Friday, March 12, 2010

Scenic Sunday - Maturity


I have recently started to going for a walk at lunchtimes in an older neighbourhood just outside the Calgary downtown core.

There is a mix of mature homes and bungalows (maybe 30-50 years old?), interspersed with funky modern homes where the older homes have been replaced.

And whilst I wander along admiring or disapproving of architectural licence, the one thing that really stands out is the size of the trees. Recent builders and home owners have taken great care not to destroy or remove them. Perhaps they are adopted under the planning laws.


I live in a fairly new development - the oldest home is 13 years old. Gardens and parkways still have a long way to go to look established - trees are immature. There are many new trees with thin, stick-like trunks to hold them up - the biggest tree trunk found is about the size of my thigh (OK, not a good example as my thighs might be considered quite ample) - but you know what I mean. I'd sometimes like to fast-forward about 20 years to see how it would all look.

I love some of the trees and shrubs in these older neighbourhoods. They have real hedges! Dead posh.

Now admittedly, these are not really beautiful trees (mostly poplars and birches) compared to those humungous stunning redwoods, or weird tropical cultivars in other parts of the world, but if it's more than 25 feet high, I can get excited!

And this is an expensive area. A modest 2 bedroom, 1000sq ft bungalow will fetch CDN$600k. And although location, ie, proximity to the downtown area, C-train, etc play their part - the "feel" of the neighbourhood is also worth a lot.

Go have a wander around an unfamiliar neighbourhood near you - and have a super Scenic Sunday.



To see more Scenic Sunday pictures from around the world, click here


7 comments:

  1. It is nice to walk in the older neighborhoods. Well established trees lining the properties and roadway is much nicer than the new subdivisions with no trees! Looks like you had a great walk!

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  2. I too enjoy seeing pictures of nice suburbs, and more so, if they also had some interesting or unique features in the designs of the houses.

    ~Silver

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  3. Thank you for the tour around an interesting neighbourhood :)

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  4. I wonder if the trees in your first photo are elms, They are beautiful trees and SHOULD be protected, in my opinion. I wish housing developments here were as conscious of the trees. Hmmm.

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  5. The trees in the first photo, was the first thing to draw my attention. It's a shame that so many of the newer developed areas remove, rather than preserve their beauty. I need to take a walk.
    God Bless Your Journey

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  6. I love visitng older city neighborhoods and admiring the architecture. Lookslike you have quite a mix in yours.

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  7. Very neat--and observant! New and old builds make interesting mixes. I liked the EMT training post too! Fun!

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