Thought some might find this article interesting. I'll start by saying this isn't about your city, and your living situation is certainly different, it's about Atlanta and specifically about the areas I live in - the "Old Fourth Ward" it mentioned is directly across the railroad tracks (yes, really - historically the "wrong side of the tracks") that run directly behind the condo I was recently looking at buying.
It's about gentrification of intown neighborhoods and presents a fairly honest look at race in the Atlanta area, where there is still a certain amount of racial tension among certain crowds of people and in certain areas. One of the most interesting nuggets for me, though, is about how there is a 5 to 7 year backlog of vacant lots in the 'burbs, while intown development is still plowing forward full steam ahead - ***even during the housing downturn***. A ton of people are moving back in town - mostly because of traffic. This is all going on while ONE MILLION people have moved to the region just since 2000. http://www.governing.com/articles/0807atlanta.htm <quote> Indeed, you can't drive around Atlanta without coming across a new condo or apartment development, even in recently destitute neighborhoods that just a couple of years ago you'd have sworn would never again see a bulldozer or a hard hat. "Even Deep South Atlanta, which has been a backwater in terms of development, is seeing young black entrepreneurs who are not heavily capitalized looking for opportunities to go more upscale," says state Senator Nan Orrock, a white Democrat who represents some of the city's fastest-changing neighborhoods. Meanwhile, the outer suburbs now have a lot of cleared land sitting vacant. A recent study by a local real estate research firm found that developers in the northern half of the region have a five-year backlog of lots cleared and ready for building; in the southern half of the region, the backlog is seven years. Why? "Buying a house way out there is like buying a Hummer now in terms of what's it's going to cost you for gasoline," columnist Jay Bookman argues. "In January of 2007, when gas was $2.17 per gallon, metro Atlanta spent $14 million a day on gasoline. At $4, it's $26 million every day. That is an economic driver that will transform the region." </quote> .... and this ends today's lesson about Atlanta. -Cameron -- Cameron Childress Sumo Consulting Inc http://www.sumoc.com --- cell: 678.637.5072 aim: cameroncf email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;203748912;27390454;j Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:264347 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
