I recently led a reading group for Jane Jacobs’s famous book, The Death and Life of the Great American City. We covered just the first two chapters, where she introduces her philosophy of how cities work and starts off the conversation with the simple yet practical sidewalk. Participants were quick to bring the conversation to present-day examples. That is how I was introduced to Franklinton, Ohio, a neighborhood of Columbus.
As I reviewed the video, I longed for more information about the area. Turning to the real estate websites, I was pleased to see how advanced they’ve become. The most thorough presentation so far goes to Homes.com. Here are some of the bits of information I found informative.
After keying in the neighborhood in the search box, this nice introductory page pops up with a map and current listing. The for-sale signs on the map give an instant feel for price and amount of inventory presently on the market.
This is an excellent snapshot of the neighborhood. There are 49 homes for sale, and 77 have been sold in the last year. Market time is thirty days, quick but not unbearable for buyers. In fact, prices have come down one percent in the last twelve months.
This next section gives some demographics and neighborhood amenities and addresses the most frequently asked questions about an area.
The Redfin site had some extras like this price history graph.
Back to the Homes.com site for this interesting comparison between Franklinton and greater Columbus, Ohio.
Home Economics 