[kimba01]

I gotta admit, I felt the same way, the first time I started looking around for houses. It was very different for me, having grown up in MI. Here, they are mostly all different (we do have cookie cutter subs with McMansions now)but...this area is MUCH older than Vegas. Greener. Lots are definitely bigger. Funny, though, I can't enjoy my "big, green lot" because of the cold in the winter and the mosquitos in the summer...and it is a lot of maintenance just to have it look good.

BUT...I love everything about living there so I look beyond that. Although, I didn't want to be in a sub where the homes where you could pass a drink to your neighbor through the windows! Or in one that you walk out your back door and hit your back wall! I love my desert landscaping!!! I love that I don't have to listen to CONSTANT mowers, blowers, edgers, snowblowers, shovels...

[eefran8]

I like the look of the stucco houses, my only grievances with the houses in Vegas I looked at in my price range were the fact all the interior walls had textured walls and the master bathrooms had no doors on them.

[skisickie]

My home in SLC might as well be a condo, our neighbors are the width of a driveway between. This house has a big front yard and back yard. I don't know what I prefer?

[Miami Mike]

love the name little penguin!

[Spraynard Kruger]

I really like it when builders use sand stucco or smooth stucco systems, but they are a lot more expensive than the scratch coat style.

I also wish more builders took the time to square up the corners of stucco systems. It just looks better that way.

I also like sidewalks on both sides of the street, common areas lined with trees that provide a bufffer in a neighborhood. When the builders started buying little parcels here and there and shoving high density, single family homes (often three stories and KB had 4 story homes on the drawing board at one time) they reached new levels of hideousness.

I hope that 3 story building becomes a thing of the past. I doubt it will though. Could you imagine a fire on a three story home when the next home is only ten feet away? Could be disasterous.

[DavieJ89]

Originally Posted by Spraynard Kruger

I really like it when builders use sand stucco or smooth stucco systems, but they are a lot more expensive than the scratch coat style.

I also wish more builders took the time to square up the corners of stucco systems. It just looks better that way.

I also like sidewalks on both sides of the street, common areas lined with trees that provide a bufffer in a neighborhood. When the builders started buying little parcels here and there and shoving high density, single family homes (often three stories and KB had 4 story homes on the drawing board at one time) they reached new levels of hideousness.

I hope that 3 story building becomes a thing of the past. I doubt it will though. Could you imagine a fire on a three story home when the next home is only ten feet away? Could be disasterous.

I've seen lots of newer 3 story homes in Centennial Hills. KB was seriously considering 4 story homes? If they're gonna do that, they might as well start replicating the brownstones in Brooklyn, NY

As for the fire, if the LVFD got stuck in traffic somewhere, and the fire burned enough out of control, yes that could be extremely disastrous

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by tijlover

Get out a measuring tape and measure the depth of the stucco on your house in the newer areas of town, and then measure the stucco on my 40 year old townhouse in the inner city.

In the newer areas of stucco homes, all you need is a 4 inch thin nail to penetrate it. Here, I need a concrete drill bit to penetrate it. Believe me, I tried it once and gave up!

I like stucco too, if it provides added insulation for my house.

In the old days, to minimize stucco cracks, during the build 3 or 4 layers of stucco were installed.

Now, an alternative approach to minimizing stucco cracks is to put only 2 layers of stucco and use an elastomeric paint that "stretches" so cracks do not show as much.

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by pinguino

... we find most of the homes to be cookie cutter stucco nightmares...

This might not be your cup of tea, but check out, for example,
Marquis

for modern, non-cookie cutter architecture.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

This might not be your cup of tea, but check out, for example,
Marquis

for modern, non-cookie cutter architecture.

Sorry...I like Blue Heron...but that is an ugly site.

Trying to sell the places to the drug dealers that pass through.

Buy your own cat house only five minutes from the strip....

[dynimagelv]

Originally Posted by olecapt

Sorry...I like Blue Heron...but that is an ugly site.

Trying to sell the places to the drug dealers that pass through.

Buy your own cat house only five minutes from the strip....

and apparantely already stocked with "cats"