[SamAdams76]

I read these articles but try to balance them with what I observe. And what I observe is this: There are still traffic jams going to and from work. There are strips of malls and casual eating joints around where I live and work and they are slammed just about every night. You can't even get a table on a Friday night without an hour wait. And I'm talking places like Longhorns, Olive Garden or Red Lobster, where it will cost over $100 easy to take a family of four to dinner.

Makes me wonder, if things are this busy now, imagine how it will be should we ever get full employment again? I still have a 2-hour commute sometimes to go 25 miles and during the go-go 1980s, I never had much trouble getting a table at a restaurant if I wanted to go out to eat.

I'm in process of relocating to southern CT and the housing prices are insane. I'm talking half a million dollars just to get a basic home. Yet somehow they are finding people to pay these prices - otherwise they would come tumbling down.

I'm not saying people are not having a tough time of it but is it really as doom and gloom as some of us are making it out to be?

[jeffc]

I drive for a living and I see the same as you do, Sam. Then I remember, I'm in the Retirement State (Florida). All of the vehicles I see in the packed restaurant parking lots are nice, fairly new (or new) cars: retirees.

Most of the people I know working part-time, low-wage jobs do not go out except for very special occasions. And their cars are older. The retirees are keeping this mid-Florida area going.

Also, the only restaurant to build another store in this area is Chili's. There is only one Olive Garden, Outback, Carrabba's, Red Lobster, etc. and they have all been here for years. Yes, they're packed on weekends and most nights, but if so, why not build more stores? IDK.

[palmer]

Read kearnyirish2's comment after yours. The main st economy is crap and has been going down hill since the 60's with a brief interlude under Reagan. What you are looking at, housing in southern CT, is the Wall St economy. Massachusetts also has a lot of that along with defense work which still has a big spigot turned most of the way on.

The difference is rather simple, on Main St people rely on lasting value in the dollar and employment in production rather than services. Sure there are always services but they are not the mainstay of Main Street. On Wall St they rely on the debasement of the dollar, every single investor on Wall St makes money when the dollar is bebased, although some more than others. That debasement kills investment on Main St by mortgaging our future during each boom and bust. Meanwhile Wall St outsources all the production to China.

[SpeakerToAnimals]

Pay attention to the number of occupants in each car during rush hour. Here in the Denver area the early morning commute is way less traffic than 2007. But the evening rush is far more crowded than 2007. The cars in the evening rush are full of people, not single occupant commuters.

These are people on unemployment or welfare, driving on gas paid for with an EBT card. Where does a mid 20's person get the money for an Escalade with eight grand worth of 22" wheels? From the taxpayer. The same place they get their food and housing.

[autumnraine]

It must be your area. Last SUNDAY our Applebees had two customers the whole day. Or two tables I should say.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

"I read these articles but try to balance them with what I observe. And what I observe is this: There are still traffic jams going to and from work. There are strips of malls and casual eating joints around where I live and work and they are slammed just about every night. You can't even get a table on a Friday night without an hour wait. And I'm talking places like Longhorns, Olive Garden or Red Lobster, where it will cost over $100 easy to take a family of four to dinner."

There are a quite a few people that I've become aware of that have been living in their house for a couple years, but not paying on their mortgage. I attribute the above to this phenomenon. But I hear ya re: the restaurants...I wonder where all that money is coming from sometimes. There is a Portillos in my area with a drive thru...its ALWAYS packed with cars. I sometimes wonder if they are secretly accepting EBT cards.

[yorkiemom]

“I’m not saying people are not having a tough time of it but is it really as doom and gloom as some of us are making it out to be? “

People thought everything was great before the crash of 2008 too. Running up credit card bills, refinancing houses, etc. to fund a lifestyle they were not earning.

[DouglasKC]

I thought about this and came to a conclusion: We measure horrible economic times by comparing them to images of the great depression. But I'll bet that these images were only the worst of the worst. Unemployment was at 25% but there was nobody (At least not for while) feeding off the teat of government. That means 3/4 of Americans were working and were relatively well off....or at least able to have food and shelter.

The media today is shielding us from seeing the "worst of the worst". I've noticed a definite increase in my well to do area of beggers on the corners. They were never there during gwb times..but now they're a fixture. But the media will never focus on them.

[CodeToad]

Maybe you are seeing such traffic because most people work two jobs so they travel between them. Plus, they take anything they can get so that means travelling when before they weren’t so desperate as to travel so much.

[Foundahardheadedwoman]

Wonder what the number of restaurants both chain and single ones, that were in business in ‘07 compared to now?

I have never seen the level of fear people have about losing their job as I do now.

My rose colored glasses stopped working a long time ago.

[uglybiker]

I'm in process of relocating to southern CT ...

Connecticut ain't big enough to have a southern part. ;-)