158 comments on DrumBeat: August 18, 2006
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158 comments on DrumBeat: August 18, 2006
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Foreclosures soar in North Texas
More losing houses because of poor planning, rising expenses
12:11 AM CDT on Friday, August 18, 2006
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
Excerpt:
"There are a lot of people out there who live on the edge," Mr. Roddy said. "If our economy had stayed about the same as when they bought the property, things would probably be going OK for them.
"But add the tremendous increases in the cost of living, driving, cooling and credit cards, and it all turns bad," he said. "And of course, there have been bumps in interest rates which have dramatically impacted payments on adjustable-rate loans."
But most of the foreclosure distress comes from a familiar problem - not enough money at the end of the month.
"Wages are stagnant," said Gail Cunningham, with Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Dallas. "And energy costs and other expenses are going through the roof.
"One hiccup can put someone over the edge," Ms. Cunningham said. "We are seeing people with electric bills that are higher than their mortgage."
That virus that makes people fat must make them stupid as well.
My small condo's electricity runs about $18/mo, with the computer on too much. That might be the other source of my boggle.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Following is a copy of a e-mail to the group of people that helped organize the Simmons/Kunstler Symposium last year on "The unfolding energy crisis and its impact on development patterns." We brought two nationally known figures on energy and New Urbanism to Dallas. Among those attending were Boone Pickens and Herbert Hunt.
In case you have forgotten, the sole DFW media coverage of the Simmons/Kunstler event was by the SMU student newspaper. I would suggest that you keep that little factoid in mind when you are writing your energy related editorials. If you are looking for people to blame, I suggest that you start by looking in the mirror.
Copy of e-mail (regarding foreclosures):
Well, we at least tried to warn them last year, via the Simmons/Kunstler event. BTW, consulting engineer Alan Drake has some fascinating case histories. One of them is Switzerland, in the Second World War, when they responded to an almost total disruption of their oil supplies by electrifying their transportation system.
One of Alan's articles: http://www.energybulletin.net/14492.html
Swiss citizens, in the Second World War, used about 0.15% of per capita US oil consumption today. Switzerland is now embarked on a plan to virtually eliminate truck transportation, via continued electrification of transportation. FYI--a trolley car on rails, even one powered by diesel, is five to eight times more efficient than a bus on wheels. Electrification provides about another two to three fold increase in efficiency.
The irony is that we had marvelous electric trolley car systems almost everywhere, including Dallas, up until the post-war period. Insofar as transportation is concerned, the future is the past. IMO, soon the only real development game in town will be Transit Oriented Development.
How about a conference featuring Kunstler and Alan Drake? Something like New Urbanism and Electrification of Transportation as a Response to the Energy Crisis.
BTW, I finally obtained a CD of the Simmons/Kunstler interview on KERA. I'm having it transcribed right now. I'll send it over to you when it is done.
Jeffrey Brown
TOD. A little nod to The Oil Drum huh?
Like the "Other White Meat" (but kosher)
Somewhat playing devil's advocate -
If that's the case then how critical is oil? Apparently they didn't need very much.
In 1998, Switzerland voted (national referundum) to spend 31 billion Swiss francs to drastically improve their already good rail system. #1 goal (of several) was to get freight off of heavy trucks and onto their (hydro) electric rail. #2 goal was semi-high speed pax rail from Zurich & Bern to various points. 1 billion CH franc to make rail cars quieter, etc.
Adjusted for population & currency, this is equal to a US vote to spend US$1 trillion on our rail system.
I suspect that this 1998 strategic decision will pay off post-Peak Oil.
Switzerland prepares BEFORE it "has to".
I guess turning off the air conditioning to fix that problem isn't a viable option to those people.
If the grid starts falling during the summers we are going to loose baby boomer in droves. On the other hand, some mid summer grid failures may just fix the whole Social security problem.