Posted on 02/22/2005 5:05:20 PM PST by F16Fighter
"California's housing crisis has become an emergency of multi-alarm proportions that has spawned a growing class of renters for whom home ownership may always remain a dream.
"And recent news of an impending apartment market rebound may be good for the multifamily housing industry, but for their customers it's down right scary.
" California's affordable housing crisis has reached emergency status. Year after year, many renters pay far too large a share of their incomes for rent, and Californians face some of the nation's least affordable home ownership markets, making it difficult for young families to achieve the 'American Dream' of home ownership," according to "Locked Out 2004: California's Affordable Housing Crisis" released last week by the California Budget Project.
"The California Budget Project (CBP), a fiscal and economic policy issues data gathering operation, found that:
# Only 58 percent of Californians are homeowners, (compared to about 68 percent nationwide) the fourth lowest percentage in the nation behind Washington, D.C., New York, and Hawaii.
# In the second quarter of 2003, the median home price was $278,380 in Northern California, the annual income needed to qualify for a loan with a five percent down payment was $61,464, but the area's median annual income was $45,400.
# In 2002, it would have taken a minimum wage earner 88 work hours per week to afford a one-bedroom rental unit in Sacramento. A worker would have to put in a 67-hour work week to afford a comparable rental in the Stockton-Lodi area.
# Most often priced out of the housing market are young adults and ethnic minorities.
# The highest home ownership rate in California is among senior citizens in California, with 77.5 percent owning their homes, indicating it takes a lifetime to realize the American Dream in the Golden State.
"In most markets, renting is considered a stage of life, like the toddler's Terrible Twos or the teenager's acne breakouts. It is assumed that in due time, renters will get married, start families, and move into the stage of making mortgage payments and worrying about the hot water heater. The study seems to suggest that about two thirds of all renters in California will stay in apartments, eventually using the money they were saving for a down payment to pay for the kids' music lessons and then their college tuition," said Caroline S. Latham, CEO of RealFacts, which, along with Marcus & Millichap, just released reports showing that California's renters, already barely getting by, are about to lose any negotiating edge they may have had.
" The National Multi Housing Council's (NMHC) January 2004 quarterly "Survey of Apartment Market Conditions" also reported the best three-month improvement in five years for the nation.
" Those market "improvements" may be great for investors, landlords, property managers and others on the owning side of real estate, but not tenants -- especially in California. "Where are the highest rent levels in the Western Region? California. Where is the highest rent growth in the region? California. Where is the highest apartment occupancy rate in the region? California," Latham said.
" For example, in San Jose, considered the Capital of Silicon Valley, the average monthly rent of all properties RealFacts tracks -- a combined average of studios to three-bedroom townhomes in complexes of 100 units or more -- peaked at $1,746 in 2001 in San Jose, but by the end of 2003 that had dropped to $1,319 per month. Renters are not cheering prospects that market conditions could be about to reverse that trend.
" Two years ago, a similar CBP report concluded there weren't enough work hours in the week for many households to earn enough to pay the rent. Matters have worsened.
" While incomes haven't kept pace with the rising cost of housing, housing inventories also haven't kept pace with demand, further exacerbating the cost of rent, according to CBP.
" From 1990 to 2002 an average 120,833 building permits were issued each year. During the 1980s the number was more than 203,000 and during the 1970s it was even higher, more than 215,000 per year.
" Multifamily housing production has been especially hard hit. During the 1980s, building permits were issued for an average 91,682 multifamily housing permits each year, representing 45 percent of total housing permits. Since 1990 the average has been 31,502 permits, just 26 percent of the total.
"According to a study released this month by the California Association of Realtors, only 25 percent of the state's residents can afford the cost of (a median priced home). In many California markets, such as Silicon Valley and Orange County, that average cost is (more than) a half a million dollars. That means (at least a) typical down payment of $100,000, well beyond most people's ability to save.
" And even at today's low interest rates, it means a monthly mortgage payment of around $2,400. In the most expensive areas of California, such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, the average monthly rent for an apartment is under $1,600 --- which makes it easy to understand why the study concluded that California's high home prices are creating a permanent class of renters," Latham said."
I got a Hillary joke on email. Do you want to hear it?
That's the kind of attitude that is changing California into a third world hellhole.
40% of our population is Hispanic (the largest group) and they are an essential key to our prosperity and high standard of living. They "assimilate" very easily into out Southwestern culture.
Houston TX Crime Statistics (2002 - New Crime Data) Crime
Type |
Per 100000 |
National per 100000 |
Houston Murders |
12.55 |
5.6 |
Houston Forcible Rapes |
43.71 |
33.0 |
Houston Robberies |
549.45 |
145.9 |
Houston Aggravated Assaults |
617.37 |
310.1 |
Houston Burglaries |
1318.5 |
746.2 |
Houston Larceny/Thefts |
3599.22 |
2445.8 |
Houston Vehicle Thefts |
1173.15 |
432.1 |
Well, first of all it looks like somebody stole all the cars. And also, all the people moved to Nevada.
"We have colonias with no running water, no drainage, no septic tanks. And when it rains, it floods,"
Wow. Sounds like a typical third world paradise.
