on the corner of Lexington and University.  Gold one.   I just assume he's had people killed as he's got a B7, an S63 and a Quattroporte.  Seems like an odd collection of overlapping cars....

A bit odd for sure but I guess he just like large, powerful sedans. He should probably add an S8 Plus to the stable.

Yeah just seems unusual to not have some variety when you own 4 vehicles (wife drives a Range Rover) and obviously a significant budget.   But who am I to judge...

I certainly don't know the whole picture as it's only a 2-car garage and the cars seem to rotate through.   Must be storing some at another home or offsite garage or something.   

[OliverD]

AP, builder nor developer chooses the sidewalk - it's the City. FWIW city of Kitchener and planners are pushing for shorter front yards to increase a "sense of community." Terrible, I know.

I would definitely trade front yard space for a larger back yard.

[OliverD]

Sense of community???  That is thinly veiled code for "economize land resources".

Not necessarily. There is plenty of evidence that more street-oriented design results in more of a sense of community. Front yards are largely useless anyways, aside from providing some off-street parking which you can still accomplish if you set the garage back rather than having it poke out of the front of the house.

[Gurgie]

Yeah Vman, you're bringing that neighbourhood down for sure!     

[OliverD]

Yeah Vman, you're bringing that neighbourhood down for sure!     

Yeah, he at least needs to pull the trigger on the S5 or Camaro that he's always talking about.

[OliverD]

If I were rich enough I'd be rocking some sort of massive front yard, 3 car garage + with a "U" driveway like the big dogs down the street. There's a guy with six garages down the street - 3 belonging to a separated garage/workshop in his massive front yard. All done in natural stone. I want these people to be my friends. lol

Edit, here if you're curious:

 https://www.google.com/maps/place/14+Old+Cottage+Pl,+Kitchener,+ON+N2K+4K2,+Canada/@43.4934134,-80.4742741,161m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x882bf33e84c42a61:0x151c7aa90e241362!8m2!3d43.4934134!4d-80.4737269

Nice spot. Any idea what's in the garages?

[OliverD]

Yeah Vman, you're bringing that neighbourhood down for sure!     

Yeah, he at least needs to pull the trigger on the S5 or Camaro that he's always talking about.

Would trade in/sell the TL and keep the truck which I could DD in winter if I had to.
Short list includes:

C43
S5 Sportback
Camaro SS 1LE

All of the above allow for a car seat should I be in a bind.

Really want a GT350 but it's SO expensive in Canada. Just the regular one starts at $75 even though the ZL1 essentially fully loaded starts at $69.

Something about getting a N/A V8, manual transmission, and RWD before they're gone forever (maybe soon) speaks to me.....I pine....I yearn....

There's a dealer in Halifax that has four leftover 2016 GT350s. Maybe see if they're willing to deal?

http://www.autotrader.ca/cars/ford/mustang/2016/ns/halifax/?prx=100&prv=Nova+Scotia&loc=halifax&trans=Manual&sts=New-Used&hprc=True&wcp=True&inMarket=advancedSearch

I know that the new Camaro is objectively better than the Mustang but for whatever reason I prefer the 'Stang.

[OliverD]

Massive driveway - check.

Trees to block out everyone else - check.

Room for a car collection - check.

If you must have a sidewalk, that is how to do it...

I have everything but the car collection: https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.9271016,-66.7587747,3a,75y,90.54h,90.16t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sSXSBt_4YtwnTySzKW8QWWw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[OliverD]

Hey now, I have a mere ~3.7 acres. It's actually tough to find anything that's reasonably close to town that is more than an acre. When my street was developed all the lots were 2-4 acres and you're allowed to have horses on them.

[Fobroader]

When it comes time to upgrade the wife and I will be looking at an acreage of ~5 acres. She wants a walkout bungalow, I want a 40x60 shop 

[Gurgie]

Sense of community???  That is thinly veiled code for "economize land resources".

Not necessarily. There is plenty of evidence that more street-oriented design results in more of a sense of community. Front yards are largely useless anyways, aside from providing some off-street parking which you can still accomplish if you set the garage back rather than having it poke out of the front of the house.
[/quote

I derive a sense of community through physical separation from other people.  Having complete strangers walk within feet of me while I am washing my car - risking a vertical smile as I bend over to clean those rims - is hardly my ideal.  I do not want people that close to me, my cars, my child or my front door.  And I am actually an extrovert, believe it or not.

