I've been living with varying levels of tight finances, for my entire adult life. I've watched our country create a ridiculously expensive adult life, driven, in part, by housing costs and rents that small business owners struggle with. It started when I was in High School, in the 80's. Silicon Valley was 1 county over. The privileged …
I've been living with varying levels of tight finances, for my entire adult life. I've watched our country create a ridiculously expensive adult life, driven, in part, by housing costs and rents that small business owners struggle with. It started when I was in High School, in the 80's. Silicon Valley was 1 county over. The privileged could afford to pay astronomical prices for small starter homes, driving modest income households away from the idea of ever owning where they worked. I was angry, then. My grandparents home doubled in price, in a single year.
My great-grandmother's simple, post WWII, 3 bdr 1ba house became impossibly unaffordable, by the time I was in my early 20's. Maybe ,I was the only person who saw this as a huge problem. Homeowners were too busy making obscene profits and overpaid tech-boom workers were only too happy to buy up the little starter homes and transform them into something even more unaffordable for young couples. It was no longer possible, for families like the original owners, to live in them. What sad irony.
I've watched so many businesses close, over the last few years. No one can afford the rent, which continues to rise, in order to cover the rising property taxes (and other expenses). I went into an Indian restaurant, a few weeks ago. I was their only customer. Just 2 people were working. I wonder how long they'll remain open. What will we do, when all these small businesses close? What will their families do?
Last month, I was able to afford (as in my own earned funds) to go away, for the first time in my adult life. 3 nights in a modest priced Airbnb, 2 hours from home. I went to an antique/gift shop and overheard the owner talking to customers that she knew well. The store was barely making it. She was keeping it afloat, with funds from her real-estate sales. The interest rate hike had cost her 3 transactions. She'd worked with her clients, for 14 months, on one purchase. They simply bailed, when the rates went up. She was worried the store wouldn't be open, much longer, as a result of slow sales in both businesses. She'd just returned from spending time with her best friend, who was battling cancer. My heart went out to her. I also knew my modest purchases weren't going to make even a tiny dent in her rent.
We have a society that demands 2 income households, unless one spouse is in a lucrative field. I live in a community with many members who have easily moved along, seemingly untouched, by all of this. Neighborhood page posts are still filled with people looking for various private lessons for children, swimming pool memberships, recommendations for extensive home remodeling, and pet-sitters, for long family vacations. Their spending will help keep small businesses going, to some extent. But, the rest us are cutting back and will have the opposite impact.
I've been living with varying levels of tight finances, for my entire adult life. I've watched our country create a ridiculously expensive adult life, driven, in part, by housing costs and rents that small business owners struggle with. It started when I was in High School, in the 80's. Silicon Valley was 1 county over. The privileged could afford to pay astronomical prices for small starter homes, driving modest income households away from the idea of ever owning where they worked. I was angry, then. My grandparents home doubled in price, in a single year.
My great-grandmother's simple, post WWII, 3 bdr 1ba house became impossibly unaffordable, by the time I was in my early 20's. Maybe ,I was the only person who saw this as a huge problem. Homeowners were too busy making obscene profits and overpaid tech-boom workers were only too happy to buy up the little starter homes and transform them into something even more unaffordable for young couples. It was no longer possible, for families like the original owners, to live in them. What sad irony.
I've watched so many businesses close, over the last few years. No one can afford the rent, which continues to rise, in order to cover the rising property taxes (and other expenses). I went into an Indian restaurant, a few weeks ago. I was their only customer. Just 2 people were working. I wonder how long they'll remain open. What will we do, when all these small businesses close? What will their families do?
Last month, I was able to afford (as in my own earned funds) to go away, for the first time in my adult life. 3 nights in a modest priced Airbnb, 2 hours from home. I went to an antique/gift shop and overheard the owner talking to customers that she knew well. The store was barely making it. She was keeping it afloat, with funds from her real-estate sales. The interest rate hike had cost her 3 transactions. She'd worked with her clients, for 14 months, on one purchase. They simply bailed, when the rates went up. She was worried the store wouldn't be open, much longer, as a result of slow sales in both businesses. She'd just returned from spending time with her best friend, who was battling cancer. My heart went out to her. I also knew my modest purchases weren't going to make even a tiny dent in her rent.
We have a society that demands 2 income households, unless one spouse is in a lucrative field. I live in a community with many members who have easily moved along, seemingly untouched, by all of this. Neighborhood page posts are still filled with people looking for various private lessons for children, swimming pool memberships, recommendations for extensive home remodeling, and pet-sitters, for long family vacations. Their spending will help keep small businesses going, to some extent. But, the rest us are cutting back and will have the opposite impact.
We need each other.