Wednesday, August 27, 2008 Real Estates' newest pitch: Easy Commute POST A COMMENT With real estate slumping away, the newest buzz word here in N.J. (and nearby cities) is easy commute, with programs offering -- 'people who work in a particular town to also live there. 'Geared mostly towards single people and young families looking to plant roots in a place as workers and residents -- (the city programs offers kick-backs if you work & live in the same city). I'm not big on live, play and work smash ups. I do understand that need to get up in the mornings and "go to work." And some distance plays a role here. I myself, live in N.J. and take the train into New York for work. I think living so near work I'd might feel too available. 'I do love the the idea of creating a sense of community (some place you can call your own); but, I don't want to mix work and play. All for giving back to my community and building it up by supporting local businesses. But, I want a clear seperation from work place and my home. While there's that perk of a smaller carbon footprint of not having to drive a long way back and forth. Isn't that what trains and buses are for? I'm curious to know what ya'll think about that (so, leave me a comment on your own commutes)... Source: NJ.com Labels: environment, fuel economy, green living, New Jersey, News Trends, Oil Prices, Real Estate, Well-Balanced Life posted by Henry Cruz at 9:06 PM Friday, August 08, 2008 An Inconvenient Housing Twist POST A COMMENT "Eat all your food," my Mom would say when I was little. "And be lucky, because there are starving kids in Africa." -- which was her way of pointing out, as poor as we were, others had it much worse. Which is what came to mind when reading about the "real-estate bust" - See if you can follow this one: Chronic homelessness has actually dropped 30 percent, a new report says. But now family homelessness is on the rise. It seems the foreclosure mess had an unexpected twist in that we will see more available "housing for the homeless." -- with a sour note for for families who just lost their homes... Because - "foreclosure crisis pushes some low income families into shelters, chronic homeless rates are shrinking thanks in part to the foreclosed and vacant buildings social-service agencies can now afford to buy." Seems more nonprofits are turning those homes and "seized apartment buildings and run-down motels" into places "with access to addiction treatment and health care." -- so, people now getting kicked outta their homes might have more places to crash...but, it will actually be other-peoples-reconverted-foreclosed-homes we are using to house them...'confused yet? "Historically, economic downturns are good for the homeless," points out Newsweek. "just as booms tend to be bad. During the 1990s, despite record spending and increases in shelter beds under the Clinton administration, homeless rates jumped 50 percent." Doesn't it sounds like a Real Estate Catch-22? -- Because in a strong economy -- and in turn -- a stronger real estate market -- wouldn't it actually make it harder to house our homeless? Source: Newsweek Labels: An Inconvenient Truth, Business-101, capitalism, Poverty Divide, Real Estate, rich and poor divide posted by Henry Cruz at 1:04 PM     ARCHIVES October 2005 . November 2005 . December 2005 . August 2007 . September 2007 . October 2007 . November 2007 . December 2007 . March 2008 . April 2008 . May 2008 . June 2008 . July 2008 . August 2008 . September 2008 .