Front yards are not useless.  They have become useless.  This is precisely why builders can and do charge a premium for large lots giving home owners the very separation they rightly desire.

In part, this is a car guy thing.  Our household has more cars than drivers, as is true of any respectable auto enthusiast.  Would be nice to park all of them in the driveway.  As things stand, I have to do the car shuffle. 

If I were rich enough I'd be rocking some sort of massive front yard, 3 car garage + with a "U" driveway like the big dogs down the street. There's a guy with six garages down the street - 3 belonging to a separated garage/workshop in his massive front yard. All done in natural stone. I want these people to be my friends. lol

Edit, here if you're curious:

 https://www.google.com/maps/place/14+Old+Cottage+Pl,+Kitchener,+ON+N2K+4K2,+Canada/@43.4934134,-80.4742741,161m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x882bf33e84c42a61:0x151c7aa90e241362!8m2!3d43.4934134!4d-80.4737269

Now that's a great place!! Too much house for me though... I'd prefer more garage, less house! 

I found this listing about 5mins from my place, house needs a bit of work, but I love the size of the lot & the other buildings on it https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Single-Family/18156379/451-ANCASTER-AVENUE-Ottawa-Ontario-K2B5B6-Woodpark

[OliverD]

Hey now, I have a mere ~3.7 acres. It's actually tough to find anything that's reasonably close to town that is more than an acre. When my street was developed all the lots were 2-4 acres and you're allowed to have horses on them.

Just looked at the above view. That whole little developed area is sweet.

The downside is our roads are absolute crap, and I doubt they're getting fixed anytime soon.

[OliverD]

Hey now, I have a mere ~3.7 acres. It's actually tough to find anything that's reasonably close to town that is more than an acre. When my street was developed all the lots were 2-4 acres and you're allowed to have horses on them.

Just looked at the above view. That whole little developed area is sweet.

Agreed.  The very "sense of community" that I can identify with.

Haha. I couldn't tell you the names of any of our neighbours, or even what they look like. I did meet our next door neighbour briefly because we recognized each others' cars at the local gas station. He's got a GLI, and it turns out he's the service manager of the VW dealership.

[evil_twin]

Our street has the homes relatively deeply set back (at least relative to lot sizes in town).   My driveway is about 70' long, but backyard is only 40-45' deep.   

In my ideal world, I'd slide my house about 10' closer to street, but I like the deep yard/driveway.     We admittedly don't "use" the space for much other than gardens, but the big driveway can be useful. 

[KD]

Yeah Vman, you're bringing that neighbourhood down for sure!     

Yeah, he at least needs to pull the trigger on the S5 or Camaro that he's always talking about.

Would trade in/sell the TL and keep the truck which I could DD in winter if I had to.
Short list includes:

C43
S5 Sportback
Camaro SS 1LE

All of the above allow for a car seat should I be in a bind.

Really want a GT350 but it's SO expensive in Canada. Just the regular one starts at $75 even though the ZL1 essentially fully loaded starts at $69.

Something about getting a N/A V8, manual transmission, and RWD before they're gone forever (maybe soon) speaks to me.....I pine....I yearn....

I saw a brand ne Camaro SS yesterday. Not sure if 1LE.  Anyway, it looked stunning in red with black accents and wheels! 

It was a darker red than the C7 above.  That C7 above looks really good too!

[Solstice2006]

I have to admit.  I like the older neighbourhoods with sidewalks on both sides of the street.  Bigger boulevards, a front yard that needs a lawn mower to cut.  My kids play out front in the spring & summer almost everyday, the backyard is used more on weekends.  I like to able to say to the kids don't go off the sidewalk, it's a quiet street as well.

[pi314]

^ I know a lot of developments in Burlington have sidewalks on both sides of the street.

I kinda get the point about not having sidewalks at all (I'm in favour of much narrower streets too to slow traffic but this causes issues in the winter and for delivery vehicles) but I think accessibility guidelines might now require them in ON at least.

[Solstice2006]

^ I know a lot of developments in Burlington have sidewalks on both sides of the street.

I kinda get the point about not having sidewalks at all (I'm in favour of much narrower streets too to slow traffic but this causes issues in the winter and for delivery vehicles) but I think accessibility guidelines might now require them in ON at least.

Many of the newer ones in Burlington near Dundas street, have one sidewalk.  The ones that have both, have smaller boulevards, like you couldn't park a van on the boulevard part of the driveway.  I like the streets wider, less distance between you and the house across the street.