Apartments kill property value, which is why I suggested a duplex-type home, townhome or modular home option. They also make traffic worse. Right now, Hwy 74 gets really congested at times. I just don't think it's a good idea to stack the aparments. Could you give me an example of an area that increased in property value after apartments were added?

Ensure Domestic Tranquility

No.

Having lived in an apartment and owned an condo, before moving here, they most assuredly are not the same thing.

Rentals reduce the value of surrounding homes. Too many rentals in a condo or any other community also reduce home values.

Why do you think associations put restrictions on the number of rentals allowed?

Because:
1. More than about 10% rentals reduce home values.
2. Renters do not maintain property as well as those who own property.
3. Associations have far more difficult times with rules and other violatins by renters.
4. Rentals are less stable neighborhoods. Turn over is much higher.

There are very good reasons for not wanting apartments and rentals.

Does that mean every renter is a problem and owners never are? No.

But the % of this being reality is too high to ignore.

Some rental is needed. But not as a regular housing solution.

As you say, it is excellent for tansitioning, sometimes.

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Keeping it real and to the core of the issue, not the peripherals.

I appreciated your comments concerning apartments. I know a lot of people in Fayette County consider apartments and rental homes to be a horrific thing but for some of us, it has been the only affordable option out there. What's better? To pay your rent on time in an apartment/house or buy a house you cannot afford and go into foreclosure?

I moved from my parents' house in Fayette County in 1996 to be closer to my job. I rented an apartment in the Holcomb Bridge area. Since then I've lived in other apartments or rental homes with roommates until I got married in 2003. We just bought our first home in North DeKalb. All of the apartment complexes (in Cobb, Fulton and DeKalb) I lived in were clean, safe and relatively crime free.

Are some apartment complexes havens for crime? Absolutely. Are all of the residents living in them degenerates and low-life scum? No. Sometimes it's all they can afford until they save enough to buy a house.

As for the original poster's questions concerning modular homes, I suggest looking at what's going on up in Northwest Cobb/Paulding County, a rural area experiencing a boom. They have one-story ranch-style condos for sale that look really attractive. And they're not crammed together.

Do you know the names of any of the builders that built the modular homes in those counties? I would love to check them out. I will research this to see if maybe we can come up with some type of solution.

Ensure Domestic Tranquility

Also, I forgot to say. I know that paying welfare is frustrating, but it really does help to keep society going if used correctly. The government is always trying to make changes in that area. I have been trying to think of ideas that I could send to some of our elected officials in regards to regulating it better, but I don't know enough about it to come up with a plan, but that is something that I will read into. On the pork spending, it happens. When people see money, sometimes they loose all restraint.

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I know that police officers and teachers would like to live closer to where they work. Most people who pick those positions don't think about money, but they think about people. I feel that it would be irresponisible of me not to think of them. I hope I can help to find some type of solution. If zoning prevents the modulars, maybe there is a way to change the rules a little. I know that there are some single-wide/double-wide manufactured homes in the area. I don't think that anymore of those should be built; those that are here should be grandfathered in, of course, but I believe that the modulars would be a great alternative. I really like the ranch condo idea for an solution to the apartment problem. I hope that goes somewhere.

Ensure Domestic Tranquility

By no means! Our cops wouldn't live in the same neighborhood as hispanics or blacks, now would they? And I might add, vice-versa!
As to paying schoolteachers, cops, firemen, waitresses, etc., a decent wage so they can buy a $175,000 house (plain in a cheap area) well, I don't think you would do that if given the chance. Fayette tax dollars aren't used very much for welfare Moms, and the only pork around goes to developers.

First of all, there are some police officers that are completely, or partially, black or hispanic. When you stated, "I don't think you would do that if given the chance", referring to paying more taxes to ensure others can have a decent wage. You don't know me well enough to make that assumption. Also, I agree that welfare moms aren't getting the Fayette dollars, and as far as the pork goes, it depends on who has access, and what their intentions are.

Ensure Domestic Tranquility