Dyna Sluter wrote: >Since then the market has crashed....<
Dyna, This simply isn't true. Your block may or may not be seeing declining housing prices. But they aren't declining in the rest of the northside; they're going up. I know this can't continue forever; certainly not double-digit annual increases. But there's no evidence I can see suggesting a decline. There's a lot of nice, older houses in this area, and they have been underpriced compared to their equivalents on the south side. People are realizing that you can own a fairly nice house close to downtown for a lot less than a townhouse that comes with an hour's commute each way. Yes, there was a flipping operation a few years ago. Many of the flips were in the area surrounding my house. It did slow the appreciation of prices; it didn't stop it and now the rise is going full steam. I've locked in a low interest rate and kept enough equity to handle a downturn. As for the landlords, well, it's a speculative business. If one looked at the situation two years ago, it seemed that owning rental property was a sure ticket to endless wealth. Rents had been rising sharply for years. A lot of people who didn't know a lot about running rentals paid a premium price for property. Then we had low interest rates, and a boom in rental construction. Some renters became homeowners at the same time as a lot of new units came onto the market. Now rents are declining, and some landlords are hurting. It happens. The market will correct imbalances. Dyna, if your block has empty lots, it's an anomaly. Empty lots on the northside are becoming pretty scarce. You see a hole, a few days later a foundation, then four trucks carrying sections of a manufactured house, and in about a month there's a new house for sale. Why do I live here? I moved here to be with the one I love. But somehow, a small-town raised, politically conservative guy fell in love with this city, too(music swells). Sure, there's a lot of things I want to see changed. But changes are happening. 26th Avenue North is nowhere near the open-air drug bazaar it was three years ago. Yes, you can still buy there. But there's less than there was (thanks, Dennis Plante, and those like you who keep up the fight). The city government is a nightmare to me; they're willing to give my money to corporations and developers as well as the "good" people who run their own non-profit empires in the name of public service. But I can find amazing meals at good prices in restaurants. There's a reasonably-priced theater production every day of the week. People here live in real houses with real yards. A person can be different from his neighbors, yet get along with all of them pretty well. There are amazing stores like Surdyk's--an incredible selection of drink and food, with smart, helpful staff, and still prices lower than chain stores. Or go to the uptown Lund's on a Saturday, and see the 80-year old woman who has lived in the neighborhood since 1939 in line behind the girl whose eyebrows have more metal than a Toyota and who wears black lace lingerie as outergarmets. Go to Lake Calhoun and see the young hardbodies strut for each other, as they have for the past century. Take a canoe through the chain of lakes. Spend a day being another person at what is still the biggest and best ren faire in the world. This summer you can play mini-golf at the Walker Sculpture Garden. Sure, the Ice Palace is cheesy, but 750,000 people still went. Learn Scottish dancing. Choose from about a thousand different yoga stores. Visit the model railroading exhibit in Bandana Square. Cool off in Lake Nokomis. Listen to people carp about the idea that Don Samuels *isn't black enough.* Yeah, the taxes, insurance, and general lack of driving ability really do grind on you. But I can't imagine living elsewhere. --M. G. Stinnett Jordan REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
