Posted by Dave on June 27, 2009
So the typical definition of affordable housing is less than 30% of your income. And yet, the 2007 Census revealed that over 40% of American home owners are spending at least one-third of their income on housing, and the percentage is rising. Low to moderately low income people are the fastest growing category within this stat as well.
Housing prices are falling. For people in lots of debt at the moment, this is bad. For people that own their home it is a slight bummer, but no big deal. For people that would like to be home owners this is actually good. The problem is that property prices are not falling in most areas. Most property has maintained a strong and constant value for a while. The exceptions are areas where their is little to no practical use for the land, and therefor unimportant for our discussion. So, even after the economy bottom’s out and starts to rebound (assuming that it will), there will be little help for people wanting to own a home in proximity to a place they can actually live. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on April 15, 2009
Oh the misery of being morally responsible in a morally corrupt world. When should a corporate entity be given a break on their sustainability policy and when should they be bypassed for the lesser of many evils? I will be the first to admit that the waters are shark filled and the fields are filled with mines today when it comes to tracking original sources for refined and fabricated materials. But some actions and policies by companies have to be held to account, right?
It has been known for years now that almost half of the timber coming from East Russia is harvested illegally and that much of what China is using in its growing factories comes from
East Russia. It is also widely known that much of the finished products that we buy here in the United States are fabricated in China. Companies such as IKEA and Home Depot have even been visibly seen making efforts to discover and root out illegally and immorally harvested timber. But at what point do we consumers call the bluff and say enough is too much? WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on April 3, 2009
I love Homer Simpson, but this is one quote I just can’t get behind. Am I the only one, or are there others out there that start to carve shivs from salesperson writing utensils when they hear the words “would you like to purchase the extended warranty with that?”
I’ve tried everything as a remedy to the extended warranty. I have tried buying cheep pieces of crap that can be replaced a dozen times before the expense adds up to the warranty. I have tried buying top of the line appliances that I figure shouldn’t need an extended warranty. I’ve tried bribing repairmen, making fake threats and even begging. None of these has worked, with one notable exception. (I begged a genius at the Apple Genius Bar to have mercy on me and my two year old imac that needed a new logic board. He looked suspiciously around to see if this was a Steve Jobs orchestrated sting operation and then kindly agreed to fix it for free!) WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on March 28, 2009
Uppity folk may call it offensive, but rednecks just call it home.
There are a lot of different names for it these days. Some now call it reuse. Polite, cute little title. Some still call it salvage. Some call it practical stewardship. Some call it scavenging or hoarding. I just call it pickens. Whatever title you give it, rednecks have always known about the sustainable reuse of material goods. The ranch I grew up on had an advanced system for it. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on March 27, 2009
Don’t think I am crusader against Walmart. I’m not, really. I actually applaud their stiff arm tactics to reduce waste in fuel and packaging material. I have fond memories of wandering the 24 hour Walmart in Ft. Worth during the witching hour and trying to carry on cogent conversations with the gentlemen behind the gun counter. (Yes, back then you could buy a gun at 2:00am, even as a youth. Sorry, no ammo.)
But alas, Walmart, what is one to do? WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on March 18, 2009
Darn it all, but I can’t keep ignoring reality. My dirty little secret is that I live in a 1920’s brick on brick home built by a Mormon pioneer who’s last name apparently started with “S”. (I am assuming this because of the large iron “S” that was built into the front of the home.) This little home has a rounded front door, sloping Northern roof face, high pitched roof made of cement tiles, a 14 SEER 93% efficiency furnace, insulation wherever we could add it, cork floors in the basement, some cob wall in the basement, reused materials, a small garden/vineyard/orchard in the back and caulk and weatherstripping galore. I challenge anyone to look it in the eyes and say it’s ugly. Honest, it’s a cute home, but…
WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Dave on February 24, 2009
I know that many see it as a fool’s quest, but I long to see the barrier broken. Can “green” homes be built without subsidy for under $100 a sq. ft.? I am glad to see that there are folks out there working to do just that. I am especially interested in the work being done by the guys at EcoUrban Homes.
EcoUrban Home for sale in St. Louis
But… there are still several hurdles that are plaguing the pursuit. The most obvious to me is property prices. EcoUrban is working in St. Louis. With urban lots going for under $10,000, keeping the overall cost below $150,000 becomes possible. But what if you don’t want to live in Detroit or Cleveland?
Second, there is labor. I am encouraged to see more and more contractors and builders increasing their repertoire of green products and processes. But still, paying for skills in more sustainable building practices can be cost prohibitive. Some apparent “silver bullets” of sustainable building run into trouble with labor costs as well. I am a personal fan of earthen building because the basic materials are dirt. I have some basic building skills and a job that doesn’t pay much (so my labor is cheep). But for most, it just isn’t affordable to pay people for hundreds of hours of labor to ram earth or lay adobes.
Third, there are materials. It is still more costly to build smart than to build the “Home Depot Special”. (Home Depot is getting better about its products, and I am impressed that they are partnering with LEED to develop “Affordable LEED” housing.) Of course some of this is simple supply and demand. Until new products take over a significant market share they will be more expensive to produce and harder to find. But even prefabricated modular style homes falter, in my opinion, when it comes to material cost. In most cases it makes no sense to me to pay $50,000 to $100,000 for a modular shell that has to be transported to the sight, and then have to spend another $100,000 to various contractors to finish on location. Often I feel like the true cost of the materials is still not being represented in the final price tag. Yet, there are some people working to use actual sustainable materials and lower the prefab costs far enough to make modular a possibility.
Lastly, we have to overcome indifference toward the poor. Mostly, the “green” building industy is focusing on making money. I understand this, and at a certain level, endorse it. But, if we are going to make a real move toward sustainability it can’t be just for the rich.
Personally, I think the answer to the $100 a sq. ft. dilemma lies deeper in the cultural values we use to define home and our deeply guarded individualism. Maybe if we valued community and relationship in slightly different ways we could find answers to our housing woes without killing the planet.