Labor Day: An Anniversary for Some.
September 3, 2012
A Special Weekend.
Labor Day has a different significance for many people. For some, it's the last getaway before summer slips way; for others, it's a day to relax and barbecue in the back yard with friends and family. But gauging on the number of homes that closed escrow last week, this Labor Day is a moving day for a whole bunch of new homeowners!
That's what Labor Day was for us 21 years ago when we bought our first home in San Carlos. We spent the weekend moving out of our apartment on Walnut Street and into our smallish 2BR home on Howard Avenue. Our apartment was only a block away from Bell Market (now Bianchini's), which was a good thing because Bell Market was the only place open on Laurel Street after 6PM! Today, you can't even get a parking spot on Laurel most evenings. What a difference a couple of decades has made.
When we moved into our house, there were only two kids on our entire block. Today, there are over 20 — and that number continues to grow as homes continue to change hands. It's no wonder the San Carlos School District is wrestling with finding enough desks and rooms for the swelling enrollment in the city.
My parents thought I was crazy for spending $350,000 on a house back in 1991, but the market (and a whole lot of luck) proved them wrong. I don't think anyone predicted the rise in real estate value in San Carlos since then. I wasn't terribly concerned about the fact that our house only had 2 bedrooms. We were lucky enough to find a house that sat on an 8,800 square foot lot, so I knew that gave us an option to stay and add-on if we wanted to.
Our Realtor at the time made an interesting comment — she said “Don't worry about your first house — most people move in 5-7 years anyway.” To her credit, she was right. Most people do move several times in their lives. But we were the exceptions. Although the look of the house (and our street) has changed quite a bit, that address has remained ours for the past 21 years…and hopefully for many more.
So on this Labor Day, whether you're camping, BBQ'ing, moving into your new house, or remembering back when you did, make it a great Labor Day, San Carlos….
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Your blog post did stir some memories. I too bought a house 25 years ago in San Carlos and remember downtown being a dump, with most stores closed and lots of vacant space. IMO, the only thing that saved downtown was the sudden plethora of restaurants. What’s more interesting is that despite the house remodeling boom afterwards, fancy kitchens with Sub Zeros, Wolf ranges, etc., did not make better cooks at home.