After posting this article to my other blog, I wondered how we might apply the discussion to Laveen. I think that homeowners' intent to stay put can be a powerful mechanism to creating a more vibrant community -- especially when looking at residential regions lacking in a strong daytime population, such as ours (nearby, yes, but not exactly in our village). There was an article recently, in the Las Vegas Sun, which highlighted the fact that 40% of the Las Vegas area's residents want to move out of the area, and the housing numbers don't appear to demonstrate that there are many people willing to replace that kind of exodus of residents.
Anecdotally, it seems that we're in a much better position than the likes of Las Vegas (and even other areas of Phoenix), having recently voted to grant our school districts an override (investing in our future) and judging by the relative stability of our housing market at the moment -- not to mention the renewed interest in retail and a few other green shoots. But I would love to challenge this assumption with a survey.... maybe on the Laveen group's facebook page? Also, what are your thoughts? Please comment.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
More on the Housing Market
In case anyone doesn't already follow my other blog, Western Development News, I just posted a new article that applies in Laveen as much as anywhere. It is quite maturely titled, "Seriously? Still Talking Trash about the Phoenix Housing Market? Get Over It Already:" http://bit.ly/cuFac2
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Interesting Criticism on the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway
While I obviously disagree with his overall stance on the subject, I can at least take a little pride in helping push Jon Talton to discuss the Loop 202 from his well-informed perspective: http://bit.ly/bqjuF3. I'll restrain from elaborating much on my comments here, since I already posted them on his article's comments section (and have written ad nauseum on the topic already), but this is a worthy dialog for us as Laveen residents and for others impacted by the proposed freeway. After all, it makes sense that fellow Phoenicians might see this as yet another unnecessary freeway for most -- it's our job to convince them otherwise. While I hope to have sufficiently addressed these claims, I'd love to know what others think.
***And btw, I've mentioned him before on this blog, but just to be thorough I highly recommend that you follow Mr. Talton's "Phoenix 101" series of articles. I first discovered his AZ Republic business columns in 2005, shortly before he was ousted for his controversial views [at least, that's how I understand it]. His move to Seattle since then would have been a much greater loss, were it not for his continued impassioned blogging about Phoenix as the "Rogue Columnist."
***And btw, I've mentioned him before on this blog, but just to be thorough I highly recommend that you follow Mr. Talton's "Phoenix 101" series of articles. I first discovered his AZ Republic business columns in 2005, shortly before he was ousted for his controversial views [at least, that's how I understand it]. His move to Seattle since then would have been a much greater loss, were it not for his continued impassioned blogging about Phoenix as the "Rogue Columnist."
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
City Budget Hearings
I just returned from the city budget meeting at the Burton Barr Library. It looks to me as though people are generally unconcerned about the food tax, and instead focusing on the somewhat false dichotomy proposed by the city: either pay the food tax or see further reduction of emergency response services, which are already stressed to maintain adequate staffing levels.
I think there must be other alternatives. Please visit http://www.phoenix.gov/budget and see where the cuts are currently proposed. Also, please join my plea in asking for a more transparent system that allows residents to view the city manager's complete budget. If this is made possible, perhaps we can make more informed recommendations without needing to say yes or no to police officers, depending on whether or not we want a food tax.
There were a few great ideas presented tonight, including one person who suggested we could consider a targeted food tax on junk food items, and then some guy in a mask talking about the Federal Reserve (???). Please bring your thoughtful suggestions to the meeting next week at Cesar Chavez H.S.
I think there must be other alternatives. Please visit http://www.phoenix.gov/budget and see where the cuts are currently proposed. Also, please join my plea in asking for a more transparent system that allows residents to view the city manager's complete budget. If this is made possible, perhaps we can make more informed recommendations without needing to say yes or no to police officers, depending on whether or not we want a food tax.
There were a few great ideas presented tonight, including one person who suggested we could consider a targeted food tax on junk food items, and then some guy in a mask talking about the Federal Reserve (???). Please bring your thoughtful suggestions to the meeting next week at Cesar Chavez H.S.
