Is there really a housing crisis?

Why is everything a crisis? Like the affordability crisis? The age of first home purchase has increased to 38. We were 22 when we bought our first house, a run down duplex. Dual incomes were the exception until 2nd wave feminism in the 70s when women were told to go to work to have value (and to pay more taxes). We were thrilled to have renters pay our mortgage! It needed a lot of sweat equity and a loan from my dad.

 
Young people today want much more. They marry later and have huge college loans--even their parents are still paying off loans! They want nice cars--and need 2 or 3. We didn't take trips, buy nice cars, go out to eat, or dress well. For a long time we were "house poor." I get this uneasy feeling that when the government steps in to "fix" housing, things get worse, like 2007-2008 subprime crisis, or building "affordable" neighborhoods (that aren't). We had run away consumerism and inflation--keeping up with the Jones. In America, you really can have it all--just not all at the same time.

This complex https://www.apartments.com/fox-and-hounds-columbus-oh/cvfs42e/ is about 50 years old. Based on inflation since 1967, it's less than the 2 bdrm 1 bath unit we rented in 1967 after we sold our house in Illinois and moved to Columbus . What is affordability? We had one income (because a wife's income wasn't factored in the housing costs in those days). The dollar had an average inflation rate of 4.00% per year between 1967 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 869.99%, or our $140 rent would be like $1360 in 2025.

Getting ready for summer

 We've uncovered the deck furniture and washed off the tabletop and chair webbing. Today we enjoyed an early birthday celebration with a friend.  His 90th. His children are throwing a party in June, but it will be the first day of our vacation, so we won't be in town.  The guys met at church in 1967, so that's about 57 years of friendship with Ron. He and his wife whom he met at Upper Arlington high school died four years ago. Dinner was grilled salmon, steamed cauliflower and asparagus, mixed fresh fruit and Key Lime Pie. We actually ate inside because there was a very noisy machine spewing ear splitting sounds across the creek, then after it quieted down we went outside to enjoy the lovely spring weather.

Are apartments more expensive than 1967?

I've been watching the real estate values. Right now mortgage rates are really high, although nothing like the 80s. Then I saw a chart that showed renting is cheaper than buying right now. Although I'm math challenged, I did a bit of real estate snooping.

If you want to live in Lancaster, OH or Marion, OH you can find a fixer upper under $50,000, although one had no walls or plumbing fixtures. Nice property near Springfield, OH on 8 acres with several barns, quiet road, and a 4 bedroom house that didn't look too bad for $400,000.

Then I did an inflation calculation and looked at townhomes in our first Upper Arlington neighborhood. In 1967 I think we paid $150 a month for 2 bdrms, 1 bath, living room, dining room, kitchen, basement unfinished, and 1 car garage. Using inflation calculator that's $1,366 in 2023. I poked around the rental listings for this month and found one almost the same (nice) neighborhood near shopping and schools and park for $1,395. But it had a finished room in the basement, a dishwasher, and breakfast bar and the kitchen was updated with granite tops (appeared to be older cabinets). No garage. So essentially, the same, trading a room in the basement for garage for the 1967 model.

 
Of course, in 1967 I had the advantage of living on the same street as Arlene, but we didn't find that out until about 6 years ago (Lakeside neighbor).

Thanks for the Christmas display

When we moved to Columbus in 1967, the area we live in now was farm woods and pasture—ravine, woods, and creek.  There was a 19th century farm house and old barn (now gone) on the property.  We had actually watched this area being built  and the firm Bob worked for, Urban Calabretta (now Brown Calabretta)  in the 1970s designed this very attractive 30 unit condominium community, a concept still rather new to Columbus 50 years ago. We had never driven back here until 2001 when we noticed several listings in the paper, and we fell in love with the setting.  So we have a lovely view north out our living room window of our neighbors on the next street “over the river and through the woods.”  They are close on this side, but about 1/2 mile to drive there.
 
