But, something good happened in the early 1990s. The residents of North Park decided enough
was enough. Grassroots leadership in the
community embraced new community representation at City Hall. District elections (councilperson had to
reside in the ‘hood represented) became law and the residents finally had partners
for progress. Progressive leaders like
Christine Kehoe, Toni Atkins and Todd Gloria were elected to represent North
Park and District 3 at the Council level.
Ever since, North Park has been on the upswing. Homes that sold for under $200,000 prior to
1990 are now selling as high as $1.5 million (depending on how big the house is
and what condition it is in).
North Park is now a happening ‘hood. National publications love us. Now, those same leaders who helped North Park
thrive have grown kids. Those hipster
generation types are looking to buy a home for themselves—and they’re looking
to buy in (where else) North Park.
But what’s available in North Park for newcomers?
Sadly, the area may have priced itself out of consideration for an entire
generation.
Recently, one young couple was looky Lou-ing a small
(1100-sq ft) Spanish Revival on 32nd Street, near Upas and attended
an open house. Motivated to buy (two
solid college grad resumes with nice jobs), they went into the remodeled home
thinking prices might start in the mid $400k.
Hello, sticker shock.
The small bungalow they previewed was on a half lot (2500k
sq ft) with tiny backyard and located on a busy street with neighbor homes that
sorely needed remodeling. Price $615,000 for a postage stamp.
As much as they wanted to live in North Park, they began to
look elsewhere. Who could blame them?
Tomorrow in this space, we’ll describe what they did find
for under $600K.
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