Posts Tagged Michigan
25 Affordable U.S. Towns
Posted by enrique s in Links, Real Estate on July 21st, 2009
CNNMoney recently published a gallery of 25 affordable U.S. towns. You can read the original article here. The thing that they have in common: they are located in the middle of the country, and not even remotely near either coast. No surprise there. The gallery was nice to look at, but since I’m a numbers guy, I’ve put together a table, with the median home price and median family income for each. I’ve also included a column that shows the median home price as a percentage of median family income:
As you can see by the list, these affordable towns aren’t evenly distributed throughout the country; they’re concentrated in the Midwest. The final tally shows:
- Two states had 5 cities listed (Michigan and Indiana);
- Texas had 4 cities, many in proximity to Houston;
- Ohio had 3 cities;
- Three states had 2 cities on the list (Nebraska, Tennessee, and Wisconsin;
- Iowa and Kansas had one each.
So, the top 25 affordable towns are located in only 9 states. Here’s a crude map showing the cluster:
That doesn’t say much for the other 41 states that didn’t make the list. While I wasn’t expecting any coastal towns to make the list, I was surprised at the absence of towns from the South. I was also surprised that many of the Michigan towns were near Detroit, given the state of the auto industry.
These towns really are affordable. I can see where the home prices would allow young people to settle in the area where they grew up, unlike most places along the coasts. I can tell you, no decent house in my area goes for even twice my annual income. That’s even factoring in foreclosures.
What about you? Do you live in an affordable area? Or are you like me, surrounded by neighbors in underwater mortgages?
For email updates click here.
Print This Post
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Related Posts -
10 Best Cities for Job Growth lumaxart Yahoo Real Estate had an article which listed the top 10 cities for job growth. Here's the list: Huntsville, Alabama Albuquerque, New Mexico Washington, D.C. Charlottesville, Virginia Athens, Georgia Olympia, Washington Madison, Wisconsin Austin, Texas Flagstaff, Arizona Raleigh, North Carolina While energy and finance drove job growth in...... -
8 Industries Staying in the Toilet cutglassdecanter A recent USNews article listed eight industries that will sit out the next economic recovery. Let's see if we can find a common link. How about conspicuous consumption? Airlines - the sharpest blow comes from the decline in high-revenue business travel. Have you noticed more videoconferencing at your...... -
Top 5 Least Stressful Cities Photo by vramak Forbes.com recently listed America's most stressful cities. You can follow the link to the original article through Yahoo! Real Estate. The factors taken into account were unemployment rates, cost of living figures, median home price drops, population density, sunny and partly sunny days, and air quality. ......
Related Websites -
10 Worst Real Estate Markets In 2009 As I mentioned in a previous post, the real estate market hasn't hit bottom yet. According to an Article in Fortune Magazine, 8 of the top 10 worst real estate markets in 2009 are in California. The range of the predicted price decline is between 20 to 25%. 1. Los Angeles 2008 median house...... -
Commercial Real Estate Investing: We made Technorati.com's Top 100 Real Estate Site! The Real Wealth Blog makes Technorati's Top 100 Real Estate Sites...at least today it did. Great news for us. What does it really mean? Well...that our following is growing....at least I think. How long will we be there? Hmmm? Are we still there? So....A big thank you to all of...... - Sarasota Realtor Helps Homeowners & Real Estate Investors Avoid Foreclosure! Sarasota Realtor Mike Payne knows how to help homeowners avoid foreclosure! httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjL4liwIe6k Mike & Sandy of Port Charlotte, Florida, got caught holding on to 4 investment properties. Tenants in 3 of the properties moved out in the middle of the night, trashing each house as they left. On the 4th,......
A Worthy Adversary
Posted by enrique s in Motivation, lifehack on June 10th, 2009
Superman had Lex Luthor. Luke Skywalker had Darth Vader. Joe Louis had Max Schmeling. Ohio State has Michigan. Even Bruce Willis in Unbreakable had Samuel L. Jackson. What did each of these heroes have in common? Right, a contradictory villain. But not just a bad guy, but a worthy adversary that challenged them to do better.
