Reader Peter McFerrin sends in a photo he snapped back in April of the Westview Estates in Lancaster, a place that can only be described as a living hell for the unlucky people who purchased in this development. Water shortages and pressure problems have resulted in a lawsuit by residents against NJ-based developer K. Hovnanian, according to a story that ran yesterday in the Los Angeles Times. Besides the water problems, there's the fact the place is just a ghost town: The developer only built 35 of the 425 homes originally planned--23 of those homes have sold, and those who did buy obviously can't sell. Darren Parker paid $450,000 for a home, and this is what he tells LA Times reporter Ann Simmons: "They're trying to make us look like we're just looking for compensation. All we want is water." (A pump station has been put in half a mile away from the project, but it sounds like residents never know if their toilets will flush, for instance.) But families trapped in homes in "ghost town" subdivisions is a national trend, and one of the best stories we read on this topic was a three-part series on Wright County, Minnesota done by the Star-Tribune. Read these accounts and you will be very glad you live in a little rental in a big city.
· Dreams dry up for homeowners in Lancaster's Westview Estates [LA Times]
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