Thursday, June 26, 2008

Best Places in the Southwest to Buy an Old House

Our "High-adventure Mecca's" disappointing #12 finish in the "Outdoor Enthusiast" category strikes a sour note

By Southsider

This Old House has a list of the best place in each state to buy an old house. For Utah, it's not the Avenues or Sugarhouse, but the "Central Bench Historic District, Ogden, Utah.":

Best Places in the Southwest to Buy an Old House - #6

Somewhat disappointed that we're only 12th in the "Outdoor Enthusiast" category:

Best Places for Outdoor Enthusiasts to Buy an Old House - #12

Check it out.

Editor's note: Nary a mention of "gondolas" on any of the This Old House web pages. Imagine that.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is one of the most affordable urban residential historic districts that I am aware of in the West. People have slowly started to discover it, I'm wondering why it has taken so long. Ogden's historic architecture is one of its greatest assets, I don't think it gets the recognition that it deserves. To all of Ms. Wilkerson's faults, I do have to give her credit for realizing the value of these historic places - they do mean a lot more than an ice tower or any gondola ever will.

Anonymous said...

Rudi:

I notice that under both categories, Ogden is listed as a particularly good home-owning area for retirees. I can attest to that, being a retiree who moved here a little over six years ago. My realtor in Baton Rouge, who sold my old home, did not believe what we got for what we paid in Ogden. Prices have risen some since then, but have not run away.

If your idea of retirement involves heat and no snow 365 days a year [the South Florida model], Ogden is not for you. But if you prefer your seasons to come in fours, you like a place with some history attached to it, and still visible in its architecture, you want the advantages of a major city close by [SLC] but prefer not to live in a megalopolis, you want outdoors activities [a variety of them] close by, you want a place with good medical care available, and with a good public transit system, then Ogden has pretty much exactly what you're looking for. [Colleagues from other places, some retired, some not, tell me they have nearly no public transit, have to drive everywhere, and are increasingly envious of UTA and Frontrunner available to me.]

I asked here over a year ago if Ogden is doing anything by way of seeking to attract retirees, that this was a market and demographic that might find Ogden a very attractive and affordable place to retire to [as I did]. Hope the City administration is not missing a bet. Other communities [Bend, OR, e.g.] have combined appeal as a vigorous outdoors community and retiree center very successfully. Don't see why Ogden couldn't do the same.

OgdenLover said...

Not quite on topic, but kudos to our wonderful, under-equipped, underpaid firefighters for the great job they are doing on the 12th street fire today. It's right across the street from AmeriGas, a propane facility, and OFD was right on the job, keeping the fire contained.

Anonymous said...

OL:

That kind of post is always on-topic IMHO.

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