Editorial: Bygone areas born again

Wednesday, May 10, 2006 | 7:28 a.m.

In a story published Monday, Sun reporter Jennifer Shubinski wrote about people who have "no use for two- and three-story stucco homes built cheek-to-jowl on postage-sized lots, in master-planned communities governed by homeowners' associations."

The story portrayed people who are investing in the older parts of Las Vegas, where distinctive homes once defined the good life here. Rejecting the newer neighborhoods in the outlying areas as too impersonal, they are buying half-century-old fixer-uppers and bringing these homes back to their original grace and charm.

In the course of doing this, they are creating pleasant neighborhoods where strolls offer the opportunity to stop and chat and where leisurely drives recall the era when home architecture projected taste and individuality.

Not everyone, of course, is in a position to buy a home and immediately invest $100,000 or more in renovations. But we are glad that many people with the means to do this are taking the time and spending the money to restore Old Las Vegas.

Their investments add interest to our city and heighten our sense of community.