Last time I visited Salem, I noticed that there were a lot of new homes being built. Salem is growing as a town a little bit, but not enough to necessitate the huge numbers of new homes and it was very confusing to me. I think I might have an idea about it now. Today I was listening to NPR and they were talking about how divorce is negatively affecting the earth. When people get divorced they split a household in half, and therefore use twice as much electricity, gas, and other utilities, thus hurting the environment. So, it could be that we need so many more homes because so many families are splitting up the homes they were living in. Sad, but true.
On a slightly unrelated note, the Southern Baptist Convention this week acknowledged that global warming is real and that they have an obligation to fight against it. I can't wait to tell my students - most of whom think it's a conspiracy by Al Gore (what exactly the conspiracy is trying to get them to do is not clear).
4 comments:
Let me try shoot a few holes in your theory...
-The divorce rate is not increasing , it has been decreasing since 1991 (http://www.divorcestatistics.org/).
-Rarely can a divorced couple afford 2 homes the same size as the ones they just left, one or both usually end up in an apartment.
-The west coast continues to increase it's population at the expense of the Midwest and Latin America.
-Oregon has very strict growth restrictions that has led to an increase in housing costs and more commuters to Portland from the surrounding communities, it is getting harder for builders to find large areas to develop.
-The cost of housing loans from 2001-2006 was at an all-time low: -Most families that could not own a home before were able to get funding, increasing the value of entry-level homes.
-The owners of entry-level homes could get more for their homes, so they traded up (http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Salem-Oregon/).
-Apartment occupancy dropped as a result of increased home ownership.
-Speculators purchased new homes assuming they would continue to increase in value.
In summary West Salem grew so quickly because of supply (buildable land) and demand (cheap money).
Now that rates are climbing and lenders are more picky about who they loan to, demand is falling and the price of homes are falling too, so the pace of growth will also slow until demand increases again.
Yikes! Eric shot some holes in your theory. What a spoiled sport.
Do your students actually think that Al Gore is part of some conspiracy? How do you refrain yourself from slapping them constantly?
I didn't say it was a good theory, I just said it was a theory. Guess it pays to actually be informed on issues, huh?
As for my students, some are better than others, so I just slap the ignorant ones around and leave the others alone.
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