The Italian Village of Bormida Won't Actually Pay You $2,100 to Move There

[Jovialis]

I wish I could have lived in the part of Italy my family is from.

I hate New Jersey; ugly state, with uglier people, inside and out. They are total lizard-brains.

 

[Angela]

^^Well, not always, Jovialis, surely. I know people who live in Ridgewood and Chatham and they seem like lovely towns. It's also beautiful down by Cape May, and further west into the more rural areas.

 

[Jovialis]

^^Well, not always, Jovialis, surely. I know people who live in Ridgewood and Chatham and they seem like lovely towns. It's also beautiful down by Cape May, and further west into the more rural areas.

Yes, they look nice, but those places can be very dull as well. I dated a girl out west, and I eventually dreaded going out there, due to the sheer boredom.

 

[LeBrok]

This is nice marriage of modern with stone and wood. Roof is in Italian villa style anyway. This is how old towns should accommodate new standards. Otherwise many of them will become empty ruins soon. How valuable is a house without people living in it?

Another one:

Surely this would change a character of old towns somewhat, but at least they would stay alive.

 

[Angela]

This is nice marriage of modern with stone and wood. Roof is in Italian villa style anyway. This is how old towns should accommodate new standards. Otherwise many of them will become empty ruins soon. How valuable is a house without people living in it?

Another one:

Surely this would change a character of old towns somewhat, but at least they would stay alive.

There is new housing, LeBroc. That's not why some of the old rural villages are being abandoned. It's because the younger people go to bigger cities for work. They also find it boring because there's no movie theater close by or the nightlife they prefer.
As for housing stock, there are all sorts of restrictions about what you can do to the old houses, but nothing prevents you from building a new house even in agriculturally zoned areas if you have a big enough plot of land.
There's no need to destroy the harmony and beauty of the towns and the Italian landscape either. You can do them in Mediterranean style and in a way that is in harmony with our climate. For a majority of the year we're also trying to keep the sun out, for example.
This is a new four family condo.

These are new single family homes.

Closer in to urban areas where the zoning is different, you even have our version of "developments".

And of course in the town and city centers you have modern apartment blocks.

So, they exist. If I can afford it I'd prefer not to live in one, though.
Strict zoning laws are not just an Italian thing. I live in a community that is perhaps eighty years old with a housing stock of what Americans call Colonials, Dutch Colonials and Tudors. You would never be allowed to build a "modern" timber and glass house here. Someone dared to build a "traditional" house but painted it a bright blue. The housing association sued him. It's now a decorous beige. It depends on the town, of course. Some of them have no concept of aesthetics or zoning. That's part of what's wrong with so much of the east coast of Florida.

 

[davef]

I agree with jovialis. New Jersey is New York's septic system run by that corrupt tub of lard Chris Christie who would much rather shut down every government property so he can relax on the beach without anyone around to laugh at his gut and inability to walk the length of a football field without stopping to catch his breath.

 

[Jovialis]

I agree with jovialis. New Jersey is New York's septic system run by that corrupt tub of lard Chris Christie who would much rather shut down every government property so he can relax on the beach without anyone around to laugh at his gut and inability to walk the length of a football field without stopping to catch his breath.

For me, it’s more of a desire to be with people from my own culture. Which is why I wished I could have lived where my family is from. Not that I close my self off from others; or that I hate or look down on anyone. But it grieves me that I can't have that special bond with more people around here.

I sort of envy the new immigrants that come here and build large communities. They may not have much, but at least they have each other. For me, that's even more important than material possessions.