wukan wrote:
In Tokyo they stay in the cities till they die. In this covid period with time on my hands I have been watching those youtube walkaround videos of Tokyo and I see old people on bikes or walking. Lots of bike lanes in that metro. City living is not for everyone but those who've been here for long just want to stick to the old tried ways. Nowadays even inter-generation living is considered normal in older city estates like South B, South C, Pangani Eastleigh, Parklands. Even Uhuru has raised his kids in the same address he grew up in. At some point you settle in the community and get on with life. As you age you realize people are not bothered with your life as much as you think. Those impressions and keeping up with Joneses don't matter that much.
At some point kids leave the nest and older folks have to move to smaller living space near hospitals and other amenities. What's the point of building a big mansion which you won't need in 20 years once the kids are off to college? You might also get divorced in your 40s or 50s and if you don't have your small thingira where you can retreat to, you will walk these streets talking to yourself.
For now the demand is for those studios and 1bd. They are selling like hotcake especially the ones near the CBD and westlands.
Wukan,
Everything you say always sounds good on paper but I have big doubts matches up to reality.
What's the point of building a huge mansion that you will not need when the kids leave the nest in 20 years? You would have obtained 20 years of good service from it, and a juicy cap gain should you decide to sell at that point and move into a smaller living space, but never a bedsitter.
Bottom line,
The leafy burbs of Nai core are in serious danger bro. Kilimani is the epicenter of the woes. I remember how Kili had beautiful bungalows, maisonettes and low rise apartments in the years gone past. THAT IS ALL GONE. I also remember how Kileleshwa was so coveted because of its beautiful colonial bungalows on 1 acre. Imagine trying to maintain your bungalow yet on all sides around your plot, high rise apartments with plenty of nosy eyes are beaming down on you and your family running around in the lawn, and your wife hanging clothes on the clothes lines. Some may even be using the zoom feature on their cameras to take pics and videos of parts of her body you won't be comfortable to have them taking! In short, it is UNREALISTIC to cling on to the dream that these Nai core suburbs will stay the same.
Saying everyone will end up in studio and bedsitters in Kilimani and be happy about it is a bit of wishful thinking in my humble view. Imagine a 45 year old man and his wife and three totos hanging tough in a 8m by 8m luxury bedsitter in Kili. No parking space downstairs. Wote wanapanda nduthi shwaaa to get around. Not realistic at all if you ask me.
In ten years time if we are not careful, Kili will be no different from Ngara. In 20 years time it will be just like Pipeline estate below, which will be just sad.
PIPELINE ESTATE IS A FACADE OF WHAT NAIROBI WILL BEhttps://www.standardmedi...-of-what-nairobi-will-beIn the final analysis, it all boils down to sheer plain old hard work and dogged persistence. Nothing more, nothing less!!