The last two weeks have been extremely busy, but there have been great things going on all over the place! Besides the Giants winning the SuperBowl and Bill Belicheck being exposed as the sore-losing cheater that he is, there have been Presidential primaries, work, volunteer stuff, and more.
Earlier this week I had the opportunity to spend some time on the Montclair State University campus. My fraternity was giving an expansion presentation on the campus and since I’m the regional volunteer for New Jersey, I wanted to be present. I was impressed with Montclair State (the first time I’ve ever been there) and I was very impressed with the depth of the Greek Life system. Not only is it a large system, but the diversity of organizations and dedication of the young student leaders was great to observe.
I also spent some time at the end of the week on the campus of Princeton University. There was a presentation about the Mount Laurel housing decision and I attended on behalf of my job. The discussion was good and I thought some of the more interesting musings were focused around the highly politically charged planning process in municipalities. It is sometimes hard for me to sit in these meetings that focus on affordable housing because of the great misconception about what affordable housing “is” in reality. Granted, the people who sit around and proselytize at these events know truth from fiction, but the common person doesn’t realize that it’s normal, everyday folks that are hurting for affordable housing.
One of the discussions at the workshop brought up the fact that people are so concerned about young couples coming into their towns because young people bring children and children mean schools and schools mean increased property taxes. For me, this was an interesting look at why there is such a tremendous amount of senior housing being built in the Garden State and why so many young people (under 35) are being forced into rental housing.
I also had the opportunity to watch “Bridge to Terabithia” the other night. The movie was weird – absolutely the opposite of what I expected. The marketing for this movie obviously focused on the last 2 minutes of the film and not the first hour and a half. Not that it was a poorly produced movie; it was just weird and probably a film that I wouldn’t have bothered to watch if I knew what it was really about.
Lost is back on ABC – for now. There are six episodes left in this half-season unless the writers come together with the studios and get this strike ended. In terms of storylines, Ben has to be the creepiest guy on television right now and the introduction of the flash-forwards adds an interesting touch. Personally, I’m not the biggest fan of the direction the series has moved in, but it’s getting better. As my roommate said the other day, the first season of Lost has to be considered one of the best seasons in television history. It’s hard to live up to that type of hype.
Also, John McCain has taken over the Republican primary battle for the Presidential nomination while Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are fighting it out on the Democratic side. I feel like Obama has the momentum on his side right now, but the way this primary season has progressed who knows what tomorrow will bring. In a McCain versus Clinton election, I’ll likely be a McCain voter. In an Obama versus McCain election, I’m not sure. I know Obama is the most liberal Senator in the Congress right now, but the change that he represents is bigger than left or right ideologies.
The fact that a black man has run for President and not relied on the traditional black leaders to raise him up is good for the future of America. I (and many other people) are sick and tired of people playing the race card (and the gender card, for that matter). Part of me believes that if a black man wins the Presidency of the United States, the older generations of this country will finally catch up with America’s youth in looking at the qualities of an individual over the color of their skin. In his speech the other night, Obama said that we are the people we’ve been waiting for – and that’s the truth.
At the same time, I hate discrimination against older citizens and I imagine that a lot of arrogant jerks will look at McCain as too old for the job. Me? I’ll be looking at the candidates based on their stances on the issues.
The class that I am auditing at Monmouth University has quickly devolved into a study in wasting time. It’s a great shame, too. I expected that being enrolled in a graduate-level class would spur great discussions about the practice of fundraising and case studies in fundraising success. This class has not lived up to its description and I’m pretty pissed off about it.
Oh, the other day I paid off my last credit card. I’m not going to cancel it because you need a “just in case” card or two, but that’s a pretty decent financial accomplishment so early into the new year. I’m having an internal debate now about whether or not I should begin attacking my student loans or start saving to buy a home in 2009.
And on the topic of buying a home, it has become more and more apparent that the Monmouth County-area housing market refuses to be deflated as the rest of the country feels the housing crunch. In other words, most of the prices for homes in this county are still about 35% higher than what they are really worth. That’s what happens when almost an entire real estate market is bought up by investors and speculators – they don’t want to leave the market without making their 7% – 15% “flip” profit.
This combined with the exorbitant cost of living in New Jersey has me seriously thinking about moving to Pennsylvania when the time comes to buy a house. Of course the problem with that is the distance from where I’d like to live (the Poconos) to my job. I’ve also looked at buying a house in Hunterdon County in New Jersey, but I might as well be looking in Hoboken with the prices that some people are asking. Anyway, who knows where I’ll wind up buying a house or if that house will be in New Jersey. I hope that this state’s leaders begin to realize that New Jersey does not provide any of its regular young people with a reasonable opportunity for financial success given the crazy cost of living here.
Maybe when everyone leaves this state, they’ll begin to realize it!
Affordable housing is anathema to most municipalities. I have written a few plans myself and when dealing with the municipalities they pull their hair out thinking about children moving in to their towns. A planning board member I used to deal with would look at subdivisions and do a count (using her fingers) to figure how many children were coming with the new housing. The default was 2 per.
BTW, I rent. I used to own but when I went back to grad school it was too much being a long distance land lord. I am pretty confident that prices will come down over the next few years in NJ. The fundamentals don’t support current prices and besides the banks are going to be scrutinizing their loans more intensively. A house in my development was purchased in 1999 for $255,000 it sold in 2005 for $495,000. The price in 1999 was up from the low in 1995 after our previous bubble in housing. I think the 1999 price is about right for the year, maybe a tad low for now but add in inflation and I think that is realistic. So in short, in the near future you will see downward pricing, how low? Who is to know but the recession that is coming will probably necessitate it.
There is always the alternative to move to another region, which I am considering. The quality of life in NJ has deteriorated and the government has some serious problems to face in the long term.
What a sad predicament the affordable/workforce housing need faces, huh? I hate to hear that type of stuff (counting on fingers and stopping at 2), but it’s the sad reality in New Jersey.
I completely agree about the home prices in NJ. Many realtors I speak with tell me that prices are stabilizing, but the reality is much different. But what is a realtor to do, I guess?