Finally Bought Some Land

[davids]

I think it reflects the city’s relationship with the country and vice versa, one that’s been been going on for quite a while.

I think it's broader than that. All the preceding comments resonate with my experiences with "gentrification" in Boston over the decades, for better and for worse.

The dynamics are complex, and every time a new group enters a geographic area, there are negatives and positives. A lot of the research suggests that more wealthy people add to the whole area's stability and success.

[j44ke]

Agreed. Gentrification happens. How many US cities have as big an impact as far out from their political boundaries as NYC? So the migration outwards reaches far enough away from NYC to feel like a foreign invasion. And since the fluctuation of financial markets is the biggest shifting force on the local economies, pretty natural for longtime residents to feel like someone in the city did something stupid to screw up the economy and now I'm having to pay for it by losing my landscaping company. Not a natural thing like the weather that ruins everyone's crops. Everyone can deal with an act of god wrecking the crops, but they could have a great agricultural year and the city people could do something stupid in the financial markets and the country pays for it. So I see this split and if I put my head down on it and sight the length of it, the split goes straight into the past, through the Anti-Rent Wars of the early/mid 1800's and through Frie's Rebellion and Shay's Rebellion and so forth. The local skepticism is historical.

That's what I mean by a relationship that has been going on for quite a while.

[j44ke]

Jorn, this is one of my favorite threads of the year. I check it every time I visit the forum.

Re city to country—I guess I feel like we humans are often inclined to alter a place before we understand what the place is really about. I’m not angry at the people who bought my childhood home, for instance. I just think it’s a shame that they didn’t live in the country a bit before making hard-to-reverse decisions about their approach to country living.

Hey great - I'll keep it going in 2019 then. I've been alerted that one of the next steps is ordering faucets and rough-in valves so there will be that to look forward to in January.

[72gmc]

I do love the fresh lumber smell of a house under construction.

[rwsaunders]

Jorn...I lean towards gate valves over ball valves for the water main shutoff and other key areas that might not be excercised very often.

[j44ke]

Jorn...I lean towards gate valves over ball valves for the water main shutoff and other key areas that might not be excercised very often.

Writing this down. Think I saw "gate valve" somewhere in one of the drawings.

[xjoex]

I picked up this "tomahawk" to clear underbrush in my backyard. It is terrible at chopping wood, but perfect for chopping bushes and lifting them out of the way without having to bend over or swing a heavy axe.
Attachment 110561

-Joe

[froze]

It does look nice, all it needs is a small 650 or so square foot log cabin and you're good to go! If the land is haunted that could be a real cool thing to attract your friends to ride at night through those woods but not before you tell some sort of haunting horror story the previous owner supposedly mentioned, then while riding after they laugh at your story you scream you heard or saw something! But never, never, tell them you made up the story.

[j44ke]

Quick update. Spent Sunday shooting a bunch of images of the site. The foundation up to the slab(s) is basically finished, the plumbers have installed the layout of pipes, ventilation, drains, etc., and the first slab has been poured. Pretty effing amazing. I was a bit irrationally exuberant though, jumping around climbing on things and taking about 100 photos in 15 degree weather. Ended up with a cold that has zapped my energy and lowered my IQ this morning. More later in other words.

[Mabouya]

Nice. But are you sure that's level? From here it looks like it's sloping a few degrees to the right... ;)

[rwsaunders]

Glad to see those rebar safety caps Jorn. Now you’re not (totally) responsible if a deer impails itself.

[j44ke]

Nice. But are you sure that's level? From here it looks like it's sloping a few degrees to the right... ;)

Doh!

Glad to see those rebar safety caps Jorn. Now you’re not (totally) responsible if a deer impails itself.

When I climbed up on the dirt pile to take this photo, a squadron of deer took off out of the woods behind me. I need an adopt-a-hunter service.

[DCT]

Those trees and that view! Where is my guest room?

[Mabouya]

Those trees and that view! Where is my guest room?

It's the small green thing on the LHS right before the tree line.

[rwsaunders]

Rumor has it that Peter Weigle is considering Jorn’s place for future French Fender Day events, so move over Darren.

[j44ke]

All will be revealed!

Here's the start of the tractor shed. More wide-angle distortion here. House is through the trees in the upper right corner (past the roll-off lurking there.)

[Colinmclelland]

Do you own a tractor? Never too late I suppose:)

How long does it take you to get there from NY?

[j44ke]

Do you own a tractor? Never too late I suppose:)

How long does it take you to get there from NY?

There is a man right down the road with a yard full of bright orange tractors. He's promised to sell me one whenever I am ready. Very nice.

2 - 2.5 hours. Depends on how long it takes to escape from the NYC vortex. Record longest time so far is 1 hour 45 minutes to reach the northern tip of Manhattan. But I pick and choose my time of departure. 2PM on Thursday afternoon or 8-10AM on Friday morning are good. Returning home on Sunday, the later the better. Our street is no parking M-F from 6PM until 8AM, so I can park the car on the street Sunday night and drive it over to the garage on Monday morning before 8AM. Easy peasy.

Every single block of every single cross street in Manhattan is under construction. Sewers, steam tunnels, new buildings, old buildings. There is so much scaffolding being used in the city right now I heard from one of the crews working on our building that scaffolding theft has become a thing. And NYC is now the cutting edge of scaffolding design. They've basically given up and decided since we are never going to be rid of scaffolding, might as well make it look nice. Nuts.

[j44ke]

I should add, my wife takes the train. That's the big deal. The northern most stop on the Metro North Rail is about 35 minutes from the house site. So she can come and go as needed for work. Train + Uber = Newark, LaGuardia & JFK.

[Colinmclelland]

The northern most stop on the Metro North Rail is about 35 minutes from the house site. So she can come and go as needed for work. Train + Uber = Newark, LaGuardia & JFK.

Wow. I don't think there is really anywhere you could get that sort of acreage and rural feeling that close to Sydney. And if there was, we sure as hell wouldn't be able to afford it! Nice.