My sister tells me houses in my hometown are selling in a matter of days.  This is quite a turn-around from several decades of a terrible housing market.  She lives in an impoverished county in Western New York State.  The economy collapsed there during the 1980s and has never fully recovered.  A few months ago I looked up the house where we lived when we were kids.

A tree lined neighborhood and we had 10 rooms and two bathrooms.  There was a large backyard and the isolated street had little through traffic.  The house has undergone some renovations and the estimate of a sale price is 88-thousand dollars!  Big house, lovely neighborhood and few jobs. 

The rich outsiders now want the town to seize the lot through eminent domain.  Then hand it over to the developers.

Then the real estate market started to cook.  People leaving big cities to escape the pandemic found they could work from home in a small town with two traffic lights and dozens of Victorian era homes.  Some wealthy urban lawyers redeveloped an old downtown block and plan to rent apartments for a whopping $1,000 a month.

Then the trouble started.  The urbanites approached the town and asked for a parking lot.  They want it gifted for their project.  My sister’s church expanded a parking lot several years ago.  An old tavern burned.  The church bought the ruin, cleaned out the area and expanded parking.  The rich outsiders now want the town to seize the lot through eminent domain.  Then hand it over to the developers.

I saw Lt. Colonel Allen West on TV this weekend.  He was being asked about all the Californians moving to his adopted state of Texas.  He said they were welcome but need to abandon their old ways.  In other words, as often repeated, stop fouling the nest.

I don’t believe people can simply shut off their old world views.  Many are more emotional than logical when it comes to politics (and this isn’t limited to liberals) and taxes.  I came across this link.  The writer lives in California and calls the place a mess.  She also is resigned to the notion it’ll become a nationwide malady.  She references Idaho among several states as she warns the future is coming and we won’t like it when it arrives.

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