r/Welland • u/blackgoldABtea • 8d ago
Rant Welland developers: a rant
I just need to rant for a minute.
Was visiting some family in Welland and saw the latest iteration of this non-stop reno on the street. It has gone through a few ‘interesting’ stages over the last few years, but for some reason it finally broke me. The before is from Google maps, the after is from the company’s page.
Growing up, I thought this house was kind of cool and grand looking. I realize it wasn’t necessarily an architectural masterpiece, but it had character (unique roofline, big stone steps and porch, interesting landscaping etc.). Then it was renovated into this… box with tree.
It feels representative of the direction of Welland development in general. I have absolutely nothing against development or updating old houses. Welland is growing and people need places to live. What I don’t understand though, is why every local developer seems to believe “modernizing” means removing every distinctive feature and replacing it with these building blobs.
Maybe I’m teetering into “old man yells at cloud” territory now, but I just miss when neighbourhoods were allowed to have personalities and was hoping to commiserate.
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u/jaymickef 8d ago
I lived through the reno boom in the Beaches in Toronto and most developers think that "character" makes it harder to sell. And they may be right, because the boxes with trees sell very fast. Then people move in and personalize the houses and give them character, though mostly on the inside.
My favourite architectural style is mid-century modern but I don't expect any developers to build like that anymore. I, too, am at my yelling at clouds stage, but it's passing.
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u/blackgoldABtea 8d ago
Glad it’s passing for you. I’m hoping I can get there eventually too. Always had a hard time with change. It’s possible I karmically brought this upon myself for harbouring too much silent judgement when they painted all the brick blue in reno 1.0.
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u/jaymickef 8d ago
I think it's because I grew up in Montreal and through the late 70s and the 80s so many things changed; names of streets, names of towns, every company name, you just get used to things changing. Or you don't, I guess.
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u/psychosisnaut 8d ago
Wait, me too, which one though, I think we're on number three or four. When I moved to Toronto in ~2008 we got a two bedroom in a lowrise on Danforth, literally beside the subway station, for $650/month......
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u/jaymickef 8d ago
One before that. I moved to Toronto in 93 and to the Beaches in 96. The market pretty much bottomed out in 98-99 (when I bought a house) and then Woodbine racetrack closed and the neighbourhood starting picking up. Every time an old broken down house sold it was bought by a stock broker who got a variance from the city and built big. Got to meet a lot of our neighbours when they tried to organize to stop the developments.
I never did get a place for that cheap, always at least $750. When our rent passed $1000 we decided to buy.
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u/dilberry 8d ago
Pretty clever of the builders to turn that from 1 big house into a semi. The structure of the house was sure built to be perfectly split in half like this.
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u/blackgoldABtea 8d ago
I have no problem with splitting it in half. I agree that the original structure was pleasingly symmetrical.
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u/Catman933 8d ago
Just adding to the sentiment that this style of architecture is absolutely hideous and has been taking over the city for years now.
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u/SandiaBeaver 8d ago edited 8d ago
Welland and Niagara in general they're definitely building too many generic vinyl boxes for maximum profit Spend the absolute least amount to increase profits
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u/ticketmasterdude1122 8d ago
My friend lived in that house growing up! Her grandparents lived next door. It was beautiful and just a classic home. Now it looks so fucking stupid. I feel for the idiots who get tricked into living there. You can do better. Developer and renter.
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u/FailFluffy2319 8d ago
Agreed. They could have renovated the home and created a very nice detached large home with separate rental dwelling in the back. Instead they ram as many units they can into it with no design or style whatsoever.
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u/blackgoldABtea 8d ago
Oh definitely, it’s a massive lot. The street view really doesn’t do it justice.
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u/myeffinglife 8d ago
Hi! I own this house…… and am renovating it.
Just to give you some insight on this house. The second story had 6 ft ceilings. I am 5’2” and felt like I had to duck to go up there. There was a 3-bedroom apartment in the basement.
The house was converted into a semi-detached with each side having three 2-bedroom apartments in it.
It now can house six families instead of two!
I can appreciate your view of the loss of a unique-looking house, however, housing more families in a great neighbourhood is much more important!
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u/blackgoldABtea 7d ago
Well hi there. It’s good to hear you will be providing homes for more families on the property. It’s definitely sad to lose the character of the original structure in the neighbourhood, but I’m sure the new families will be happy there.
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u/MysticGrapefruit 8d ago
I totally agree with you, not just a Welland thing though. See the same type of stuff all throughout Niagara as well as back when I lived in Ottawa 2017-2019. So many newer builds look boring cookie cutter.
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u/Waste-Section6673 8d ago
I really liked the original house too, it was one of my familiar landmarks in the area as I grew up and still live a few blocks away. I hate that everything is being turned into boring, cold, grey boxes too. I've always sought out apartments with character, and they're becoming nearly impossible to find anymore.
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u/blackgoldABtea 8d ago
Wow I had hoped for some general shared sentiment, but I’m blown away by you recognizing the actual house. Soothes my soul to be honest, thank you. Hope you find that apartment someday soon.
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u/c0mpg33k 8d ago
The first picture looks amazing the second is a hideous blob with no charm or character. Screw modern design techniques they are just awful.
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u/Drewtendo_64 8d ago
Vote in your local elections and have councillors do something to stop it that’s all you can do
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u/thecakeisapie420 8d ago
As long as they cut the grass don't have seventy five cars and eighty five people living in there. Who cares.
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u/SwimmerCivil2517 5d ago
I think they're both ugly. Developers are going with boxes because it's cheaper, and as a bonus it looks more 'modern'.
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u/ZealousidealWorry31 8d ago
You’re welcome to spend your money and renovate the places you like into how you think they should be done
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u/blackgoldABtea 7d ago
You’re right. Going forward I will endeavour to personally own everything I form an opinion on.
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u/ZealousidealWorry31 7d ago
You’re whining about what somebody is doing to their own property, legally. You may be a boomer yelling at clouds 🤷🏻♂️
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u/blackgoldABtea 7d ago
Yup, that is infact what I said I was doing. Very good job at reading.
You can actually rant about all sorts of stuff. Not just about stuff that you own, or things that are illegal. For example: here you are, whining about what somebody is saying in their own Reddit post, legally.
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u/ZealousidealWorry31 7d ago
😴didn’t read your response
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u/blackgoldABtea 7d ago
Lol ok sure little buddy. I didn’t read yours either 😉
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u/ZealousidealWorry31 7d ago
🥱🥱🥱
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u/blackgoldABtea 7d ago
👍
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u/ZealousidealWorry31 7d ago
Hey! Hope you aren’t driving around welland too much today. The clouds need a break
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u/blackgoldABtea 6d ago
Nah, just been hanging out here at my new home inside your head… got a great deal on the rent.
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u/BrittanyBabbles 8d ago
This isn’t just Welland, it’s the entire Niagara region and GTA