9021-OH!

Is a private bowling alley, a massage room, a gift-wrapping nook, or a screening room any indication of a housing crisis? Not in the state's most affluent zip codes! In spite of dour media reports about the real estate market, developers are busy as ever in Southern California's haven for the privileged set.

A steadily-climbing number of homes in excess of 20,000 square feet are slated for development in Los Angeles' "Platinum Triangle," an area that includes Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, and Holmby Hills. That's great news for agents ready to take those listings. Last month, however, the Los Angeles City Council approved new limits on house sizing in certain areas, the result of homeowners' concerns that larger-scale homes threaten the character of some neighborhoods.

As with all development and evolution, an existential debate continues: Larger and more valuable homes increase neighborhood value on the whole vs. the argument that "supermansions" disturb the quaint, family-oriented neighborhoods where people once felt free to borrow a cup of sugar next door. On the debatable issue of either the "housing crisis" or the "supermansion debate" the answer is conclusively the same: "Depends Who You Ask!"