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Beyond McMansions and SUV's : The TOP TEN Changes Coming to California

Here in California, we will be winding down this decade with a new sense of ECONOMIC AWARENESS and ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITY. We are a little older. We are a lot wiser.

Perhaps we are a little battered and a little bruised from all those issues that ended with the word "CRISIS". But hey, as they always say, "As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation".

Stay tuned and watch closely. We are already figuring things out here on the West Coast. As always, we evolve. We adapt. The NEXT BIG THING is only around the corner.

But guess what? The NEXT BIG THING is THE NEXT SMALL THING. We're ditching those McMansions and those SUV's, along with all the dollars it took to feed them. We have a whole new attitude.

Buh-bye. No more living large for us. What in the world does a family of four need with a 3200 square foot home that costs $1000 bucks just for water and electricity? Why do they need a monster vehicle that costs $150 bucks to fill up?

Look for these changes as 2010 starts to appear on the horizon:

(1) CITY trumps SUBURBS

(2) COZY trumps GRAND.

(3) SHARED OUTDOOR SPACES trumps BIG BACKYARD AND BIG LAWNS

(4) TRANSIT VILLAGE trumps COMMUTING

(5) MID-CENTURY MODERN and CRAFTSMAN trumps MEDITERRANEAN CASTLES

(6) EVERY ROOM IN THE HOUSE IS A "MEDIA ROOM" trumps "The MEDIA Niche"

(7) DISCREET ( or out of sight) GARAGE trumps " in your face" garage.

(8) WALKING NEIGHBORHOOD trumps driving neighborhood

(9) MULTI-GENERATIONAL HOUSING trumps the traditional single family home

(10) ENERGY EFFECIENT trumps energy intensive

P. S. All of the Baby Boomers would officially like to thank Generation X and Y for helping us understand this new way of living. Please do not blame us for driving you to soccer practice in the Suburban when gas was under 2 bucks a gallon. Forgive us if we want to hang around in suburbia with your 80 pound dog and our half acre vegetable garden just a little bit longer. Hey I bought a Prius, what more do you want from me????? Oh, hell, you'll understand when you have your own kids.

Written by Janet Guilbault, Mortgage Lending Expert Based Out of the San Francisco Bay Area

Posted by Janet Guilbault California Mortgage Banker/Broker on 05/18/2008 12:10 PM

Comments (25)

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25 Comments on Beyond McMansions and SUV's : The TOP TEN Changes Coming to California

MAY

2008

Haha great blog. Yup I live in the city and can walk every where. I also can listen to the 7-11 deliveries that occur every night between 11 pm and 5 am. The occasional drunken idiot singing at the top of his lungs, the random bum fight, but aaa I dont have to cut my grass or drive a car if I choose not too. Well that is when Im not taking out clients. I agree with most of what you had to say. I am looking forward to the next 5 years and the appreciating my downtown condo will experience.

Hey Heather: Good for you. What is listening to a little extra noise....it just adds to the charm, right?

I hope to evolve to this some day. My office sits smack in the middle of a city. I walk everywhere and think having freedom from a car is something pretty neat.

But when it is 6am and very quiet, I also can walk though the garden with my French roast and my Akita and pick flowers and lemons. (Sigh). Not sure if they can make a city dweller out of me. (yet)

My daughter used to live in San Francisco with no car. She took the bus, walked or stayed in her little neighborhood. Her neighborhood had great pizza places, little grocery stores and charm. She got a job that required a car and it became no fun anymore. She had to spend her time searching for parking places!

Janet, I long for the life of simplicity. I'm not sure when I lost it but I sure would like to have it back. BUT.....as my life got more and more complicated(larger) my financial obligations became such that the life of simplicity will be hard to get back. But I'm working on it.

I love all of those ideas and am really looking forward to their implementation. Los Angeles is the poster child for urban sprawl/suburban can't-live-without-a car lifestyle. We are starting to see some of these forward thinking ideas in the beginning stages of their implementation. It's about time! The traffic situation here is getting worse every day.

One of my favorite home books is "The Not So Big House" by Sarah Susanka. Her ideas about livability and design are so beautiful and well thought out. They allow for gathering spaces and "away" spaces. No wasted space and everything has a place. I hope to incorporate some of these ideas into my own home when we redesign.

Janet, I have to agree with your predictions and have been seeing them coming for some time. It will still take many a long time to adapt. For me, instead of just jumping in the car to hit the grocery store for a few items, I now hop on my bike with my backpack. It's better for the environment and surely a heck of a lot better for me.

Janet, You are very much in touch with the current moods. I blogged recently about our innocent years when we dreamed of building an earth-bermed house. After many moves we now own a McMansion (not worth what we owe) and wonder how we got so off track. Good for you for stating the people's choice, even if everyone is not on board yet. It's coming; simplicity is in.

I really hope more economical cars start taking over. I drive an SUV because (seriously) I have panic attacks if I'm in a small car, while surrounded by SUV's and large trucks. The only way I'm going to drive a small car is if everyone else is. I don't need anymore anxiety in my life.

Janet, when the courts forced EBMUD to provide water to Dougherty Valley, this taxed the water system when the resource becomes limited. Now we have emergency water restrictions, I hope they review the decission. But, I suspect they will continue to build. In California, water will become like gold if California heats up due to global warming... AJ

Glad you guys are catching up. We can sell you some water if you get thirsty. People will adapt rather quickly and change will be fast. If you guys keep raising taxes we can use a few people who like humidity and lots of water. We stay so far behind everything is coming full circle. The city of New Orleans has not one shopping mall which is really strange. You cannot drive fast, the roads are too bad.

