I am proud to present James Theimer, my friend, and also my home’s architect, as this Web site’s first guest speaker. My goal was that our first guest speaker would be someone of great ideas, intellect, civility and conscience; someone who’d raise the bar high for future guest speakers.
I believe the piece James wrote for us, “Is Anybody Home,” has done exactly that.
He is the principal architect and founder of the Redding based firm of Trilogy Architecture. Established in 1990, his seven-person firm has been involved in a broad range of projects in northern California, with no emphasis on any single building type.
Over the past decade, James has participated extensively in local community service projects, and is responsible for Fantasy Fountain in Enterprise Park, Carnegie Stage in Library Park, the Mayor’s Plaza Fountain at City Hall, and the restoration of the historic Cascade Theatre. In 1996, James became involved in the current downtown revitalization effort, and since then has completed numerous downtown projects including removal of the roof over the Downtown Mall.
Current projects include the Agree Park “affordable & green” prototype home for the Shasta Builders Exchange.
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Is Anybody Home?
Want to know an interesting statistic regarding homes in Redding? There are currently almost 2,000 homes for sale within its city limits.
No, this isn’t another story about the depressed real estate market in Shasta County. This is about affordable housing, or rather, the lack of it in our community. With all these homes for sale, only 18 of those newly constructed homes are listed at under $300,000. And there are only three homes under $250,000, with the lowest priced home listed at $215,900.
What this means is that a family earning the median income in Shasta County of $52,700 simply cannot afford the mortgage for even the lowest priced new house now on the market. And there are a lot of honorable, hard-working people making less than that. Yet every day, houses continue to be built in which these people cannot afford to live. Oh, many if not most of these homes are eventually purchased and families move in, but often only after compromise coupled with extreme financial stress. Because not only are these homes unaffordable for the average homebuyer, they do not even represent what surveys say the 21stcentury homebuyer wants in their home.
Should we blame developers for refusing to change a tried-and-true formula of building with little variety and repeating as often as possible the choice their buyers seem to dislike the least?
Maybe we should blame the architect. You have only to browse the shelves of the local bookstore to see magazines virtually screaming with pictures of mostly unaffordable modern architecture whose design appeals to only a small percentage of potential homebuyers.
Firmly perched on opposite ends of the housing spectrum, neither the architect nor the builder seems to be getting it right. Clever architects are applauded for their creativity in designing housing prototypes that are rarely, if ever, actually built. And smart builders make a lot of money building lots of houses that only meet some minimal level of consumer acceptance.
What’s needed are homes that not only can we afford, but homes that thrill us.
There may be a solution, but it will require homebuyers to rethink their ideas about what makes a house a home.
Imagine a home that is smaller than those currently being constructed, but with a design than is intended to add space in the future as financial means improve. Imagine having the option of buying a new home with some of the finishes in kit form with assembly required, allowing those who are interested to use “sweat equity” to reduce their purchase price. Imagine a home on a small lot, but adjacent to plentiful open space and walking trails. Imagine a home equipped with a super high efficiency heating and cooling system, complete with a small device that tells you on demand how you are doing with your energy consumption, much like the mileage indicators on the new hybrid cars. Imagine non-toxic, chemical-free carpet and paint finishes, good natural ventilation and lighting for a healthier environment for your family. Imagine a design that is comfortable for you, a design where your input can actually be used to achieve the final product.
And finally, imagine that you can substitute the monthly payments on your apartment for a mortgage of the same amount in a home that you really love.
Such a home is possible. What is still needed (besides a few willing developers) is a little help from both our friendly local government and banker. We need lower city permit fees on single family residences that meet high-efficiency standards, not as a government subsidy, but because more energy-efficient design can have significantly less impact on our utilities and services.
And we need our bankers to implement new formulas for mortgages that allow for reduced-down payments, while avoiding the dreaded balloon payment.
So do yourself a favor. Invite a builder, architect, city manager or banker to lunch soon. Explain to them that all the means are available now to make this kind of housing happen, and that if they start paying attention, their businesses will actually prosper.
And for that advice, make sure they pick up the tab for lunch.
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If you were to purchase a newly constructed home in Redding, how would you rank the following in order of importance to you?
- Location
- Cost
- Exterior style
- Energy efficiency
- Floor plan layout
- Other
Please list your ranking in the comments section.
