A Tale of Two Exurbs

Interesting article in The American Prospect about new urbanism and the right (and wrong) way to build suburbia.

A Tale of Two Exurbs
http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=a_tale_of_two_exurbs

This article fits nicely with Christopher Leinberger's Atlantic Monthly article I cited last year (and actually quotes Leinberger.)

Meltdown

Boy, the financial industry appears in total meltdown right now. First Bear Stearns, then FannieMae and FreddieMac, now Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and AIG. Who knows what the future holds. It's all the horrible fallout from the real estate bubble, or as Atrios descriptively calls it, "the big s--tpile." The apparently worsening crisis fits well with my instinctual pessimism, so I can't say I'm shocked or surprised. I just hope Apple isn't hurt too badly.

Another Housing Bubble Post

Surfing at the Calculated Risk blog I found this scary graphic. Its the Case-Shiller home price index for several cities. Look at the precipitous drop-off in prices for Miami, San Diego, and Vegas. Ouch. Comparatively the bubble never got so big in Chicago, so hopefully the drop won't be as bad. Still, its kinda sucky that we bought near the peak.

More Bad Economy News on the Housing Front

The foreclosure epidemic is not just hitting poor areas. Even wealthy, "McMansion" neighborhoods are suffering. Just goes to show how crazy the real estate market had gotten over the past few years. I don't think Chicago has been hit as badly as some of the coastal markets, but there has still been plenty of pain locally.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080407/us_nm...

Foreclosures come to McMansion country

LEESBURG, Virginia (Reuters) - Million-dollar fixer-upper for sale: five bedrooms, four baths, three-car garage, cavernous living room. Big holes above fireplace where flat-screen TV used to hang.

The U.S. housing crisis has come to McMansion country.

Just as the foreclosure crisis has hollowed out poorer neighborhoods, "for sale" signs are sprouting in upscale developments so new they don't show up on GPS navigation screens.

Poor people weren't the only ones who took out risky, high-interest loans during the housing boom. The sharp increase in housing costs -- and the desire to live in brand-new, spacious houses with modern features -- led many affluent buyers to take out loans they couldn't afford.

Suburbia, the next Slum?

There's this great article in the March 2008 Atlantic Monthly called The Next Slum?.

The premise of the article is that due to long-term economic and demographic changes, suburbs, or more precisely exurban auto-centric suburbs, will undergo economic decline while central cities and urban suburbs with walkable neighborhoods and rail transit will prosper.

Iphone Update

I've had the Iphone for a while now.

Verdict: Its great, I think its worth every penny we paid for it. Once a new upgrade is released, I think I'll buy one for Kelly. I don't listen to music all that much, an occasional audiobook maybe, but I use the web browser all the time. I'm fairly impatient, and I always find getting annoyed waiting in line, on the phone, at a restaurant, or whatever, and now I have something to keep me busy during those times. Kelly appreciates the phone because I no longer bug her (as much) to hurry up all the time. The camera is okay, not great, but its a big improvement over my previous phone camera (ie: I didn't have one).

Additionally, Apple stock is going through the roof, partly due to the iphone, so that's a bit of a bonus.

Dreamhouse(s)

As much as I like our house, my dream housing situation involves living in a condo in downtown Oak Park. No yard to mow, no exterior maintenance to deal with, and no walkway to shovel. Oak Park has had a condo building boom recently, and there is quite a bit of inventory to choose from. One condo we looked at is right on Lake st, the main drag of Oak Park, and sits above a high-end health club (with a smoothie bar!) and next door to Chipotle. If we lived there, I might actually make it to the gym, and we'd never have to cook.

Another new condo sits next the commuter rail tracks. When I'm waiting for the train in the morning, I often stare at the newly built midrise and fantasize about living on the 6th floor with a view of the trains coming in the distance. I'd time it so I could see the train coming, run downstairs and across the street to arrive at the platform at the same time as the train.

When we drive into Chicago, we see lots of nice condos in trendy neighborhoods. So many times I've said, "Oh, I'd like to live in that building", that its become a running joke with Kelly. Most of these hypothetical homes would be very inconvenient for us since Julia came along, not to mention commuting to work, but one can always dream.

Yo!!! Chicago

So, recently, I've been spending more and more time at www.yochicago.com. Its a website dedicated to Chicago real estate. But more than just real estate, it has lots of info about the various neighborhoods and their histories. Being a Chicago history and architecture junkie ever since I moved her back in 1992, this website is like crack for me. (Again, I reveal my nerdish tendencies.)

Growing up in a town with little or no distinctive history, I've really enjoyed learning about how this city has grown and changed over the years. Its been stated that the last 150 years of American history can credibly be understood by examining the history of Chicago. And the history of Chicago, is best told through the story of evolution of its different neighborhoods. Neighborhoods have arisen, declined, and often arisen again.

The best part of YoChicago are the video clips showing neighborhood drive throughs. Its like getting a tour of the city without leaving home.