Friday, February 12, 2010
An Important Note About Mortgage Defaults
Yes, it is a powerful force in our market -- particularly in a community like Laveen, where we have grown so rapidly in the last five years, and then seen our property values decline due to foreclosures and short sales. Those housing bubble years are having a devastating impact on our home values, as has been officially reported by the Maricopa County Assessor.
But another debate has also arisen out of this situation, and that is whether it is acceptable to strategically default on a home loan that you could otherwise afford but choose not to any longer. Recently, a UA law professor wrote a paper titled "Underwater and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and the Social Management of the Housing Crisis," which raised the question of why more Americans are not behaving in their rightful economic best interests.
I find this debate absolutely fascinating, and furthermore see it as the necessary dialog that can foment a true recovery, not just reestablishing growth but also promoting the right kinds of value-creating behavior for a sustainable economy. That's why I've started cataloging my various discussions on the matter over at my other oft neglected blog. Please click the link and let me know your thoughts on the matter. There's some great stuff there, including links to the Motley Fool's compelling coverage, along with that of ABC News and our own AZ Republic.
But another debate has also arisen out of this situation, and that is whether it is acceptable to strategically default on a home loan that you could otherwise afford but choose not to any longer. Recently, a UA law professor wrote a paper titled "Underwater and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and the Social Management of the Housing Crisis," which raised the question of why more Americans are not behaving in their rightful economic best interests.
I find this debate absolutely fascinating, and furthermore see it as the necessary dialog that can foment a true recovery, not just reestablishing growth but also promoting the right kinds of value-creating behavior for a sustainable economy. That's why I've started cataloging my various discussions on the matter over at my other oft neglected blog. Please click the link and let me know your thoughts on the matter. There's some great stuff there, including links to the Motley Fool's compelling coverage, along with that of ABC News and our own AZ Republic.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Flood Concerns for Laveen?
Here's the deal; I'm probably being paranoid about this, I know..... I worry about Laveen's preparedness for the amount of flooding that could occur this week. Yes, we have the LACC (Laveen Area Conveyance Channel) and other flood retention measures in place, but what about the amount of water that our soil and flood retention basins accumulated already this week; and what about potential bottlenecks on street drainage systems or potentially defective retention measures (which we have already seen here during past storms) among all the other things that could go wrong?
Remember, most of Laveen sits on relatively low ground, and within the typical floodplain of the Salt River, not to mention the Tres Rios confluence just west of us. This is why our county and city officials took the initiative to complete the LACC project and others like it in recent history, as Laveen's population has boomed. Just ask any long-time resident to hear some interesting stories of past flooding.
Further, we may or may not experience unprecedented levels of rainfall in the next 48 hours, combined with rising river levels due to rapid snow melt in the high country. And I have not been able to find much specific advice for our community, which is a little frustrating.... After all, the storm a couple of weeks ago brought the gutter run-off above the sidewalk in front of my house, and last year I recall watching our water retention basin nearly fill up from a less severe storm.
So to ease all our minds, I offer the following resources:
Please feel free to pass along this information to anyone who you think may need it, or feel free to keep it around as a resource for the next hundred or so years, in anticipation of an eventual 100-year flood (it's not really like nature is on a schedule.... here's a definition of a 100-year flood). In the likely event that this information is totally irrelevant, then I simply request that you understand how much I love to geek out on information and preparedness.
Remember, most of Laveen sits on relatively low ground, and within the typical floodplain of the Salt River, not to mention the Tres Rios confluence just west of us. This is why our county and city officials took the initiative to complete the LACC project and others like it in recent history, as Laveen's population has boomed. Just ask any long-time resident to hear some interesting stories of past flooding.
Further, we may or may not experience unprecedented levels of rainfall in the next 48 hours, combined with rising river levels due to rapid snow melt in the high country. And I have not been able to find much specific advice for our community, which is a little frustrating.... After all, the storm a couple of weeks ago brought the gutter run-off above the sidewalk in front of my house, and last year I recall watching our water retention basin nearly fill up from a less severe storm.
So to ease all our minds, I offer the following resources:
WEATHER.GOV/PHOENIX
- Local news coverage about the potentially unprecedented rain and flooding: Channel 3 video.
- Where to pick up free sandbags from the City of Phoenix, if needed: City of PHX site.
