Nearly 70% of Americans own their homes, a record high, but the rate of homeownership for working families with children is lower than in 1978, according to a study being released Wednesday by the Center for Housing Policy.It looks like you have to be white, making well in excess of median wages, and not have children to buy a house, especially in progressive California. Is this progress?
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Affordability for Working Families Below What It Was in 1978
Sure, some people like to tout how home ownership is now at 70% "Yay for us! Isn't America just the best?" But what they don't tell you is this:
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There's nothing progressive about the conditions that have brought about California's housing crisis. They are inherently reactionary (e.g. Prop. 13), and stem from a concerted effort on the part of homeowners to keep their property values artificially inflated while preventing any more growth. This issue crosses political lines - plenty of conservatives, as well as liberals/progressives, have benefited from the status quo and would fiercely resist any changes that would help bring about some relief to those priced out of the market, including their own children, which is the real shame in all this. It's a very sick culture that drives its own children out of the area to fend for themselves.
by being born in an area, doesn't give you any additional rights to live in an area. I am not sure that it is even sad or sick.
If the US holds up an ideal of meritocrary (suppress your laughter momentarily), nobody should shed a tear for the Marin born but intelligence, aptitude and work ethic challenged who cannot support the same lifestyle they were born into from their own labor.
Should we pass laws that allow native born mariners to get special help to buy homes here?
Thankfully, I am not a child of the marin culture. Those children need to grow up.
"It's a very sick culture that drives its own children out of the area to fend for themselves."
We have a sick culture in a lot of ways, but this one is a real leap of faith. My 4 year old still leaves with me here in marin.
Ha!
"Thankfully, I am not a child of the marin culture. Those children need to grow up."
Well... parents have some liability, as well, in the "anything goes" culture in the land of milk and honey.
Do you remember? I was fascinated by the reaction of Babs Boxer, and others defending Marin, during the Johnny Taliban incident (2001/2002).
The best defense they could come up with was that "this kind of thing could have happened elsewhere in America!" - as if somehow it was *not* a local phenomena.
And they believed (or were trying to get others to believe) that this sort of thing was possible anywhere that there's affluent suburbs with spoiled kids and parents in absentia - inferring places like Fairfax County, VA, Fairfield County, CT or Winnetka, IL outside Chicago.
I thought long and hard about that (actually it was rather easy, it took about 10 seconds)... and I said to myself:
"No **cking way - I could have predicted that kid was from Marin!"
I agree - it was easy to envision an american taliban coming from here.
Would a guy dressed in the robes walking around in affluent - but conservative - orange county or san diego for that matter not get ridiculed off the street?
But here in marin, diversity and weirdness is celebrated. Lets chant tibetan prayers for the real estate market. And get vegan takeout in our porshe suvs.
Who else would not even know where their kid was and not have a problem with it?
Unfortunately as soon as it came out he was from Marin it made perfect sense.
The only other place that would have made the same kind of sense was if he were from Napa.
"Lets chant tibetan prayers for the real estate market. And get vegan takeout in our porshe suvs."
LOL. We live in the Shangri-La of narcissism. Taliboy is just a sand grain in this sea of madness.
While we're all pontificating here by using one misguided kid as a stand-in for the corruption of Marin's youth, it should be noted that bad parenting and the possible negative results are not strictly a Marin phenomenon, and especially not a phenomena of only the upper class. I grew up in a working class (and boy, were they proud of it) town on the East Coast and there were plenty of kids around who's parents could care less where they were. Maybe folks weren't so "anything goes" about how their children should ultimately direct their lives, but it still didn't prevent many of them from going wayward or plain running themselves into the ground.
It is fundamentally human to want to be able to live where your family has taken roots, because they offer your best and most reliable support network. No, there should not be laws enacted to help people stay in their place of birth, but it is a tragedy when someone who works hard in a low-paying job or profession cannot take root in the same area they grew up in if they truly desired to do so.
anonymous-
Well said.
Others who seem to think that Taliban only grow up here -- there were others (white boys) from both the UK and Australia that are currently held or have been held in Guantanamo Bay for sympathizing with the Taliban. It was just coincidence and nothing more.
Personally, I think the acceptance of diversity is an asset to society.
But here in marin, diversity and weirdness is celebrated. Lets chant tibetan prayers for the real estate market. And get vegan takeout in our porshe suvs. -anonymous
Would you prefer mosque-burning and cross-burning as opposed to vegan takeout and people chanting tibetan prayers? You need a little perspective on what are real social issues as opposed to something that makes you uncomfortable but essentially hurts no one.
I could suggest that you move to Alabama/Kansas/Texas if you think that it is OK to ridicule people who think and live differently from you, but keeping folks like you around ostensibly promotes "diversity".
You know, we strayed way off-topic and I apologize for the direct attack on another poster to this blog. There was an intolerant tone to that post that struck a nerve, but it was no excuse to respond the way I did.
The fact that a Taliban originated from Marin has NOTHING to do with housing affordability in Marin.
Yes, this thread went way off topic. But it's been fun anyway.
My $0.02 on the Marin taliban: Being from Marin had nothing to do with it IMO. Yes, there are a lot of spoiled brats in Marin, but I seriously doubt that having been marinated in Marin (pun intended) had anything to do with it.
Should we pass laws that allow native born mariners to get special help to buy homes here?
No. We should stop passing laws that make it more difficult for native-born Marinites to buy homes here.
We should stop passing laws that make it more difficult for native-born Marinites to buy homes here.
Very true. And while we're at it, we should start passing laws that make it more difficult for non-native born Marinite wannabees from moving here.
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