The Advocate has an interesting but not surprising article about the price of rentals here in the FC. Basically, no one making less than $45 billion can afford an apartment in this area.
I'm a firm believer in a free-market system, but how did it get so out of hand that it precludes vast swaths of people from renting? FROM RENTING?? I'm not talking about the working poor; I'm talking about middle-class professionals, maybe with a kid, who simply can't afford to pay $2300 a month for a 2-bedroom apartment in Glenbrook.
For example, take Glenview House, which I've blogged about in the past. Their smallest two-bedroom apartment is 1139 square feet and costs $2299 a month! Let's see...$2299 times 12 times 30 equals $827,640. If you have the choice between buying an $800,000 home or renting an admittedly fancy apartment across from Taco Bell, what would you do?? I understand that renting works better than buying for some people (temporary transfers, etc.), but I always thought that renting was generally supposed to be the less-expensive alternative to buying. On a similar note, I always thought that townhouses were sort of like "starter homes" for people who can't afford or don't want a house with a yard, but not when townhouses start at $600,000!!
That said, if I'm going to pay $2300 a month, I'll live in NYC, where I can do many, many more cool things and enjoy more than two types of food (Italian and "other").
2 comments:
2300 In NYC will be the size of my closet.
I figured that the Advocate had a slow news day, or are really behind the reporting times to have that headline. I mean, DUH!
$2300 is still too much for anyone living on a regular income.
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