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Sun 19 Jan, 2003 07:03 pm
I spent about 6 months house hunting before I finally found my home. I want to relate one of my experiences during that quest. I was sitting in the realtor office discussing the property I wanted to look at and the agent brought it up on his computer. In our brief check we noticed that there were about half a dozen other properties in the same street for sale-a situation which appeared unusual. It became even more unusual when I arrived at the street to find it was only a small lane barely 200m long. After seeing some of the neighbours, I phoned the agent and told him to not bother coming as there was no way I would consider purchasing the property. So what was wrong with the neighbours? They were mostly Australian aboriginals. Now, did I take this decision because I don't like them? NO. My decision was based the fact that on moving into a property on that street, by the end of the first week, my motorcycle, video, TV, stereo and basically anything else not nailed down would have disappeared. This is not supposition. It is a cold hard fact. So am I racist for taking a decision to protect my possessions? Or should I have bought the property and hoped for the best?
Wilso- I would never buy a property anywhere where I would feel uncomfortable- for any reason. I would also look, with a jaundiced eye, at any small block that had an unusual number of homes for sale!
I can't quite get my mind around the "cold hard fact" part, though. How on earth is that determined?
I would call it prudence, wilso. Others may disagree, of course.
You did the right thing, Wilso. It is one thing to be predjudiced, quite another to protect yourself from that sort of thing.
Do I have this right? The area itself was fine -- the houses were well-kept, the lawns were fine, it was only when you saw the people that you got upset? I'm perfectly OK with the bad neighborhood argument, regardless of race (yes, white people steal), but if this comes down to suppositions based entirely and exclusively on race, yes, that's racism. Pretty much textbook.
No, the houses were not well kept-broken and boarded windows were the rule. Yards littered with car bodies, and most hadn't seen a lawn mower in six months.
The one I wanted to look at was OK. But the six closest neighbouring properties were as I described above!
Re: What does that make me?
OK. Then why do you say
Wilso wrote:After seeing some of the neighbours, I phoned the agent and told him to not bother coming as there was no way I would consider purchasing the property. So what was wrong with the neighbours? They were mostly Australian aboriginals.
Instead of something like, "When I got to the area, there were car bodies everywhere, boarded-up windows, and unkempt yards. I told the agent I didn't feel comfortable living in such a neighborhood." Where does the race of the neighbors come into it?
Sorry, but as disgusting as it sounds, as soon as I saw the street, I knew who the neighbours would be!!!!
I took a look at a house a couple of years. The neighborhood looked fine and so did the people - till I drove down the alley. Every third garage door was decorated with gang graphitti. Several were identifiable as the work of non white gangs. Was I also wrong to keep looking?
Yup, I think that's pretty disgusting. Sorry. Nice to know that all white people in Australia are perfect house- and yard-keepers -- a few of the messier ones must have escaped to America.
An unsafe neighborhood is an unsafe neighborhood. If you don't want to live in an unsafe neighborhood, that's entirely your perogative. Why does race have to enter into it? Am I the only one who has seen many decidedly unsafe neighborhoods populated mostly or entirely by white people?
No need to apologise to me. It concerns me enough to ask the question. But I won't apologise for the decision I made or the reasons for it.
Well, of course the IMPORANT thing here is that YOU feel good about yourself, Wilso.
Wilso - you have me entirely confused.
Did you not take the property because the neighbours were Aboriginal, or because many of the houses were in a state of disarray such that almost anyone would be put off moving in?
Are you saying that, had the houses been well cared for, you STILL would not have bought?
Are you saying that had the houses been in the same state, and the neighbours non-Aboriginal, you would have bought?
Are you saying that, had the houses been in that state, and the neighbours non-Aboriginal you would have assumed your property was safe?
I am honestly unsure how race is coming into this....
I would be loath to buy ANYWHERE where six people in a tiny street were moving - that is a clear sign of trouble.
I would not buy where a number of the homes were in the state you describe - people CAN have homes in that state and be fine neighbours - but frequently are not. Neighbours are too important to take that kind of chance.
What on earth are you saying?
sozobe wrote:Am I the only one who has seen many decidedly unsafe neighborhoods populated mostly or entirely by white people?
No, Sozobe, you certainly are not.
In fact, quite a few very close to here.
I would have done the exact same thing wilso. Being "street smart" doesn't make you a racist even if it did play a part in your decision.
I've lived in some of the worst neighborhoods and trashiest areas of boston, black, white, mixed.
would race play a part in my decision to move into a new area in the city now? depends on the area. yes in some cases, no in others. you learn after awhile. good education in self preservation is nothing to be ashamed of.
you made a smart move in my opinion.
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