Could Foster-Powell Be Our New Home?

A couple of weeks ago we made an offer on a house in Montavilla, but the listing agent seems to be pretty disorganized and hasn't been able to tell us if anyone's even looked at it yet. We know that there were a couple of offers ahead of ours, so we're more-or-less giving up on that one.

Over the weekend we viewed a house we liked in Foster-Powell and have decided to make an offer on it.

We had not given much thought to moving to that neighborhood, but a few houses in our price range had popped up in our searches and we decided we should at least check some out. I wrote down a couple of addresses and debated whether or not to include a third that was further southeast. I decided we might as well give it a chance, because it was bigger than most things in our price range, and it turned out to have a lot of potential. It's definitely a fixer, but much cheaper than many of the places we've looked at and on a very nice lot. It will definitely need new floors and windows, and we will want to do some major renovations in the finished attic and turn the unfinished basement into a usable space. It would be a lot of work, but we're excited about the prospect of getting to shape it into the kind of home we want. I was relieved to discover that I can still get downtown on just one bus, too!

Last night I was reading about the neighborhood online and learned that the Foster-Powell Neighborhood Association had its May meeting today, so I decided it was the perfect opportunity for me to go learn more about the area and meet some community members and find out if it was a place I could really imagine living in comfortably.

While there are a lot of charming houses and some nice parks in the area, I couldn't help wondering whether the area still sometimes referred to as "felony flats" had transformed into a vibrant community, and if it had, whether it was a place where a young childless couple would fit in or if we would feel isolated and find the neighborhood boring.

Upon arriving at Sweetness Bakery I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people had turned out to attend the meeting (I'd say around 25). Everyone was friendly and welcoming and I was relieved to see a wide age range, including a few people who I'm pretty sure were younger than myself.

It quickly became apparent that while the neighborhood is certainly not as hip as Kerns (where we currently rent a house) and lacks some things that we desire in a neighborhood, that the residents are actively working towards making Foster-Powell a more lively, walkable, safe, and attractive part of town.

Like the house we hope to soon call our home, Foster-Powell needs some work, but is full of potential. I am pleased to know that the first and perhaps most difficult step, establishing a group of people committed to working towards a common goal, has already been achieved.