… or at least, it will be in a year or two, less than five. A big bank -not naming names- and a developing company are buying off the properties in our two blocks. 80 homes will become a gigantic monstruosity of a single skyscrapper -I saw the model. Meetings are going well, and most owners have even bought houses outside the building zone so they can live there while they are getting their new homes made. Those of us who rent, are royally *****.
Ours is an old veterans/retired Gov’t officials neighborhood. They are nice and quiet, well, most of them. I’ve learnned to like them a lot, they know me, I am their favorite entertainment, I feel welcome here. This place is convenient, cheap and safe. There is even a market on the premises. I think the market will be gone, too, as they use our space and the small road ahead, which then will be overrun by trucks and building materials as it was for the old Japanese house turned high rise. Ours will be another monumental endevour. By teh time it’s done, all our old timers will be underground, too.
In the meantime, we will enjoy the start of the MRT construction -just opening this April- plus they are extending the sewer, water, and Internet/underground phone lines, digging our roads, bringing heavy iron pipes and opening holes that can swallow a blue truck so watch your step…
That’s progress for you. I had heard that these veteran’s villages would be turned into parks mostly, but the one in Tianmu by our old house got turned into a block of flats.
[quote=“Icon”]… or at least, it will be in a year or two, less than five. A big bank -not naming names- and a developing company are buying off the properties in our two blocks. 80 homes will become a gigantic monstruosity of a single skyscrapper -I saw the model. Meetings are going well, and most owners have even bought houses outside the building zone so they can live there while they are getting their new homes made. Those of us who rent, are royally *****.
Ours is an old veterans/retired Gov’t officials neighborhood. They are nice and quiet, well, most of them. I’ve learnned to like them a lot, they know me, I am their favorite entertainment, I feel welcome here. This place is convenient, cheap and safe. There is even a market on the premises. I think the market will be gone, too, as they use our space and the small road ahead, which then will be overrun by trucks and building materials as it was for the old Japanese house turned high rise. Ours will be another monumental endevour. By teh time it’s done, all our old timers will be underground, too.
In the meantime, we will enjoy the start of the MRT construction -just opening this April- plus they are extending the sewer, water, and Internet/underground phone lines, digging our roads, bringing heavy iron pipes and opening holes that can swallow a blue truck so watch your step…[/quote]
I hear ya, it’s a bummer. Most people (and not just in Taiwan) don’t seem to mind too much, though. Most people in most places don’t seem to care much whether their daily life has a “human face” and provides some sense of continuity with the past. If they did, more old neighborhoods and old landmarks would be preserved.
[quote=“Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter”]They’re paving concrete
On a part of me,
No crime for killing off
A memory.[/quote]–The Fifth Dimension, “Ashes to Ashes”
It was only a matter of time, I mean, we are on top of the MRT. The neighbors are happy, because they think the place will be “cleaner”, and at least the big open sewer will be covered up. I dunno…
Yeah, it’s pretty hard to argue with the MRT, and it should make the overall situation better in the long run (by reducing traffic, or at least curbing its rate of growth, I hope?) Of course, that’s not very comforting if one’s neighborhood is being torn up.
Actually, I think it will be worse, as we were told the bank had tried buying off an even newer block, it just didn’t work out. Apparently, our “renovation” is Gov’t sanctioned.
Plus I told you before, the termite mounds keep growing all around us, closer to Tzu Chi hospital, Yienguo and Zhongzhen streets are plagued with those huge skyscrapers, at really shocking prices. And all those crowds are using teh same MRT station, same single water line, sewers, electricity, Internet, cable, supermarket, schools, etc. I see more stores go belly up as costs increase rather than expand.
ps.
if anyone needs lamps or furniture, two shops are closing, 90% off.
last cheapie 3 bed, 2 bath apartment going for 16K, but may have to move in 2 to 5 years.
[quote]ps.
if anyone needs lamps or furniture, two shops are closing, 90% off.[/quote]
I might be in the market. Could you elaborate on location? Thanks[/quote]
Xindian, Tapinlin, one store next to Taoyuan bus stop, one one store down from the Post Office, all on Beixin Street, section 3. For number, you’ll have to wait until I get home…
So, Saturday, as I am putting out the linens to dry out on the street, the neighborly anxin mama assures me that we will not lose our neighborhood, and that the people will move back in after the new buidling is finished.
I am nodding but inside I am thinking “but they can choose to live in any floor they want, it won’t be the same”.