We’ve been enjoying their Christmas lights in their back yard this season.  The colors change and rotate through the lights through a large tree. The other night Bob asked for a piece of stationery so he could write them a Thank You note for the enjoyment we’ve had every evening.  I thought it was a nice idea, but we don’t know their names, and the back of the house is 3 stories, yet the front appears to be a ranch—I’m not sure on that street if I could even identify it. Ten years ago when I was still walking in nice weather I’d noticed how difficult it was to identify the front of the homes I could only see from the rear.

No problem.  He wrote the note and then drove there, knocked on their door, and introduced himself.  They had a brief visit, and he told them how much we had enjoyed their lights.  Bob thought they were very nice, and they were quite surprised to get a personal and written thank you.

The Dear John letter

This isn't exactly a Memorial Day tale, but. . . I was talking to a Vietnam vet today about church. He’d never heard of Lakeside, Ohio, which is a Chautauqua community originating as a Methodist Campground.  He said he grew up Catholic--attended church 6 days a week. I asked him when was the last time he'd been to confession, and he said 1967. He was in Vietnam and went to confession. The next day he got a "Dear John" letter from his fiancé who had become pregnant by another man while he was gone. He never went back to church, and he has no idea what became of his fiancé or the baby, except the new boyfriend dropped her.  He must not have grown up in a small town—people never forget those things, or what happened to whom, when and why.

I had the feeling she didn’t follow these instructions. https://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Dear-John-Letter

Upcoming Conestoga event on February 7

Conestoga is the "Friends" group of the Ohio History Center, and we do interesting tours within the state, and  also do a Spring fund raiser each year to support the Center.  Sometimes to beat the winter blahs, we have an inside Columbus tour.

On Thursday, Feb. 7, our program will be tours of the Judicial Center and the LeVeque building that we just heard about at the Columbus AIA program 2 weeks ago. It begins at 1 p.m. at the Thomas J. Moyer* Judicial Center/Ohio Supreme Court Building at 65 S. Front St. in downtown Columbus. Our newsletter reports:

"The renowned art and architecture of the Judicial Center creates a building that, while functional, also proudly depicts Ohio history. Its inscriptions and symbols, along with its many murals, celebrate all who shaped the state: the native peoples, explorers, soldiers, presidents, jurists and artists.

The first stop on the tour will be the Kingsley A. Taft Map Room, featuring a well-preserved collection of 16 original, historically significant maps donated by Conestoga member Sheldon A. Taft, son of the late Chief Justice. This collection, which is not usually available for viewing without an appointment, is the product of nearly 25 years of research by Sheldon Taft. Sheldon will be there to share the history of the collection, which dates back to the mid-17th century. In addition, Conestoga Steering Committee member Marilyn Goodman will serve as a tour guide for the Center visit that will also include the court chambers, hearing rooms and Law Library.

After leaving the Judicial Center, program participants will walk to the Hotel LeVeque for a guided tour of its newly renovated spaces. We’ll hear a presentation on the history of the iconic tower, view the original architectural model and visit one of the luxury suites. The tour will end at The Keep Kitchen and Bar."

A personal note: *Moyer, for whom the Center was named, was the longest serving state Supreme Court Justice in the U.S.  and he died suddenly in April, 2010. We moved to Ohio in June, 1967 and were invited to attend First Community Church. Since we weren't members we joined the fall 1967 membership class at FCC.  In our class and sitting at our table was Tom Moyer, who would later become the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. He was my age (28), so I don't recall what his position was then, but he had only received his law degree in 1964, so he probably wasn't famous. The only reason I remember him as one of the two people in that class I remember from 50 years ago is because our best man's name was Tom Moir, pronounced the same. Also in the new members class was a woman named Joanne.  She and her husband were in Couples Circle 50, but she wasn't a member of the church, so she was also taking the class.  Through them, we were invited to join their small group of about 8 couples, through which we then met our lawyer and our dentist, found a babysitter in the neighborhood where we later bought a house, and  many lovely couples we socialized with once a month for 8 years until we joined Upper Arlington Lutheran Church in the mid-1970s.