Wet alternative to taking a lengthy vacation
Planning to install a swimming pool in your new backyard? If so, you’re not alone.
Despite our short swimming season, more than 200,000 homes in the Chicago area have backyard pools (in-ground or above-ground), says the National Spa & Pool Institute (NSPI).
“Family togetherness” is the No. 1 reason cited for buying pools, says the NSPI. Fitness is a close second.
Post-Sept. 11, NSPI contractors report many families’ 2002 vacation funds are pouring into pools instead of long trips.
They range from in-ground oases with waterfalls, underground speakers and exotic lighting, to simple, above-ground tanks that move with their owners. This is worth noting because some home buyers consider pools liquid assets, while others consider them money down the drain.
The NSPI’s demographic studies show that the average buyer of an in-ground pool has an annual household income of $67,000 and buyers of an above-ground pool earn an average of $46,000.
Q. Nationwide, which of these pool styles wins the current popularity race, in-ground or above-ground?
Answer next Saturday in New Homes
Last week’s question:
Much of Chicago’s current lakefront is built on landfill.
One parcel of land that remained undeveloped, though, was an 80-acre railyard at the edge of the lakefront landfill.
Now, nearly 100 years later, this former railyard is coming back to life as a planned development. Completed, it will include 1,500 homes (condos, lofts and townhouses), offices, retail stores and hotels.
Q. What is this new community-within-a-community?
Answer: Central Station, formerly a railyard of the Illinois Central Railroad.
