'First' Suburbs Growing Older and Poorer, Report Warns

New York Times ^ | February 16, 2006 | Bruce Lambert

[Clemenza]

Half a century ago, millions of young white couples left America's central cities for greener places to build homes and rear families. Their move created booming commuter communities and a new way of life.

But that idealized picture has been transformed and the future of those pioneering suburbs is in jeopardy, according to a study issued yesterday by the Brookings Institution, a research group in Washington.

[angcat]

lol

Motley Crue is playing in Wilkes Barre in the Spring. I am not into them anymore but I would see the Scorps again. I still love Ronnie James Dio.

[E Rocc]

The schools are so bad your kid needs a black belt and stiletto just to survive in there.

Schools are a big part of it.

There's a small very inner-ring suburb of Cleveland called Cuyahoga Heights. It's heavily industrialized and the schools are very well funded.

Houses never go on sale there, you pretty much have to know someone to buy or even rent there.

-Eric

[Katya]

Not knowing "who" is actually illegal...I've seen some of these WWII and post WWII suburban tracts improved by the influx of foreignors. I lived and subsequently had a rental property in one of these neighborhoods, most of the white people who lived there were often too old to keep up the property. Some were also just white trash, and had no interest in paint or gardening. As immigrants began to move in, who also had tradeskills the houses were repainted and lawns were once again restored. Some of these houses have since been resold to Americans.

All housing experiences various phases in appraisal value including revival. Setting aside environmental factors, there is generally no static value over long periods of time.

[chris1]

Holy Diver and Last in Line are two great albums!

[cyborg]

Tent City is still there :-)

[Getsmart64]

Sheesh...Section 8 is destroying suburbs all over the country...just not PA.....

[Clemenza]

Hempstead went downhill in the late 1970s. It hit rock bottom in the mid-late 1980s. Has stabilized a bit and is becoming a retail hub of sorts (Wal Mart, Home Depot, etc.).

[Clemenza]

I remember Streets in New Rochelle, although I was closer to L'Amours. There was another metal club in Mt. Vermin but I can't remember the name.

[angcat]

LAmours in Brooklyn and Queens. We use to go and see TT Quick, and Split Sydney they were from Rockland County NY.

[Clemenza]

L'Amour was where Manowar got their start.

BTW: If you think New Rochelle is too preppy, then I would be like Prince William to you. ;-)

[angcat]

I still have those albums. I am very antique when it comes to electronics. I still adore Joe Lynn Turner, I know you are going to say he is gay.

[angcat]

LOL

That was in the late 80's and early 90's you know we hated preppy. I worked in White Plains and all the guys came from Boston College to work at General Food and they were all preps. I ended up going out with the Dock Workers in the building instead. LOL

[Melas]

You couldn't be furhter from the truth. The best places to live are around the DART stations. Apartments on the west end station, Cityplace or Mockingbird station go for much more than they'd otherwise be worth.

[Melas]

Texas, on the other hand, is a place where you can get a mansion for $300K

You haven't been here in a while obviously. Having just bought a home in December, I'm as up on DFW housing prices as anyone outside of real estate. $300k will get you a nice middle class house, but that's it. $150k will get you a 35 year old 4bdrm home. For a real nice home (still not a McMansion) you're looking at $500k+. Not at all unusual to see some of the real nice 4,000sqft homes for $800k to $1.2m.

[Melas]

The problem is that he's in no way correct. If you want prove come to Dallas and I'll take you of a tour of DART stations and adjoining neighborhoods.

[Melas]

Well said. I've got a standing offer in this thread to take a tour on the light rail through Dallas and let anyone see just how run down the neighborhoods around them are. I think a trip inside the leasing office of Mockingbird Station should quiet some of these myths.

[Melas]

Urban centers NEED mass transit. It's an absolute necessity. I don't get the opposition.

[Melas]

Yeah captialism sucks. How dare this man reason that it's better to rent a property for $1,800 instead of $1,200 a month. What the hell was he thinking?

[Melas]

New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago are all 'crime clusters' so your argument 'negates' nothing.

It always pays to know the facts before you go spouting off. You'd be surprised to learn that the crime rate is lower in NYC than in Mobile.

Mobile, Alabama has a Relocation Crime Lab Index of 212 which is a higher crime rate than the national average

NYC (Manhattan), New York has a Relocation Crime Lab Index of 156 which is a higher crime rate than the national average

Of special interest to women the incident of rape per 10,000 is 59 in Mobile and 19 for Manhatten. You're better off in NYC ladies.

FYI, in the interest of fairness, I chose Manhatten because it's the population center of NYC. Queens had a much better crime rate and the Bronx had a crime rate comparable to Mobile.

Seems like most of your bigoted opposition to mass transit is born of ignorance.

[Clemenza]

Yes, but Section 8 is NOT a product of the Free Market. It is a government program whereby a landlord gets paid a premium by the government to house "problem" families.