Luke, I Am Your Motivation
In most fiction, the hero has a nemesis, an antagonist that provokes the hero into moving the story along. Because, face it, without any bad guys to catch, Bruce Wayne would have no reason to dress up in that Batman getup. He’d probably be in therapy, working through his issues. The bad guy serves an important purpose. He’s the contrast to the hero; the dark to his light. He amplifies the good qualities of the hero by showing us his own dark side.
Who’s Your Baddie?
In the first Batman movie that starred Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, Batman tells the Joker “You made me first.” Without the Joker, Batman needn’t exist. The bad guy challenges the hero to do better, to transform himself, just as our competitors keep us on our toes. Just look at how the Yankees and Red Sox try to one-up each other. Or why Roman mothers would scare their children by shouting “Hannibal is at the gates!” Your personal “bad guy” could take the form of a rival corporation, or a rival for your girlfriend’s affections. It could even be a coworker. The form of the opponent doesn’t matter; that he exists in the first place is the real significance. And the real gift.
A Swift Kick in the Ass
So someone challenges you. How do you respond? With your A-game, I would hope. Because your rival has given you a very special gift: a swift kick in the ass! Ding! Ding! The rival delivers your wakeup call. He spurs you to action, forcing you to dig down deep for your unawakened skills. He forces you to be prepared. He’s the stimulus that you respond to that helps you grow, like Rommel was to Montgomery.
“The scars will take me far, they always do.” - Henry Rollins
Don’t blame an adversary for your shortcomings. He’s a welcome obstacle, that will make you prove your mettle. For, if you had no obstacles to overcome, how would you ever grow? In order to grow stronger, a weightlifter adds more weight to the barbell. The adversary provides that extra weight. He makes you care. A few battle scars are good for the character.
Friendly Adversaries
I’ve worked with several adversaries that have become my friends. Sure, we’ve had our clashes, but we’ve also grown to respect each other. We respect each other because we’ve never taken each other lightly, and our competition has brought out the best in us. In a sense, we’ve made each other stronger in the long run by exposing each other’s weaknesses. I’m sure that Woody Hayes was glad that he had Bo Schembechler to butt heads with for all those years, because they kept each other on their toes.
So thank those people that are the grain of sand that spur you to create a pearl; that raise the bar and force you to jump higher; whose mere being scares the hell out of you enough to think up new ways to beat them. Thank them for the motivation. But just thank them in your mind, not to their face.
Now, go out and stomp them!
Are you ready to join the Horde? Sign up for my email updates by clicking here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Related Posts -
Living in the Past Photo by archangel_raphael I heard some people at work sharing war stories. You know, how many home runs they hit in their senior year in high school; how much hair they used to have; how thin they used to be in college. I even heard one guy admit that...... -
8 Things that Will Get You Fired Photo by clementine gallot A recent Yahoo! Shine article discussed the 4 lies that can cost you your job. I'm sure that we've all experienced some of these first-hand. You can read the original article by clicking the following link: 4 Lies that Can Cost You Your Job The...... -
Nicknames, Pseudonyms, and Aliases Jim Bibby, Who Pitched for Pirates in World Series, Dies at 65 - New York Times item I've come across some strange characters at work, and some strange names, too. Most of the strange names aren't the fault of the owners; their parents are to blame for their birth names. ......
Related Websites -
Why the Hero Pursues – The Thrill of the Chase It’s true. It really is all about the chase; in real life and in romance novels. In a romance, the man pursues. A heroine might take action first, hoping for results, but the action doesn’t start until the hero goes after the heroine with the intention of making her...... -
Kiss and Tell: Elaine Lowe on Her Hero by Elaine Lowe, guest blogger My husband is my own personal hero. On the inside of his wedding ring, I engraved, "My Hero", and that was long before I was ever a romance writer. He is the master of making me smile and blush, my sounding board, the fixer of...... -
Get into Bed with Donna Marie Rogers (Author Interview) Today's interview is with romance author Donna Marie Rogers. She lives in a renovated old schoolhouse with her husband and children. Can you imagine? Sounds idyllic! Her passion to read is only exceeded by her passion to write. Please join me in welcoming Donna to Love Romance Passion. Keira:......
