Sense of Place in my neighborhood

My neighborhood is an interesting area of town, my house and a few others sit in an area nestled between two large nursing home complexes. Across the street is a development for homeowners 55 and older. While these developments have been said to improve property values in the area, I personally think they completely take away the neighborhood atmosphere that I once enjoyed and still see many other areas of town enjoying.

A year or two back my neighbors petitioned for the right to add an inlaw apartment to their home, which would allow them to split their lot and to get tax benefits as well. Well when this happened the whole neighborhood, starting with my Dad, stood up in opposition due to the way the addition would somehow decrease our property values. Though this was true, and while I do remember there being opposition to the nursing homes, I find it interesting that the town quickly stopped my neighbors from adding on. While I know property value is important, I would much rather have a nice neighborhood with neighbors who aren't bitter than one with three nursing home areas. It shows how use value vs. exchange value comes into play, and how exchange value usually seems to trump the latter.