simplesimon

Housing: Bigger Isn't Always Better

By Jove, I think you've got it. You may or may not believe the community wide resistance to new developments. This town in particular grew from 5,000 ( I was born here ) to over 100,000. There are no expressways, or beltways to handle the traffic. That seemed to be the last consideration. There are many reasons-e.g. a sustained drought w/mandatory water restrictions, and it seems virtually all the developments 'boast' of "Lots starting int he low $200,000" Natives like me think "That's low? How long have I been asleep?" My home was $18k 37 years ago; and I'm still in the same house. This is just mind numbing. Add to that it seems there has to be a golf course, God forbid there's no gold course, which requires 40,000 gallons of water a day to maintain. Naturally all the lending institutions just adored all this filthy lucre flowing like a deluge into their coffers. Salesman became millionaires themselves with those prodigious commissions. So they all maxed out their lines of credit, as the bubble just grew and grew without end...almost a generation. Now, with no equity to draw on, no proceeds from equities; and sales , legal fees, and every ancillary home product provider you can think of contracting, and letting staff go. And here I am, never having felt the need to one up my 'associates", or my neighbors, or my fellow churchmen,...am sitting safe, sound and secure. Yes, it's a tiny house , yes I am a lowly blue collar worker ( shudder ! ); and own three cars, one 12 years old, one 37 years old, and one 57 years old, and a wooden boat I had the time and money to build. I highly recommend living modestly. Now if we can only encourage everyone else to offload the need to impress with conspicuous consumption...( fat chance!) . But it would be nice. Don't you think?