By Aurelio A. Peña
DAVAO CITY, (PNA) — With so many condominiums rising like mushrooms after a summer rain here in Davao City, I’m now becoming confused if my original dream of living in a bungalow inside a nice and quiet subdivision would be a better idea than living in a high rise condo in this southern bustling city.
Condos are now changing the skyline of this city of more than two million people and I’m wondering whether it would be more exciting to live in a studio or two-bedroom condo in say, the 15th floor of a 25 storey high-rise building. For a claustrophobic like me, that would force me to take an elevator everyday from morning till night on my way to work or to buy groceries in a nearby supermarket.
Thank goodness, I’m not as superstitious as that condo-high rise along Bajada which made sure to omit the 13th and 14th floors just to make sure these floors won’t remain vacant because clients often avoid them for fear of what these numbers could cause them while living a whole new lifestyle up there. Why, who wants to live on the 13th floor?
I love to be surrounded by lots of trees if I have a home of my own. That new condo complex beside the Bajada-Buhangin flyover would probably be the best bet for me, if I have the moolah today to get either a studio unit or a two bedroom unit. (I can dream, can’t I ?)
I was given a recent“tour” of their model units by Camella and found it so dreamy, my mouth was watering when I got out of that beautiful condo compound surrounded by thick rows of tall pine trees. Executives who like this kind of setting as their home, would love to live here with their families all their lives.
Of course, I’d still prefer a bungalow in a nice, quiet subdivision like Nova Tierra Village or Ladislawa Garden Village where you can get your own lot, put up your own bungalow with enough space for a big lawn for your pets— dogs, cats, rabbits, goats, etc to run after each other.
The world around us seems to be changing fast here in Davao, even as we live our lives in rented apartments in nearby villages. Day to day, I just kept thinking that my son will grow and live in a fast-growing city with a fast-changing skyline. It’s hard to imagine all this, is happening right now in this city. And my son is growing fast!
From Lanang district, he’ll soon see more high-rise buildings aside from the ones he sees daily on his way to school. After the 25-storey Abreeza Residences condo building is finished this year, he will see another one rising, this time the 35-storey Aoen Tower condo building, also beside the Ayala Breeza Mall.
Just a slingshot away, he’ll also see the Camella Northpoint finished all the three new condo buildings, all surrounded by pine trees beside the Buhangin flyover— one of the more refreshing sights of this city that’s now becoming a landmark in Davao.
And just a stone’s throw away, my son will see the new Robinson’s condo project standing 24 stories high at the former CocaCola compound beside Palm Drive on Bajada. Such a sight to behold once it’s finished.
The old, dusty Claveria now called C.M Recto street will soon come to life once more, this time with dramatic flair, as another new Ayala condo project called Avida will change the landscape of this once-proud avenue of business establishments in the city’s historic past.
My son always passes by this area on his way home from school, getting that ride to Lanang-Sasa and watching the clearing operations by the crew of the Ayala construction project. He can even see at the horizon the condo building of DMC Magallanes project, all finished and occupied long before the Ayalas started their own condos.
I think one day, my son Sean will buy his own condo and make it his home. But he will miss the dogs.