When The Music's Over, Turn Out the Lights
While existing homeowners have received most of the attention in the media’s coverage of the sub-prime mortgage fallout, there’s another effect that’s going to haunt neighborhoods like Bed Stuy and Bushwick for years: The spectacularly ugly and cheaply built spec homes that short-sighted developers slapped up on in-fill lots. Take this pair of three-family homes,…
While existing homeowners have received most of the attention in the media’s coverage of the sub-prime mortgage fallout, there’s another effect that’s going to haunt neighborhoods like Bed Stuy and Bushwick for years: The spectacularly ugly and cheaply built spec homes that short-sighted developers slapped up on in-fill lots. Take this pair of three-family homes, one for $739,000 and one for $629,000. Who’s gonna buy this crap? No one. They’ll just sit there and atrophy, gradually attracting trash, loiterers and probably worse. Huge bummer.
$739000 Gordeous 3 Family Bldg in Bushwick [Craigslist]
$629000 Great New Construction 3 Family in Bed Stuy [Craigslist]
Benson,
You’re all over the map and your questions ask more than this forum allows time and space for. What you’re talking about is bending the laws of capitalism, which is not going to happen.
First of all, why should poor people only be able look in poor neighborhoods for homes? Also, there are numerous government programs that encourage building, some preserving affordable components and others that don’t.
But the major component of high costs for building is the high cost for materials and labor (read global building boom and unions).
These are simply facts of life. If a house can be built in a neighborhoods where people are willing to pay higher rents/sale prices, the land will be priced higher (yes, now that’s even Bed-Sty and Crown Heights), and the building will eventually cost more. So don’t blame the city, state, or federal government for the high cost of homes in the city. Blame our resilient economy and those people who are able to work and put that money into their bank accounts by taking advantage of opportunities.
Unfortunately, there are those that don’t have skills to do this. It has been a goal of many housing authorities (contrary to their goals in the 50’s-70’s) to integrate higher income areas with lower incomes housing, ie. mixed income. Without these programs, you simply would get income segregation by neighborhood.
In the case of the homes above, a family who wants to buy this $739,000 ‘affordable’ house (by your definition) would have to come up with over $145,000 in cash, then manage the rentals and pay a mortgage of $3,800 a month (say minus $1,200 for each rental, plus $650 in taxes and utilities) or in actuality $2,100/month. How is this affordable for a family making less than $40,000/year?!!!!!
I was merely stating that by the standards I have just laid out, this is not affordable housing.
On a different note, there are plenty of similarly priced properties in this area that leave much more to be desired that will be chosen by the affluent people who could afford the above scenario.
For more information about why our private sector can’t supply affordable housing for people making less than the area median income, I would suggest paying attention in an Economics 101 class, particularly the supply and demand section.
Putnamdenizen, how is this confusing to you? Is it because someone wrote racist rather than bigot? The point is that the expression implies that the red haired child is to be treated worse than others. Would you not find it offensive if the expression was “beaten like a gay bastard”? It’s an expression that should be dropped like indian giver, jewed down, and gyped.
sigh. How is this phrase “racist”? Is it anti-irish? History please…
“I have naturally red hair, which I got from my maternal grandmother, and “red-headed stepchild” is *not* a racist comment, get real.”
a) you need a lesson in genetics. you cannot get red hair from only one side of your family.
b) you are equally ignorant in claiming the expression is not racist. It is derogatory and selecting one of a specific coloring as less valuable – that is bigotry.
Funny, I didn’t think Brownstoner covered the Queens beat….
I have naturally red hair, which I got from my maternal grandmother, and “red-headed stepchild” is *not* a racist comment, get real.
I didn’t see a House of the Day….is this it???
If it is….I think it’s priced right. I think there will be a bidding war. Corcoran priced this one right.
4:26, if a red ball rolls down a street and comes to rest on the site I was talking about, whether Crown Heights, East New York, or Ocean Hill/Brownsville, it’s still a red ball. These are still attractive row houses, no matter where they are. The veracity of my post is not in question, but the intent of yours certainly is. The point of my post was not the borders of a neighborhood. Even Benson can get past that, and we never agree on anything.
Preservationista
“the colored milk-man”
HUH??