Real Estate Market / Inflation / Recession / Depression (debt, income, jobs)

[CosmicWizard]

Bob From Down South wrote:

This so-called nostalgia serves me as a frame of reference as we move along. I don't think it serves a purpose to be content with being in an unacceptable bad place.

Frustration and bitterness may not be required to motivate...but that is quite often what underlies somebody breaking out of the bubble of lazy complacency, getting mad as hell, and deciding not to take it anymore.

Acceptance does not imply being content. Acceptance is simply acknowledging the way things are.....without judgement. As John Lennon would say, Let it be!

You can certainly use frustration and bitterness to motivate yourself. ALot of people do. What I'm meaning to say, is that there are healthier ways to motivate yourself. Any action performed in a state of anger ( frustration and bitterness are part of the anger family ), anchors the anger into the cellular structure of the body. Even after you've accomplished what you set out to do, you find that you are still angry. By the way, I am not advocating lazy complacency. That's your concept, not mine.

[Bob from down south]

OK, enough "don't worry, be happy" inspirational bulls***. There is substance to discuss.

According to DOT, measurable oil demand destruction is now occurring in the US...nearly 10 billion fewer miles driven in May 08 than in May 07. Good news, right?

Decline in Travel Reflected in Highway Trust Fund

It also means a rather dramatic cut in revenue for highways. This is how the death spiral of the american highway tightens up. Revenues down, costs for paving way, way up. It's not going to prove sustainable in the long term.

Don't give up on 4WD SUVs just yet...they may be needed to navigate the crappy pocked asphalt and dirt trails that used to be highways in a decade or two.

[sterlinggirl]

Originally Posted by Bob from down south

Decline in Travel Reflected in Highway Trust Fund

It also means a rather dramatic cut in revenue for highways. This is how the death spiral of the american highway tightens up. Revenues down, costs for paving way, way up. It's not going to prove sustainable in the long term.

I'm picturing a Prius attempting a river crossing after a few years of bridge maintenance are neglected....

Zaaaaaaapppppp

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Bob from down south

OK, enough "don't worry, be happy" inspirational bulls***. There is substance to discuss.

According to DOT, measurable oil demand destruction is now occurring in the US...nearly 10 billion fewer miles driven in May 08 than in May 07. Good news, right?

Decline in Travel Reflected in Highway Trust Fund

It also means a rather dramatic cut in revenue for highways. This is how the death spiral of the american highway tightens up. Revenues down, costs for paving way, way up. It's not going to prove sustainable in the long term.

Don't give up on 4WD SUVs just yet...they may be needed to navigate the crappy pocked asphalt and dirt trails that used to be highways in a decade or two.

Spot on, dude. This is the other "elephant in the living room" that the suburban/automobile lovers don't want to see. And, electric cars won't fix this one. One of the most energy-intensive aspects of our highway-dominated transportation system is the road itself. I was appalled when a highway dept. guy related a poll taken that indicated that something on the order of 50% of Americans don't know that asphalt for paving is made from oil! The developers and "highway-apologists" keep bleating for more roads (to support more development, more automobiles, and more sprawl) when all data indicates that we do not have enough financial or petroleum resources to even stem the deterioration of what already exists. I just wonder what or how long it will take before our feckless public and its political leadership finally figure out that we need to develop rail and other alternative transportation options--maybe when they have to have a Jeep to negotiate the "street" to the Wal-mart?

By the way, all across Colorado, local road and state highway maintenance projects are being deferred or cancelled right now because the money to do them just isn't there. What Bob points out is not some theoretical discussion--the future is now.

[Bob from down south]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

Spot on, dude. This is the other "elephant in the living room" that the suburban/automobile lovers don't want to see. And, electric cars won't fix this one. One of the most energy-intensive aspects of our highway-dominated transportation system is the road itself. I was appalled when a highway dept. guy related a poll taken that indicated that something on the order of 50% of Americans don't know that asphalt for paving is made from oil! The developers and "highway-apologists" keep bleating for more roads (to support more development, more automobiles, and more sprawl) when all data indicates that we do not have enough financial or petroleum resources to even stem the deterioration of what already exists. I just wonder what or how long it will take before our feckless public and its political leadership finally figure out that we need to develop rail and other alternative transportation options--maybe when they have to have a Jeep to negotiate the "street" to the Wal-mart?

By the way, all across Colorado, local road and state highway maintenance projects are being deferred or cancelled right now because the money to do them just isn't there. What Bob points out is not some theoretical discussion--the future is now.

And here's a new article from the Colorado Springs Gazette with the local impact:

Top Stories: City road projects on hold over cost of asphalt | summer, city, asphalt : Gazette.com

[CosmicWizard]

jazzlover wrote:

By the way, all across Colorado, local road and state highway maintenance projects are being deferred or cancelled right now because the money to do them just isn't there.

The asphalt shortage has been going on for awhile over in Grand Junction too.

[sterlinggirl]

Jazzlover,

Do you have any thoughts about the future of small agricultural cities (10-50K pop) built along rail feeder lines?

I'm looking at a few in the upper midwest that fell on hard times back in the 80s, and they've stagnated ever since. Do you think they have any hope?

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by sterlinggirl

Jazzlover,

Do you have any thoughts about the future of small agricultural cities (10-50K pop) built along rail feeder lines?

I'm looking at a few in the upper midwest that fell on hard times back in the 80s, and they've stagnated ever since. Do you think they have any hope?

Yes, I do. I think communities that still have viable railroad infrastructure (and that, sadly, leaves out a lot of Colorado places) will have a definite economic advantage in the years ahead. I think some areas of the US that have been stagnant for decades may see some resurgence. In many cases, it was the ground shift that occurred with cheap fuel, automobiles, and tax-subsidized highways that killed many of them, and the coming decline in those factors may reverse that trend in some areas. And, before somebody accuses me of waxing nostalgic, I don't think things will be like they once were, it will be a new paradigm--but something much different from what we see now. And, no, I don't see Colorado necessarily being the best place to be in that new environment--it's too tied to the tired status quo of sprawl, auto-dependency, and lack of transportation alternatives to be a leader.

[Bob from down south]

And in more "future's so bright" news from the economic front, today the Mervyns department store chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and both Bennigans and Steak & Ale restaurant chains closed their doors and filed for Chapter 7 (full receivership and liquidation).

Dining Chains Shut Doors

With 9,200 more jobs lost, it's the sixth-largest mass layoff of the year.

[sterlinggirl]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

I think some areas of the US that have been stagnant for decades may see some resurgence.

Thanks Jazz. I was thinking along the same lines, even though I do worry about an ethanol bust out there.

There really are some beautiful old towns out there.