[EADGBE]

50 year homes being torn down? Whoa.

I haven't seen anything like that in my experience at all. House I grew up in is still going strong at 65, really quite a baby compared to most around me in my suburb.

Only know of one house which burned down completely, was torn down and rebuilt in the heart of the city.

Most significant damage caused to wood-frame homes tends to allow partial rebuilding and renovation without the need for tearing it all down completely.

[nsxwolf]

There's a lot of ~50 year teardowns where I live, but it's people that want to build something big and ostentatious on the lot in desirable neighborhoods. The homes they are destroying are often all brick construction.

[SystemOut]

You see it mostly with smaller homes in areas that are desirable. The smaller homes, usually built 50-60 years, tend to have low ceilings, small kitchens, no master bedroom, etc. Some have structural issues due to neglect but most are fine structurally just not desired by buyers.

When the owners decide to sell they usually get snapped up basically for the land cost - demolition cost and are torn down for "teardown" houses. In Chicago it's pretty common. Our street is about a 50% mix of 50s homes and < 10 year old teardown homes.

[DoubleCribble]

If you want to see what full neighborhood teardowns look like, plan a visit to Vancouver, BC. The number of McMansions popping up all over the place is shocking.