- What to do with the sandbags, if you decide you need them: eHow article.
- Information about the LACC and other "big" measures to stop flooding: Image and details.
- Info from Maricopa County Flood Control District: MCFCD site.
- Arizona's Flood Warning and Drought Monitoring: AFWDS site.
- Historic flood info: USGS website.
- FEMA's flood preparedness advice: FEMA site.
Please feel free to pass along this information to anyone who you think may need it, or feel free to keep it around as a resource for the next hundred or so years, in anticipation of an eventual 100-year flood (it's not really like nature is on a schedule.... here's a definition of a 100-year flood). In the likely event that this information is totally irrelevant, then I simply request that you understand how much I love to geek out on information and preparedness.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Phoenix Drinking Water
There's never been a better reason to discard that expensive and environmentally insensitive bottled water habit that I know most of my friends suffer. Sure our water doesn't taste as good as several places I've visited on the east coast and elsewhere, surprisingly including none other than dirty ol' NYC, but it's pretty darn good.
I'm happy to say that Phoenix Municipal water meets and exceeds all regulatory requirements -- at least as far as I could discern from the recent EWG report. Add to that the fact that we use a Brita filter in my home and Phoenix is working diligently to address the remaining aesthetic concerns, and I'm even more pleased (despite recent memory of several ground well failures). How do I know this? Here's a link to the EWG report: http://bit.ly/77xp2R
And then there's the Phoenix.gov page: http://bit.ly/89koMb
Frankly, I thought that the City of Phoenix's water department was quite straightforward in addressing my most basic concerns. It would be even more refreshing if we dedicated resources to demonstrating greater leadership in water resource management, being that we're in a desert and all..... but then there's the whole funding issue, not to mention the fact that we're not usually regarded as the most progressive place on earth. But I digress.
AZ isn't totally off the hook for water safety. I was surprised to learn coincidentally that the Granite Dells area near Prescott is listed alongside Verde Valley, Tucson, and Cave Creek as hot spots for natural radon contamination (but not Laveen as far as I know). This is good news for me, since I harbor fond memories of playing around in the Dells area as a child, and would like my son to see the area in nearly as pristine a condition as the two generations of family before me could enjoy it.... not surrounded by subdivisions. But again, I digress. Read more about radon and Arizona's other environmental hazards here: http://bit.ly/6rh4Uh. And if you are an info geek like me, then I'm sure you'll enjoy browsing the rest of the AZ Geo site. No, we have no major earth fissures in Laveen that are reported. And yes, there is gold in them there hills.... maybe. There, I just saved you a bunch of time. You're welcome.
I'm happy to say that Phoenix Municipal water meets and exceeds all regulatory requirements -- at least as far as I could discern from the recent EWG report. Add to that the fact that we use a Brita filter in my home and Phoenix is working diligently to address the remaining aesthetic concerns, and I'm even more pleased (despite recent memory of several ground well failures). How do I know this? Here's a link to the EWG report: http://bit.ly/77xp2R
And then there's the Phoenix.gov page: http://bit.ly/89koMb
Frankly, I thought that the City of Phoenix's water department was quite straightforward in addressing my most basic concerns. It would be even more refreshing if we dedicated resources to demonstrating greater leadership in water resource management, being that we're in a desert and all..... but then there's the whole funding issue, not to mention the fact that we're not usually regarded as the most progressive place on earth. But I digress.
AZ isn't totally off the hook for water safety. I was surprised to learn coincidentally that the Granite Dells area near Prescott is listed alongside Verde Valley, Tucson, and Cave Creek as hot spots for natural radon contamination (but not Laveen as far as I know). This is good news for me, since I harbor fond memories of playing around in the Dells area as a child, and would like my son to see the area in nearly as pristine a condition as the two generations of family before me could enjoy it.... not surrounded by subdivisions. But again, I digress. Read more about radon and Arizona's other environmental hazards here: http://bit.ly/6rh4Uh. And if you are an info geek like me, then I'm sure you'll enjoy browsing the rest of the AZ Geo site. No, we have no major earth fissures in Laveen that are reported. And yes, there is gold in them there hills.... maybe. There, I just saved you a bunch of time. You're welcome.
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