There is a trailer park on the outskirts of town that provides holiday homes in season and affordable housing for students and workers for the rest of the year. The trailer park now wants to expand.
The trailer parks owners have bought an adjacent field and hope to double in size. Angus is in two minds about this. The town suffers from a massive housing shortage so anything that makes it easier for folks to find accommodation is a huge positive. NIMBYism is Britains major economic weakness. On the downside the trailer park, no matter how you put it, is unattractive. The new extension would cover the ground shown in this c17th print from the blue man on the right to the small house at bottom left. I shall go to the public planning meeting to hear both sides of the argument. A sensible solution would be to mandate a band of trees and earthworks to landscape the eyesore. 'The Font' points out that this sudden civic consciousness is further proof that I've turned into my father.
Christmas wreaths still gracing front doors. Being a conservative town they will come down later today.
We took down the tree yesterday. Angus chopped it up into 18" lengths that can be used by the beach rangers as land defences. The offcuts have been placed by the bins so that the dustmen can collect them later today.
A black Ford van is parked in the potato field. A man in his late twenties accompanied by a six year old and a four year old are unloading a very large aluminium fishing rod from the back. It's so large that the rod comes in three sections and is supported on a large tripod. The man informs me that there are shoals of cod swimming in the deep rock pools just offshore. Anglers from all over are coming to try their luck. Despite the occasional snow flurry the two boys are delighted at the thought of spending the day with their father. The eldest is entrusted with the bag containing the thermos and sandwiches. He skips along behind his father. All three are in matching bobble hats, wellies and blue Barbour jackets.
The sea is teeming with traffic :https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/3/24018797/ocean-maps-ai-satellite-imagery-radar-fishing-vessels-offshore-energy-wind-oil
A poem :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZN7hzmbi6E
13 comments:
If only we could solve the problem of building affordable but also attractive low cost homes.
The map is fascinating - the pattern of yellow is easily recognisable to anyone familiar with the UK's offshore oil and gas industry, the rest of the colours much less so.
Cheers, Gail (now home from a stimulating but soggy holiday in Tacoma).
Surely we haven't reached the 21st century, with all it's innovations, without finding a solution to building affordable, low-cost homes? Those desperate for a roof over their head may not worry so much about attractive. Those who could provide such homes will make very little profit and therefore not willing to invest. The lack of useable land must also add to the problem.
The last two doors are interesting. How nice to have one's name inscribed on the knocker, or is that the manufacturer? The last door looks worthy of guarding great treasures.
Hari OM
Jabblog, in Scotland, there is a tradition of having one's name on the main door - though this is a posh version. Mine is simply a plastic stick-on tab...
Coppa's Girl has pretty much hit all the relevant points I would make. It will interesting to follow the development of the St Andrews park through Angus' words (and whose solution makes a lot of sense - we have an enormous such place here by Dunoon and you'd hardly know it was there). YAM xx
The buildings are all lovely, each post better than the last. That PON look-alike looks to me to be a grown version of the beast I am trying to raise. Mine is an Old English Sheepdog/Poodle mix known here as a Sheepadoodle. They start out black and white but most fade to grey and white as they grow. That coat looks right. His people look pleased with him, don't they?
Pam in NH - Thank you. Neither of is knew about Sheepadoodles. The size of a PON but with different coat.
Affordable housing is a challenge, there are probably better options than more trailers.
I was going to say that the dog looks like a -doodle mix. What a fascinating old map - a work of art and a piece of history.
Thank you for the Lucille Clifton poem. I've enjoyed all the holiday wreaths you have featured, too.
I like the blue doors, especially the first one with the minimalistic wreath. We have been taking down our decorations since yesterday, following the French tradition. In Japan, we always rushed to have everything down before New Year's so all the Japanese decorations could be set out. Somehow in Japan, it wouldn't do to mix the two, but here we have been happily doing so. I have mixed feelings about the trailer park. My grandparents lived in a trailer near the beach in St. Petersburg, Florida, and one of my cousins moved in after my grandmother died. So I can see the benefit, but some trailer parks are indeed eyesores. In our town here, they are nearing the end of a big construction project that includes mixed housing, shops and restaurants. There is one apartment building for seniors and at least one for lower-income families, as well as housing for a lot of couples and young families who appear to be well-to-do, as they are constantly streaming in and out of the gym and the Monoprix next door. There will also be a nice park, which Charlie is looking forward to. It's all very well-done and is presumably being financed in part by the taxes paid by all the second-home owners here. I agree the dog is probably a doodle - people crossbreed in part in hopes the pups will end up with a poodle's nonshedding coat. Unlike PONs, Old English Sheepdogs shed.
I never had a problem with trailer parks in the past. As a young teacher in her first job, my sister lived in one. The problem, at least in the US, is that private equity firms have discovered the parks as an as-yet-untapped source of income. There are horror stories of private equity buying up a family-run park when the owners retired, only to quadruple the monthly fee, with no improvements made at all, forcing out folks who have lived there for years, with no other housing options around. And in my hometown, someone bought up a wooded area adjacent to a highway, cut down every tree and loaded in as many trailers as would fit. Those folks were simply broiling in the sun - no shade for miles around. So my attitude has changed in recent years, and I would want to know a lot about the developers before I voted yes.
Nina
I agree with Angus; trees and earthworks can make a huge difference. My mother-in-law lived in a mobile home park with huge oak trees and boulders, and it was lovely. The management makes a huge difference though. Thanks for the wreath photos. Beautiful!
Angus, our doodle has a very soft coat. People comment on it when they pet her. Also, she does not howl like a Husky, but she "talks" like one. When she was smaller her tail would annoy her so she would yak at it. Very vocal. She does need a groomer bath and cut every couple of months.
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