And don't forget - they're picking your fruits and vegetables and working in meat packing plants.
Let's face it folks...we have an "illegal alien death wish" in this country. It's time to change the faces of our elected officials in Washing before they destroy us all.
Some Freepers have suggested shooting them when they come across the border. Is that ballsy enough for you?
Wish it was as easy as waving a magic wand.
The truth of the matter is, it's the GOP that has betrayed our trust. They've become the pandering cowards for votes the Democrats have always been.
We've expect them to do the right thing for America. Instead of enforcing the border and deporting million of illegals, they have surrendered to the hysterical chants of "Race-Baiters!"
So whom do we turn to? The GOP assumes: NO ONE.
I got news for you bayourod. If the activist from the union hall were here on this thread, debating this subject, they'd by on your side. The AFL-CIO is all for legitimizing illegals.
Here's more on "colonias", post #37
Colonias that count on the U.S. side of the border
Few Texas colonias, i.e., the new slums near the Mexico border, are squatters' colonies. Instead, they are constructed on tracts of newly subdivided land outside city limits which were purchased on contracts for deed. Most lots were offered at $100 down on a lot priced at about $10,000 to be paid off over 10 or 15 years at an interest rate of 14 to 16%. Until the passage of SB 336 last year, the purchaser on a contract for deed in Texas gained no ownership interest until the entire sum was paid off despite the his investment in the construction of a dwelling on the lot.
Concerns about the environmental consequences of NAFTA led the federal and state governments to an interest in U.S. colonias. For colonias are settlements in which important elements of infrastructure are lacking, most notably, piped and treated water, sewage disposal, and solid waste disposal services. While the Mexican government's policy is to regularize the land tenure of the paracaidistas and to plan for the construction of infrastructure in their colonies, the U.S. considers squatters as a part of the homeless population. Thus the only U.S. colonias which are counted are those in which the residents own, are purchasing, or rent the land. While the General Accounting Office was careful to title its November 1990 count and survey, Rural Development: Problems and Progress of Colonia Subdivisions Near Mexico Border, other agencies tend to omit the word subdivisions. One should not be misled by this omission, however.
The GAO survey found 872 colonia subdivisions in Texas, 14 in New Mexico, and none in Arizona and California. The explanation of these numbers is that the creation of residential subdivisions lacking infrastructure was legal in Texas, was possible through exploitation of a loophole in New Mexico law, and was not legally possible in Arizona or California. When Texas undertook its own survey of colonia subdivisions (see Water and Wastewater Needs of Texas Colonias, Texas Water Development Board, 1992), it found many more created after the GAO count and others in east Texas counties, which are not near the Mexico border. The current count of Texas colonias is 1471.
See: EPA Office of Water, Colonias Fact Sheet
____
BTW, nice statistics in your post 265. To hear some people tell it Houston is the most crime free place in the US!
I'm having trouble understanding this. too. I'm sure we have some illegals here in the St. Louis area. I see whites and blacks doing the construction work, factory work, etc. I will admit the corporations have their landscaping done by hispanics for the most part. I don't know what their status is. This doesn't surprise me that corporations could be using contractors who hire illegals since many corporations are a little short of ethics, anyway.
They'ed embarrass them illegals in a chicken cutting contest. They wrote the book on it.
Let me tell you an Amish story. As a youngster in the 1960's, we'd pack the family in the station wagon and head up to Davis county, Iowa where my mom grew up and visit my aunt and uncle on their farm. Us kids were always disappointed that they had no horses on the farm. My mom would explain that farmers had no use for them anymore. Then in the late 1970's, the Amish started moving in. I had not visited Iowas in about 20 years till 2001. What did I find? Horses everywhere. Not only the Amish had horses but a lot of non-Amish folks there had them, too. I believe their presence has stabilized and made rural life in that area unique. I have to admire them for their many positive qualities.
Whoa, just a minute here. Am I misunderstanding this? Does the Mexican government believe that they have some authority over these little shantytowns being built on our side of the border?
"Does the Mexican government believe that they have some authority over these little shantytowns being built on our side of the border?"
I'm not sure, but the Mexican government seems to believe they have some authority over whatever goes on here. Did you hear about a new "guide for immigrants" by a state in Mexico - not the one from a few weeks ago, this is a new one with a CD with it.
One big difference between Mennonites and Mexicans is that Mennonites aren't talking about hijacking part of the country.
Hey, Missouri!
Yep, the Amish are some really good, hardworking folks. I always enjoy watching the Amish work their teams of horses out in the fields. It's so peaceful - like stepping back in time a hundred years or so. They're really fine craftsmen, too, and build a lot of houses and barns for people in the Springfield area.
There is a large colony of Amish over at Lead Mine, Missouri (northeast of Buffalo, MO). I know one family pretty well there. They run a roadside vegetable stand and have greenhouses. Their plants are gorgeous and their vegetables are out of this world. I drive about 90 miles each way to buy plants off them in the spring because theirs are so much better than the ones for sale at discount stores or home centers. I also run over once in a while and buy vegetables from them in the summer.
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