That same afternoon, right in teh middle of the street, there is a heated discussion among several neighbors as to comparisons between what they are getting and the Taipei City plan -we are in Taipei County. Their conclusion is that they should ask for more money. Please do, so this evil plan will stall a year or two.
Then this morning, as I tiredly make my way to work after pulling an all nighter, I see my landlord walking briskly and smiling to herself with a bunch of official paperwork under her arm. As I look at her with pain-filled eyes, she assures me it will take a while to get everything done, not to worry! Then she announces her daughter bought her a house in Tainan, so they will be moving there when the buildings go down. Where am I going to find a nice, Spanish speaking landlady?
Kidding aside. I feel for you. We (the wife, boy and I) recently had to move because the landlady got in trouble with the bank (signed as a guarantor for someone else who did a runner) and the property was repossessed. Initially she had asked us for 1 million and we were mulling it over when it was auctioned off out from under her at court. The new owner didn’t want to rent and was willing to sell it to us for 2.5 million. We declined. It’s still on the market (and at that price probably will be for a long time - old place and you can get brand new modern apartments with community gyms and swimming pools in Tainan in much better neighborhoods for that price).
It’s one thing when you choose to move, but real crap when you’re forced to…
Icon, you should move out here in the hills, the air is better and there’s no noise apart from a few barking dogs (although not sure that all of them qualify as dogs…).
Supposedly no-one really wants to live here (apart from the several thousand of people that already appears to be living here), so you should’t have too much of a hard time finding a new place out here, although I dunno how many landlords speak Spanish here…
Yep, I am worrying too much way ahead of time, but once you have so much stuff to move, including the kids, well, any change is not a welcome thing.
It’ll take about a year or two, just as the new job starts, so basically, the Universe is telling me something -or conspiring against me!
Oh well.
LostSwede, actually, I was focusing the search of a new house beyond Bitan, but with so many things up in the air right now, I have been holding off for a while.
On the other hand, I have also considered moving back to Taipei City, since houses in Xindian cost as much as the ones in Neihu or even Minchuan or Zhongshan.
As long as there is a place to walk the dog rain or shine, some pet stores nearby for provisions, hopefully a traditional market, too, and some means of mass transportation, we’re cool.
Tainan is very nice but not so cosmopolitan and doesn’t have good public transportation. Not many jobs there either… I’d say stick to Taipei, you’ve got some pretty good ideas of places already from your list.
Well, they are having another meeting next week. In Spanish we say it is going viento en popa, all sails ahead…
This morning, I see these big ads in teh middle of teh road. The new monstruosity -on eth land that used to be teh beautiful Japanese style house- the people have started to resell. The 25 million place is now going for 32 million. That’s “60” something ping. The “26” ping is still 18 million. No wonder they are so happy to rebuild. Oh, and it has no garbage disposal service.
When I comment this outrageousness of those prices with a couple of neighbors, they tell me: don’t dispair, they will build a 17 story highrise right there, and they point to [color=#FF0000]over the MRT’s machinery room.[/color]
That’s where they keep the exhaust pipes from the A/C and other stuff that makes noise day and night. Oh, and leaks water constantly. Onto the main street. It is already a 4 story high complex. I have little trust for what they will make there, especially after seeing what they did to the building that now houses the Emergency Comission -copy paste enginering, if you catch my drift.
That’s it, I’m outta here. Take me away from this loony bin. It’s beyond any definition of nuts.
It is a community killer. And no, that is not my neighborhood. Which begs the question: how many people can they cram in Xindian without collapsing the already narrow streets and absolute lack of sidewalks?
They have alaready started digging for the science and tech city across from carrefour. There are develoments beyond Bitan growing like mushrooms in winter.
Oh, I have a picture of the poster they are strutting around, showing how the plan will be carried out.
It is a community killer. And no, that is not my neighborhood. Which begs the question: how many people can they cram in Xindian without collapsing the already narrow streets and absolute lack of sidewalks?
They have alaready started digging for the science and tech city across from carrefour. There are develoments beyond Bitan growing like mushrooms in winter.
Oh, I have a picture of the poster they are strutting around, showing how the plan will be carried out. [/quote]
well why do you think they are developing the areas with the narrow streets and no sidewalks? they are widening the streets and putting in sidewalks! as well as tearing those yucky old dirty concrete/bathroom tiled buildings down. kudos to that!
