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Health & Fitness

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

No single grocery store, coffee shop, school, neighborhood, organization or committee is going to make or break our town.

Raindrops on SpyPond
And whiskers at Thorndike Field
Bright copper kettles (at the Jason Russell House)
And warm woolen mittens (from The Orange Hanger)

Brown paper lunches for kids at Dallin
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the neighbor’s dog bites
When dust from the leaf blower debate stings
When I’m feeling sad (about missing the latest show at the Regent Theater)
I just simply remember how great Arlington is, and then I don’t feeel sooo bad!

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OK, OK. Laugh with me not at me. So it doesn't exactly rhyme (and I'm no Julie Andrews) but my point is that there is a lot of GOOD in Arlington.

No single grocery store, coffee shop, school, neighborhood, organization or committee is going to make or break our town. In other words, The collective whole [of Arlington] is greater than the sum of its parts, so said Aristotle.

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Included in this collective whole of goodness are strong property values. Despite a tough real estate market the past few years, property values in Arlington are holding, if not increasing. And this is GOOD. For example:

  • An increase in your property's value is an increase in the amount of money you receive when you sell it. (eHow)
  • An increase in the value of a property also can be beneficial if you purchased the property with the help of a mortgage, and decide to sell it within a few years of buying it. (eHow)
  • Property values often increase in relation to a town’s desirability.

While yes, it is true that increasing property values means it can be more expensive to buy a home here, don’t forget to consider the alternative
decreasing property values.

First, decreasing property values can often result in increasing tax rates. Second, a town that is seen as on the decline attracts less businesses, less commerce, fewer people interested in buying which can result in a decrease in town revenues, spending on town services, and more vacant store fronts, foreclosed properties, etc. This is the extreme, but you get my point.

So here are a few additional resources and amenities that add value to the town and are on our list of favorite things this season (btw, these are just a few! We couldn’t possibly list them all, so if we left off your favorite, it doesn’t mean we don’t love them too).

In the meantime, maybe the Team and I will grab a guitar and go sing about our favorite Arlington things from atop Robbins Farm Park. It could happen.

Steve McKenna
www.yourhomeforsale.com

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