Denver 6th fastest growing city in the country (Aurora, Littleton: transplants, big house)

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by Tekkie

Yep. My sister makes about $10/hr and her fiance makes about $14/hr. They have a 3-y/o girl. They bought a nice 3-BR house with a basement, garage, and pool in Metro Detroit for about $95k (and less than 5% down). My cousin who works at Krogers (King Soopers out here) and makes about $15/hr is looking to buy soon. It's a beautiful thing when you can do that.

I make $66k/yr living in Denver and home ownership will probably not be a possibility for me for several years. Gotta love that COL out here.

You couldn't give me a $100,000 house to live in Detroit. It's the epitome of urban decay and St. Louis proper is running a close 2nd.

[ayoitzrimz]

I honestly would not live in Detroit if the city PAID for my home. Me and many others. Have you been there lately?

[Tekkie]

Originally Posted by Snikt

It's all about desirability. Nobody wants to live in Detroit, everyone wants to live here

This is not Detroit proper I'm talking about. It's the suburbs. Much nicer, safer.

[Tekkie]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

You couldn't give me a $100,000 house to live in Detroit. It's the epitome of urban decay and St. Louis proper is running a close 2nd.

As I commented to Snikt, these are not homes in Detroit proper. These are in the suburbs, in on of the richest counties in the nation. These are nice, safe neighborhoods. I'd compare them to Thornton/Westminster.

There are also some very nice neighborhoods in Detroit proper that would give the best of Denver a run for its money.

[Tekkie]

Originally Posted by ayoitzrimz

I honestly would not live in Detroit if the city PAID for my home. Me and many others. Have you been there lately?

Yes, not only did I grow up there, I lived there for the past seven months while I was on "hiatus" from Denver.

Not ALL of it is as bad as reported. Particularly not in the suburbs. There are also some nice neighborhoods in the city.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by Tekkie

Yes, not only did I grow up there, I lived there for the past seven months while I was on "hiatus" from Denver.

Not ALL of it is as bad as reported. Particularly not in the suburbs. There are also some nice neighborhoods in the city.

The problem with urban decay is that it can't be contained. St. Louis is having to ship public school students to the suburbs because their schools are so lousy they're losing their accreditation. That in turn affects the desirability of the suburban schools and has a negative impact on housing prices in the suburbs.

[Tekkie]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

The problem with urban decay is that it can't be contained. St. Louis is having to ship public school students to the suburbs because their schools are so lousy they're losing their accreditation. That in turn affects the desirability of the suburban schools and has a negative impact on housing prices in the suburbs.

I can't argue with that, because it's definitely been an issue with Metro Detroit, particularly the inner-ring suburbs. But the metro is supposedly on the rebound. Detroit is looking much nicer (re-gentrified) than it did when I moved out more than five years ago. You know what they say, buy low.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by randomparent

The problem is that it takes an awful lot of people working to conserve to make a difference. I'd love to yank out my lawn, but it would be foolish to do so from a financial perspective. In the next few years, I'll have three kids in college, so I simply do not have the money available to xeriscape. This is the situation facing many of my neighbors who live in forty-year-old homes on medium to large lots already planted to the fence line with water-hogging sod, shrubs, and trees. If I were building a new home, I'd definitely xeriscape, but it would be prohibitively expensive to do so for an older home with an established landscape. In general, though, I definitely agree. Residential developers would be wise to spec homes with small, xeriscaped lots and water-savvy appliances, because there simply isn't enough water available to support an increasing Front Range population.

I hear you. We have the same problems. However, you can take out a little bit of grass and xeriscape, say, a corner. Planting trees is always a good idea, even if you do have to water them until they're established, b/c they provide some natural shading and cooling.

[randomparent]

Originally Posted by Katiana

I hear you. We have the same problems. However, you can take out a little bit of grass and xeriscape, say, a corner. Planting trees is always a good idea, even if you do have to water them until they're established, b/c they provide some natural shading and cooling.

Yep, those darn kids are expensive, aren't they?

We've done some small landscaping projects to help with water conservation. Re-doing our sprinkler system and overseeding the lawn with more water-savvy types of grass has helped. The trees stay, because they do make make an enormous difference in our household cooling, at least until the Emerald Ash Borer takes them out. Sigh. Not looking forward to that. Our neighborhood is wall-to-wall Ash trees, and that bug is eventually going to wreak havoc.

In the meantime, our water conservation is mostly an indoor pursuit. Our water usage is about half of what's typical for a similar household, but until everyone in the region does the same, it's mostly an exercise in futility.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by randomparent

Yep, those darn kids are expensive, aren't they?

We've done some small landscaping projects to help with water conservation. Re-doing our sprinkler system and overseeding the lawn with more water-savvy types of grass has helped. The trees stay, because they do make make an enormous difference in our household cooling, at least until the Emerald Ash Borer takes them out. Sigh. Not looking forward to that. Our neighborhood is wall-to-wall Ash trees, and that bug is eventually going to wreak havoc.

In the meantime, our water conservation is mostly an indoor pursuit. Our water usage is about half of what's typical for a similar household, but until everyone in the region does the same, it's mostly an exercise in futility.

Ha, ha! After they graduate, you have all those years left (LOL) to work full time to replenish your savings! We have a couple Ash trees as well; they're nice and big after 25 years. I'll be sad to see them go.