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Camping Out For New Homes

"Hopefuls camp out for chance to buy townhomes"

Sandy Kleffman writes in today’s Contra Costa Times about people camping out to be first in line when new homes are released at DeNova Home’s Citrus Walk subdivision in Walnut Creek.  Here’s a key quote:

"In one respect, it’s sort of sad that it’s come to this," said Jim Croy, who took a day off work from a Pleasant Hill investment company to take the head of the line. "We put several offers on houses in Walnut Creek and got outbid.

"At least this way, you’re rewarded for putting in some effort and you don’t have to face a bidding war."

There’s another aspect to this story.  With the stock market providing paltry returns it appears that speculators are playing real estate.  The way home prices have increased over the past years can you blame them?  Between the lack of new housing construction, a low inventory of resale housing on the market and real estate speculators – it is difficult to win a bidding war for housing in especially desirable neighborhoods.

But new homebuilders also face the speculator issue.  In the late ’80s people would put a deposit on a new house and "flip-it" or sell their spot for a premium – sometimes before the house was even built.  Today, most builders include anti-speculation clauses in their sales contracts to discourage it.  It will be interesting to see how Citrus Walk plays out over time.

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Butterflies, Progress and Cows

There is an article in today’s Contra Costa Times that illustrates why overzealousness (is that even a word?) almost always backfires.  And while the headline and beginning of the story lays blame at growth – or the provision of shelter for humans – the recovery efforts are also paid for, in part, by developers.  My favorite line in the story:

"The story of the bay checkerspot shows how hard it can be to protect the most innocuous of creatures; how acts of nature and human disregard combine to do them in; and how the best of intentions can backfire."

Unfortunately – this is not the lead paragraph, but buried later in the story.  I imagine the reporter or her editor thought it was not alarmist enough to pull in readers.

Link: Growth means bye, bye butterflies.

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Push to Finish Highway 4 Now

F4nlogo_1 We have a tremendous opportunity in the next few months to make substantial progress on completing Highway 4 in eastern Contra Costa County.

The Congress is debating, and hopefully deciding, federal transportation funding for the next five to six years.  Representative Ellen Tauscher has already “earmarked” $20 million from the bill for the project.  However a strong, broad-based effort may enable us to get more federal funding – maybe even enough to finish 4 now.  Transportation experts estimate that $90 million would finish 4 to Hillcrest Road in Antioch and $140 million would finish 4 completely!   Local residents are already contributing to the project by paying an extra half-cent sales tax and new homebuyers in East County pay $8,500+ per house in a regionally adopted impact fee.  Even better – the project has completed all its environmental clearances so federal funding would “hit the ground” so to speak very quickly and help our local and regional economy.  Win-win-win.

Visit the Finish4Now website and sign-up to stay informed and do your part by letting our federal and state officials know you support their efforts to finish Highway 4 now.

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Contra Costa Times Adds RSS Feeds

Xml_1 Browsing the Contra Costa Times website tonight I found little orange boxes with XML on the title line of several sections.  Hurray!  RSS feeds.  First, Times editor Chris Lopez starts a blog and now actual RSS feeds.  Hopefully the Times will make RSS feeds for the other local editions available.  It would make it much easier to follow happenings in Brentwood or Livermore…

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Ron Brown Profiled in East Bay Business Times

Katherine Conrad has a good profile of Save Mount Diablo’s Executive Director Ron Brown in last week’s East Bay Business Times.  I learned several things I didn’t know nor fully appreciate about Ron by reading it.  [Disclaimer:  I am mentioned in it – although Katherine never called me for a quote.]  I also think Ron is an effective advocate for the mountain.  We don’t always agree but I have never been given any reason to question his motives or integrity.

One thing I learned from the end of the article – Save Mount Diablo thinks they’re about half done in saving the mountain.  They have about 86,000 acres now.  And conventional wisdom – ask a man on the street – is the mountain has been largely saved.  One reason they "need" more is to create safe habitat/range for large animals like the mountain lion.  Understandable – but a little scary as my family lives adjacent to open space on Lime Ridge.  I thought the biggest problem I’d have is the red-headed woodpeckers that are currently attacking the soffits on the eaves of my house.   Mountain lions…hmm…

Link: Ron Brown – 2005-04-04 – East Bay Business Times.