Read a lot of news. You never know which side of the aisle it is written from.
Instapundit speaks to this issue today (archived: 2013) and references this WSJ article. The economy is a fickle thing, driven largely by the Fed’s policies, etc. but psychology plays and equal, if not larger part.
Given all of this doom-and-gloom reporting, maybe the surprise is that Americans are nonetheless behaving with their typical optimism, buying goods and services, bidding up the stock market, and creating new businesses. They may repeat to pollsters what they hear on TV, but they are acting on what they see with their own eyes.
The parallels between this article and Charlottesville’s condo market are direct and important.
But now, families that can easily afford to buy a home are choosing to live in condos, and that says a lot about Americans’ changing lifestyles. Between 1970 and 2000, the percentage of nuclear families among U.S. households declined to 24% from 40%, according to the Census Bureau. Some studies show that the number of households without children will increase in the next 10 years, while those with children will fall slightly.
Home builders say the rise of the condo also reflects a desire among buyers to live downtown, with easy access to restaurants and entertainment, and no tough daily commute or time-consuming domestic upkeep.
The Downtown Mall’s (archived: 2013) emergence as the dominant hub of the City is the primary reason for this. The abundance of phenomenal shows at the Pavilion (no longer available) and the Paramount aren’t hurting either. Heck, I’d like to be able to walk to these shows!
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