DAS Blog

To all those who blame the problems entirely on people buying more home than they can afford -- a thought: when my dad was my age, my family (of four) had a nice, two bedroom house in the 'burbs, in an excellent school district. We could easily afford it on his income. Admittedly, my dad was a solidly upper-middle class professional, but still ... he was toward the beginning of his career, etc.

Meanwhile, my family and I would have to stretch a bit to get a two bedroom apartment. Admittedly, we are in the city (albeit in an outer borough) and I am not as far along in my career as my dad was at this age (it takes a bit longer to become a professor than an optometrist). But still, adjusting for inflation, our family's current income is about the same (if not more) than my dad's (the sole breadwinner by the time he was my age ... my mom stopped working outside the home when she had me). And, if my family and I were to move to Cali, there would be no way we could afford to buy the house I grew up in. Nor could we afford a similar house in Jerz.

I'm not sure what this entirely says about the housing crisis ... but I figured I'd put it out there ... if only on this here blog that only a handful of folks actually read.