by Laura Conaway

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  • "They started building before the crisis, but they didn't seem to advance much at all. Then the housing crisis hit and NOTHING has happened since."
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    "They started building before the crisis, but they didn't seem to advance much at all. Then the housing crisis hit and NOTHING has happened since."
  • "The first home on the street doesn't even have the front of it faced, but the next home is so beautifully landscaped and maintained."
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    "The first home on the street doesn't even have the front of it faced, but the next home is so beautifully landscaped and maintained."
  • "The model home looks nice, but the next house is up for sale and the grass is thigh high."
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    "The model home looks nice, but the next house is up for sale and the grass is thigh high."
  • "I drove all the way to the other end of the development. There they have a cul de sac with four homes built — two are occupied and two are for sale with the trademark high grass."
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    "I drove all the way to the other end of the development. There they have a cul de sac with four homes built — two are occupied and two are for sale with the trademark high grass."
  • "Then I took a picture of now deserted work trailers next to a big pile of dirt."
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    "Then I took a picture of now deserted work trailers next to a big pile of dirt."

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Anne Crew writes from outside Pottstown, Pennsyslvania, where she lives near one of America's many would-be subdivisions. This one, Union Greene, is described by its developer as "the area's hottest new address," complete with a peaceful "country-like setting."

Houses start at $274,000, though Crew reports there haven't been many built since the economic crisis began.

After the jump, Crew describes one picture she didn't get.

 

The one photo I didn't get but wanted to was a bull dozer where a street was planned. The street sign is there, but no street ... just a vacated bulldozer.

You might ask why I didn't get this photo. Well, while I was taking pictures a woman came out of the lone house on the hill. She kept walking around while on the phone and looking at my vehicle. I guess I looked sort of suspicious as a different car would in a large acreage development where only 10 homes are built and 4 of them are occupied.

Anyway, the unfinished street was planned to run next to her house. She was already nervous enough. I didn't want to send her over the edge or put my children who were in the car with me in danger. She didn't go in until I left the neighborhood.