Housing Estates Part 1: The way we live has changed

Reproduced from the Penrith City Gazette
By Ian Horner
First published Aug. 27, 2014, 3:20 p.m.

Where did the idea for masterplanned estates come from and what are homebuyers getting for their money? We talk to UrbanGrowth NSW to begin our special three-part report. Words and pictures by IAN HORNER.

SO MUCH has changed since our parents’, and grandparents’, triple-fronted red-brick house on a quarter acre back in the Fifties and Sixties. We neither have the land available — nor the desire to spend all weekend looking after it.

Housing styles have had to change with the times. And after a few false starts and mis-directions, 20 years ago designers and developers hit upon what has gradually turned the whole industry on its head — masterplanned housing communities. These are self-contained estates completely planned before anyone lays a brick. With infrastructure, open spaces, community buildings, shops, schools and services all built into the blueprint and the types of housing specified before a lot is even offered for sale.

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