Interesting view on the real estate slump (house, prices)

[krakenten]

I lived in darkest downtown Baltimore for many years.

Then moved to the County, into what's now called Newtown.

I'd go back to the old neighborhood by Mt. Washington, if I could, but life downtown is too strenuous for me, at 61.

York County is dull as dishwater, but I'm stuck here, hoping the (probably hare-brained) plans to turn York into an Artist's Colony bear some fruit.

Maryland's Government by Hoax has just about done me in-today I discovered that my retiree health insurance is no good-almost no one will accept it, because they don't pay!

Thank God for the VA.

I got used to the fact that the dental coverage is no good-again, they won't pay-and all the other lies State employees have to swallow.

I wonder how long my pension will last?

[jonjj]

The reality is that urban areas across the country have already been experiencing an influx of people concerned about these issues. It has been occuring for quite awhile. In my neighborhood alone (Patterson Park), I have a neighbor from Gaithersburg, one from White Marsh, and one who just moved here from north of Parkville. Even I moved further into the city from Arcadia to eliminate as much driving as possible. I doubt the majority of suburbanites will change locations but the fact already exists that city-living has been picking up steam all over.

[fakeeyes]

Originally Posted by jonjj

The reality is that urban areas across the country have already been experiencing an influx of people concerned about these issues. It has been occuring for quite awhile. In my neighborhood alone (Patterson Park), I have a neighbor from Gaithersburg, one from White Marsh, and one who just moved here from north of Parkville. Even I moved further into the city from Arcadia to eliminate as much driving as possible. I doubt the majority of suburbanites will change locations but the fact already exists that city-living has been picking up steam all over.

Jonjj
Add us to your list of examples. My wife and kids and I are moving from Owings Mills to Patterson Park. We cloase on the house we are buying on Lakewood next Wednesday. One of the main reasons for our move is to save money on gas. My wife works in Glen Bourney, and buy moving to Patterson Park, we will be cutting her commute in half. When you combine that savings with the additional savings we will realize by being able to walk to restaurants, stores, etc. we will be saving way more than half on our monthly gas costs.
I'm blind and use public transportation to get to work, so my commuting expenses don't really factor in to our gas savings equasion, but, the time it takes me to get to work using public transportation will be drastically reduced. Currently I have to get a shuttle to the Owings Mills Metro, take the Metro to Rogers Avenue, and then transfer to the M6. That can easily take over an hour. Living in Patterson Park, and relying on the famous #40, my total one way commute will be less than a half an hour. In my book, that is a win win.
Sure, we won't have a huge backyard for the kids to run and play, but, we'll have "Baltimore's biggest back yard" (TM) a half block from my doorstep.

[jonjj]

Well fakeeyes----Welcome to the neighborhood. You bought on one of the nicer streets. I hope I run into you. Try to go to the neighborhood meetings held at St. Elizabeths. There is also a once-a-month happy hour held at various locations along with a ton of stuff to do in the park.
Put the neighborhood association page in your favorites for updates and ask to get on the emailing list for weekly updates.

[rudy_d]

Originally Posted by krakenten

No way!

Inexpensive(at least affordable)transportation is coming, simply because of the mass demand.

Suburbanites are not coming back to the city.

I'm curious. What will this inexpensive transportation be and how will it manage to serve a large number of people spread out widely over the landscape?

[rudy_d]

Originally Posted by atlas1882

Barante, I think you might be underestimating the costs associated with transforming our current living patterns relative to the potential for technological improvements and modest changes in behavior to facilitate the ongoing expansion of suburbs and, yes, even exurbs. Buying more fuel efficient cars and rearranging errands to minimize travel are much more cost effective solutions for coping with increased energy prices than selling a home with a large yard in a depressed real estate market to move into townhouse or high-rise apartment.

What if many of those people could only afford those homes with large yards because of low fuel prices and abnormally low interest rates? I think you're right about the high costs of transforming our current living patterns, though. It's going to be a slow, painful process, and I agree with Barante that we're just beginning to see the tipping point.

Technology will inevitably develop as market prices make alternatives practical, but we're nowhere near finding a substitute for gasoline, and the prices that will make technology viable are going to be scary. Rearranging errands isn't going to have much effect at all for many suburban dwellers if they have to rely on a 3000-pound vehicle just to get a cup of coffee or gallon of milk.

Here's a rather sober prediction about the future of oil prices:

MSNBC - Video Front Page

[krakenten]

Something smells in this situation.

No shortage of oil, yet price going up?

Children, can you say HORNSWOGGLED?

Just a thought.........

[sirbeaubeau]

It's called oil speculators short trading oil, just like housing speculators did to real estate. Short trading = progressive losing.

[rudy_d]

Originally Posted by sirbeaubeau

It's called oil speculators short trading oil, just like housing speculators did to real estate. Short trading = progressive losing.

If they were short trading oil, the price would be going down, not up.

[rudy_d]

Originally Posted by krakenten

Something smells in this situation.

No shortage of oil, yet price going up?

Children, can you say HORNSWOGGLED?

Just a thought.........

There's currently no shortage of oil, but global production has been stagnant at about 84 million barrels a day for the past two years and several of the largest oil fields are in obvious decline (such as the North Sea and Cantarell in Mexico). Meanwhile, demand has been rising rapidly despite the US economic slump. Speculators are playing a role as they try to find a hedge against inflation since housing and stocks haven't been the best investments recently, but this appears to be a supply and demand issue and not a conspiracy.