What’s wrong with this picture? Yes, that’s a telephone pole blocking access to a driveway. I did not take this photo at a funky angle or play around in photoshop. I’m not sure which came first, the house or the pole, but I have seen more efficient neighborhood planning. I snapped this photo in the Strawberry Manor neighborhood in North Sacramento. What do you think?
NOTE: In my excitement to get this post up, I mislabeled the pole as a “telephone” pole. It’s actually a street light with a sign attached to the light. I don’t want to change the title though because it’s already out there on Facebook and Twitter. That’s how it goes. No big deal. My bad.
If you have any questions, or real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact Lundquist Appraisal by phone 916-595-3735, email, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to posts by email.
OMG that is hilarious! Your blog is so entertaining.
Thanks so much, Sonja!! I have only seen this type of set-up in photos, so when I saw it in person I could hardly believe my eyes. I knew then it would be a blog post. 🙂
Is this a telephone pole or street sign? Either way I would be asking the City to move it! Priceless photo capture….kudos
Gena, it’s actually a street lamp at a standard height (easily 15 feet or more). Silly me. I was so excited to get the photo up that I said “telephone pole” instead. I really need to get more sleep. 🙂 Thanks Gena. I would definitely not want that at my house. Part of me thinks the house must have been built after the pole was already there. Maybe it was built around the easement.
Why does stupid stuff get done? Depends on when the home was built, but many city neighborhoods got street lights retrofitted into them in the 60s. Nevertheless, even though there is an easement typically across the front of all residential properties for this type of stuff, its common practice to place utility junk on or near the property corners so this doesn’t happen and if that isn’t practical, to find another solution that keeps the property usable (after all, the developer normally pays for the lights in a new project). In this instance, the entire pole structure could have been placed on the opposite side of the street as it was a T intersection and the next one was done like this – OR – the light could have been moved slightly and a street sign placed there.
Well said, Jeff. I completely agree. Regardless of when the house was built, this is a really poor design and it doesn’t help the look of the neighborhood either.
Ryan,
Looks like an external obsolescence adjustment might be warranted. Great photo!
I’d say so, Michael. Good call on that. Something like this would be a real hindrance to most buyers. I’d love to talk with someone who purchased a home like this to find out how much it was discounted. How much does the price have to come down before the typical buyer will bite? Or it could be a selling point in MLS, right? ”Private driveway”. 🙂
In that neighborhood, it’s a selling point because it could provide a bit of protection from drive-by shooting cross-fire…every little bit helps out there: http://spotcrime.com/ca/sacramento/strawberry+manor