Going Down: 6 Florian Court

2 thoughts on “Going Down: 6 Florian Court”

1. I am not sure what the point of your pictorial “expose” on the tear-downs in Westport is. Most of these homes should be taken down because of asbestos, drainage, hazards, and/or ill-conceived design. Others are purchased by people who have worked long and hard to build and have the home of their dreams. Do you find that offensive? You have an excellent news outlet/website…concise and free, in general, of the political bias of other Westport news sources. Make your point about the tear-downs and move on.

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2. Brian,
   Someone once wrote, “Journalism is the Rough Draft of History.”  By that measure, I believe that “the point” of the ongoing Teardown of the Day series is to serve as a “permanent” reminder for future generations of how Westport has been changing over these past several years.  I am not sure that is why WestportNow.com and Dave Matlow continue this series, but I think that it is one of the invaluable benefits that it is bringing our town.

   100 years from now a historian or a group of Westport schooldchildren may stumble across some digital archives and discover the Teardown of the Day series of photographs and clippings.  Through studying the Teardowns of the Day what will they learn about what our current society and culture valued?  What will that tell them about who we were as a people, a town and a nation?  Will these allow people to understand that Westport did exist before the Hedge Fund Era and that Wesporters for a few hundred years were able to thrive in homes of less than 5,000 square feet?
   How will they view these photographs through the prism of the next 100 years?  Perhaps my great-great grandchildren will see these photographs and be able to better place our family history in its geographical and political context.  Or perhaps they will just comment on the change in architecture over the ensuing years.

   I think it is possible to appreciate what Dave and WesportNow.com are doing without placing any political judgement on it.

   I have used Dave’s work to chronicle how teardowns in Westport have negatively impacted housing affordability in Westport.  Through a study of 14 homes featured as a Teardown of the Day and subsequently rebuilt and sold some facts were collected.  These 14 homes are all in Single A zones (0.50 acres) and sit on an average lot size of 0.40 acres.  The median pre-teardown price paid by developers was $642K for a 1,463 square foot house.  The post-teardown price was $1.8 million and the size balloned to 4,700 square feet.  On 0.4 acres. 

   For those that are calling for more Affordable Housing in Westport, I suggest that one of the best place to start is in preserving our current housing stock.  While these homes may not be “perfect” or everyone’s “dream home”, for the most part they do provide decent shelter and allow those who are not living on sky-high salaries to live in our town.

   For a copy of this study, with before and after pictures, please email me at johndmc@optonline.net

   John McCarthy

   PS.  The final P&Z hearing on the Gorham Avenue condos is tomorrow night (Thursday) at 7 PM in Town Hall.

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