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Originally Posted by bizaro86
Can you explain why you think that would be the case? They're going to build it somewhere, as is the right of all religious organizations, but living right next to it doesn't feel like a benefit to me. The biggest reason is the parking will likely continue to be an issue, which is a downside. I understand (someone correct me if not) that essentially all "true" Mormon marriages have to be done at a temple, which will put further pressure on the parking at other times.
Since prices are controlled by supply and demand, it's possible that those using the temple could drive up prices if they have a strong preference to live near the temple. That seems unlikely to me, as I don't believe Mormons have anything similar to Orthodox Jews. (Who need to live close to their place of worship so they can walk to it on the Sabbath).
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I think I can address this. I went on the tour yesterday afternoon, and the parking lot was pretty full. I imagine the tours at night are much better attended, so I can see how that would spill out onto the street parking.
There is more than enough parking on site to handle the full capacity of the temple. The temple isn't open Sunday, so the whole parking area on both the church and the temple will be available for use the rest of the week. There were a couple instruction rooms that looked like they might hold about 50 people, at max capacity. Even the larger of the 2 rooms that weddings are held in looked to be about 30 or 40 people maximum, the smaller was probably about 20. I doubt there are enough weddings that these rooms are constantly in use. I suspect Saturdays during the summer would be peak demand for the temple parking, but I would bet that the occasional Sunday would bring a larger crowd with stuff like Easter or special church conferences being the high water marks. One of the guys I talked to mentioned that if parking was ever to be a problem for the community, there was a lot just below the temple that is empty that the church would likely buy for overflow parking. I forgot to look to see about that when I left though.
Prices going up due to demand is likely, but its not just about church members. Its an amazing piece of architecture, looks great at night and during the day. Sure there might be a larger amount of LDS people who might want to live nearby, but I doubt that number would be really high, like maybe a dozen or 2 families? I have no idea how much upward pressure that would put on the houses in the immediate neighbourhood. Large LDS families are not going to uproot kids from schools and friends to be near the temple, but I could see empty nesters or retired people considering a place nearby. Keep in mind, these people used to have to drive to Edmonton or Cardston sometimes as often as once a week, although once a month or more is probably more common. For them, just being able to drive to Royal Oak is a good enough bonus.