Things fall apart

Our house is old, having been built in 1921. We bought it in the late 1980s, and a couple of years later were finally able to scrape together enough money to have some remodeling done. We’ve done other remodels since then, and I can truly say that, over the years, we’ve updated every bit of the house. It’s been a while since we last had any significant work done, but our recent plumbing issues served as a reminder that the owner of a home or building can never truly relax. Eventually, things will fall apart.

I read a lot of science fiction growing up (I still do) and, early on, I learned about entropy: the tendency of things to trend toward disorder. Basically, entropy can be taken to mean that, over time, everything will break down. But humans seem to have an innate need to bring order from chaos, and, thus, my constant battle to keep my house in good shape. As much as possible, I try to be proactive and deal with problems before they occur. But I cannot always predict how or when things will fail. Hence, our recent need to call in the plumbers.

As I walk around the city, I see houses and buildings in varying states of repair. Most of the homes in Redwood City’s residential neighborhoods appear neat and well-kept. Periodically, I see one with peeling paint, missing shingles and large weeds growing in the yard. Undoubtedly, some of these run-down homes have owners who simply cannot afford the necessary upkeep. Others may be owned by people who simply don’t care. Some owners, I suspect, have simply given up the fight: They’re no longer willing to wage the constant battle that home ownership can be.

For the most part, Redwood City’s commercial buildings fare better, although there are a few run-down buildings among them. Generally, the run-down commercial buildings I see are unoccupied. While, surely, their owners are aware of their condition, when those buildings aren’t generating income, I can see the reasoning not to plow more money into them than is absolutely necessary. That is, until they’ve secured a tenant, or until the building is sold. Of course, the more a building deteriorates the less attractive it is to potential tenants and the harder it is to lease — but people aren’t always logical.

For years I despaired as the attractive, not-quite-historic building at 55 Perry St. (the one-block street running between Brewster Avenue and Broadway just west of, and parallel to, the Caltrain tracks) sat, boarded up and rotting away. Built in the early 1930s, the building was initially the Sequoia Laundry and Dry Cleaners, after which it became Elgin’s Auto Supply & Machine Shop Service. When that latter business shut down, the building was boarded up and remained idle, apparently while legal issues regarding the building’s ownership were hashed out. After several years, the building was finally sold and, in early 2020, it was transformed into a small office building with a rooftop deck that, from the street at least, still looks a lot like the original structure.

I could list a handful of Redwood City structure that today sit idle and are slowly deteriorating. Thankfully, the vast majority of the city’s houses and buildings — some historic, some brand new — seem to be in good condition. In every case, keeping the ravages of time at bay will, as I can personally attest, take effort and money. In our case, although I haven’t actually added it up, I suspect that over the 35 years that my wife and I have owned our Redwood City home we’ve invested as much into remodels, upgrades and repairs as we paid for the house in the first place. However, I regard that investment as a good one, given that it gave us a comfortable place to raise our family and now to live out our semi-retirement years. Plus, it gives me plenty to do, keeping it from falling apart.

Greg Wilson is the creator of Walking Redwood City, a blog inspired by his walks throughout Redwood City and adjacent communities. He can be reached at greg@walkingRedwoodCity.com. Follow Greg on Twitter @walkingRWC.