Open Letter to West Philly

version 1

version 2

This is what got me interested in having this class in the first place. It's about an area of Philly that I visited last summer. Read through all the comments, that's where the arguments really come out. Comments are different for the two postings.

The Next Slum?

An article from The Atlantic Monthly on how McMansions may become the new slums as the wealthy desert the suburbs for the city. Here's an excerpt:

"Arthur C. Nelson, director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech, has looked carefully at trends in American demographics, construction, house prices, and consumer preferences. In 2006, using recent consumer research, housing supply data, and population growth rates, he modeled future demand for various types of housing. The results were bracing: Nelson forecasts a likely surplus of 22 million large-lot homes (houses built on a sixth of an acre or more) by 2025—that’s roughly 40 percent of the large-lot homes in existence today.

For 60 years, Americans have pushed steadily into the suburbs, transforming the landscape and (until recently) leaving cities behind. But today the pendulum is swinging back toward urban living, and there are many reasons to believe this swing will continue. As it does, many low-density suburbs and McMansion subdivisions, including some that are lovely and affluent today, may become what inner cities became in the 1960s and ’70s—slums characterized by poverty, crime, and decay."

The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner: A Powerful Plan to Finish Rich in Real Estate

by David Bach

This is one of the dominant paradigm-type sources I like reading. It's hilarious at times and disturbing mostly. Not finished it yet, but here are a couple quotes:

"If You Want to be Rich, Don't Rent:

I apologize up front if you're a renter, because I know this may be brutal to hear, but you have to hear it if youre going to change. So here goes. You simply can't get rich renting. We know this. It's a timeless truth. According to a recent report by the Federal Reserve, the average renter in America is basically broke. Try this on for size:

• In 2003, the average renter in American was worth less than $5,000.
• The average homeowner was worth nearly $172,000.

The comparison is pretty stunning. The average homeowner is more than 34 TIMES RICHER than the average renter. Could it be any clearer?

The point is that if you're renting, it's time to stop. Not that there's anything wrong with people who rent. Renters aren't bad people. In fact, my goal for you is to someday own some homes or condos that you can rent to other people. It's just that if you're a renter yourself, I don't want you to continue being one much longer."

“John beamed proudly. ‘I still find it hard to believe, but we own more than $3 million worth of real estate. And we’ve done it simply by buying a handful of homes, living in them, and being smart about which ones we kept as rentals and which ones we sold for a tax-free profit. To tell the truth, it’s been fun.

‘And so much easier than we imagined,’ added Lucy. ‘Can we tell you how we did it? We’ll take you out for a latte!’”