Not all neighbours are NIMBYs

I'd like at some point to recount the most significant of our ups and downs from the beginning of this great adventure, but I'm not quite ready. With Lorie away, however, I've decided to sneak in my own update. As the title suggests, it strikes a more hopeful note than the last one.

I was just paid an unexpected visit from one of our neighbours-to-be (NTB). Have we mentioned that we have an apartment half a block away from our lot? This person had asked our contractor to see the plans for our house and the latter was supposed to provide us an e-mail address to which we could send them. This hadn't happened yet, so NTB took a stroll down the street to ask us directly for a look. I was, not surprisingly, apprehensive, but the visit turned out well.

We chatted a bit and I showed him the plans. He was curious, but not demonstrative in any particular direction. He seemed pleasant, though, and went so far as to say that he didn't think the construction would bother him. He certainly wasn't critical. He gave me a bit of his background, which includes some volunteer work last summer with Habitat for Humanity, which has to be a good sign. He talked about how they were going to work on a few more houses this coming summer, so I guess he has an ongoing relationship with Habitat. I think that we'll at least be able to stay on speaking terms, if not better, with this NTB. Lorie will be very happy to know.

This fellow knew that the lot had been up for sale and had checked out the drawings that had gone with the original proposal. He also corrected me on our address, which seems to be a point of confusion not only with us, but with the City of Ottawa and the realtors we've dealt with. Lorie has put 94A Crichton, but I think it's 96A. The house from which the lot was severed is 96B, so that would make sense. When my visitor saw our announcement from last weekend, he was surprised to learn that we were planning to build on top of his house.

When we're all done, we'll want to show off the fruits of all our labours and anxieties, and we'll make sure that all our non-NIMBY neighbours and friends know how to find us. It won't be hard; we'll have the newest and, we think, the prettiest little house on the block.