MAY

2008

Eric: I always love your perspective on New Orleans. My daughter is one of the architects working on building flood proof houses for N. O. ...I only know this has something to do with Brad Pitt and her boss out of Los Angeles. She said it was all very political....

It would be kinda funny if a huge drought caused everyone to move to New Orleans. Remember, I could morph back to Southern Belle in 5 seconds. It is a part of me.

To those that commented on this post: Please forgive me for not answering any comments yesterday. A member of our family graduated from Hastings Law School yesterday and it was an all day event. He is the first lawyer in our family in several generations, so naturally, we are very proud. He will be moving to Seattle and joining a law firm this summer. Congratultions, Erik!!!!

They bought a condo in downtown Seattle, have lived in a high rise in downtown Chicago, and are moving out of a flat in downtown San Francisco. They were raised in the suburbs, but love the city life.

They inspired this post.

AJ: Water probably IS our biggest issue. Pray for snow.

Lisa: I know what you mean. It is a little scary. But not as scary as a $100 fill up. I am also spoiled by my ability to slip into the smallest parking spots. Such an advantgage.

Susan: Please don't have regrets. That was why I put that PS on the end of this post. Hindsight is always 20-20, you know? Enjoy the real estate you own now, and strive for simplicity in other areas of your life where you have more control.

Marc: I just told someone that I want a bike. I haven't had one in years. I could and would ride to the grocery store, or just for exercise. But you still don't see very many people using bikes for transportation. First, we need to live closer to where you shop. That is happening.

Elaine: I love that book! I used to have several of her books in my library but I am pretty certain that my architect daughter has those books now. But the concepts is worth promoting. We don't really need all that space. Especially in California where we are outdoors so often.

BB: I feel your pain! The older you get, the more things you accumulate, the more complicated it becomes to take care of all those things. I saw this painted on the back of a hippie van in Berkeley:

LESS STUFF, MORE FUN

I tried, just like a good little blogger to get it on camera but was too late.

Barbara: When my daughter lived in San Francisco she used to need to drive around every night for a half hour looking for a spot to leave her car for the night. She would always call me while she did this because it was just dead time.

You must get used to it. I would be so frustrated!!!!

Yeah, Janet, and then as soon as they found one, they'd have to remember to move it for street sweeping! What a life.

So true!! I paid for hundreds of those stupid tickets while both daughters went to UC Berkeley. What a racket!

LESS STUFF, MORE FUN! Oh how I wish I could be there again. I remember the days when TLW and I could just hop in the car and go anywhere we wanted. Now I have to get up and go to work. Of course if business stays the way it is I may have less stuff sooner than I want:)

MAY

2008

I lived in San Jose for a few years, and watched as homes with small yards were surrounded by homes with no yards. Some light rail and other transit was being built, but mostly it was traffic, a lot of traffic. Maybe things will change....

HI! What a great post! Marked as a favorite!!

MAY

2008

Janet - I, too, agree with your predictions. All the extras are fun for some when the checkbook well never runs dry, but I must confess I've never been drawn to the "must have mores", and gain an ever growing appreciation of the more simplistic lifestyle as the days go by. I sit in our 1500 sf home, albeit with almost 1/2 acre that does indeed contain a private vegetable garden, with my Prius parked in the tucked away garage, grateful that my vehicle fuel costs AND housing fuel costs are less than $300 per month, briefly considering riding my bike to the store or movies, until I remember the journey home will be all uphill with no bike lanes to buffer me from the giant SUVs. Gazing out our front windows over the hills spotted with 3500+ sf homes that were built as the market peaked...

Karen: We must be kindred spirits! I loved your comment. My house is 2200 sq ft on a rare (for our city) half acre lot. I confess: I love my half acre and don't want to leave. I went through a phase when I wanted something more....swept away by the mania I suppose...but now feel very happy and blessed to have this place and this space. (including low tax base)

Yes, I have a vegetable garden, but also 25 redwood trees, so sun is at a premium out there! Not to mention the fog that sneaks in from San Francisco in the summer. I bet your tomatoes are better than mine.

I drive a paid for little BMW and drive only about 5 minutes to work. Lately I have been longing to have a bike (we have trails) and have also come to live by this motto whenever I am tempted to buy something I don't need

UWUH (I pronounce it you-wah) It means: Use what you have.

I also love your predictions. I have been building small and green for over thirty years - it is nice to see we are moveing past the denial phase:) I have recently put together a modular home package that fits very well with your vision. I have also been seeing cities start to adopt a new cottage development codes to allow for small clusters of small houses.

Ron

MAY

2008

25 redwoods - how wonderful! We DO need to meet one day! When we get to your neck of the woods next to see our relatives in Petaluma and Daly City, I'll see if it works for you. My 2008 Prius isn't paid for yet - love those manufacturers' interest incentive programs too much - and I DO love to leverage low cost money! When I caught wind the HELOC on a rental we have was likely to be frozen, we took a draw to the limit while the rates were low a few weeks back, assigned the balance to the fixed rate lock portion of the line (National City), and stuck the money in a savings account, figuring with the mortgage interest deductions we're eligible for combined with the 3-4% interest we expect to earn on the savings account would make the overall cost was so low it would be worthwhile to pay it to maintain access to those funds for when we planned to use them to buy a commercial property in 2009, which is why we took out the HELOC in the first place. So, I guess that means I haven't COMPLETELY simplified my ways when it comes to certain financial transactions!

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