My search for a home. Assignment Jan. 17, 2012

Hello again and thank you for reading another one of my exciting blogs! Last week I mentioned that I was in the process of finding myself a home and I am happy to say, my search has ended.  For the sake of the classroom assignment I will take the perspective of a childless couple, which is in fact, what my true perspective is. When searching for a home one of my first priorities was location. I wanted to be downtown/central and able to ride my bike to class and areas of my interest. My partner and I wanted to be in a place that was generally safe and had a neighborhood with good mix of people. The area where we found our home is just north of the Phoenix Country Club so it provides for a secure area as well as easy access to school and freeways to get to work. 

When looking for a home in the downtown area we did not want to be in condo like home or an apartment home. We wanted to be able to have a yard, even if small, for our dog. We could of afforded something in the suburbs of the valley that may have been bigger, but we wanted to be in the center. We wanted to get the most for our money and did. With no children and no real concerns, location and price was the only real choosing factors.

Using the models discussed in class, we wanted a home in the Central Business District (CBD).  The CBD, being part of the Concentric Zone Model, is the core of the model. The Concentric Zone Model is a spherical representation of the different levels of land and social structures, which is illustrated in layers. When looking for a home I did notice the bid rent theory. As we looked for a home further away from the core, they were less expensive than those closer to the core. A home in the CBD area can be sought after for many reasons, one being convenience. In a CBD area there isn’t much land left to develop so these areas tend to be higher in price and denser. However, staying true to the Concentric Zone Model there was those low-income home areas that are near the city center. Those low-income areas however have their character and have taken new forms through gentrification.

When looking for a home we looked at a few homes that were in areas of gentrification. In the Coronado and Los Olivos areas of phoenix, a lot of the homes in this area were homes that are very old and being remodeled and cleaned up. They were bought for cheap, turned around and sold for a higher price. Some people find gentrification a form of displacing low-income families. Although this may be a valid point, it also helps the area draw in middle-income families who have more disposable income which lead to more business in the area. More business in the area means more cash flow for public funding. Nice areas of downtown will also draw more tourism. Gentrification may be more of a pro than a con. In our text “Toward a Theory of Gentrification” it shows graphs and tables summarizing data of people in cities returning from the suburbs to the city. The gentrification of cities can draw in and retain families.  Again, thank you for reading my blog and I hope to see you all in class.