Why bother going throught the ordeal? Just get WJZ to help you break into an abandoned house.

Wow!

I just met my first true elitist last year... scared me to death. I never realized there was 1% class that identified themselves as being superior than the rest... As you say you know it all. Good for you and this paper.

You should also mention that you and your references would never consider renting in the city.... It's not good enough... it's just for lower classes..

BTW: I have not seen any indication that you are a "know it all."

Good for you on your promotion to elite. Was it the UMBC professor? There is a UMD professor preaching the same thing. Please give me their phone numbers so I can set them straight..

You are not the first person who wished they would have had some time in the city and is pissed that didn't. This is common.

Oh well, you have lived in Columbia your whole life.... I agree that would suck, even for 6 months.

Your job now is not to trash everyone who didn't live the life you didn't. You have a job in a city that needs your voice, it hasn't been that bad to you even though you never lived here.

I understand your negativity... and see too.

Please give me T. Schaller phone #. I want to have a talk.

My # is easy to find: 410 274 7331

I think Richard Florida is overreacting to a natural cyclic occurrence in the marketplace. Throwing the whole dream of home ownership under the bus because of one economic recession is the kind of shortsighted thinking that got us into this mess. We've gone through real estate recessions and depressions before. This one is no different from one in the early 1900's. They're painful, but things turn out better in the long run. If we simply had faith in the system and allowed failure we'd all be better off. Running in to change the rules when things get bad is just going to prolong the problems. Renting should be promoted more, but not when rents are so expensive that a mortgage is a better choice.

Dunn, it's not that the city is just for a lower class. The problem is that the risk of getting mugged or killed by just walking to your car is way too high in Baltimore. I wouldn't stay there even if they paid me to be there. It's too dangerous.

After reading the entire article from Mr. Schaller I will keep my criticism brief and to just one point. "It is a form of welfare that largely benifits middle and upper class"
The greatest opportunity for the working class to achieve a piece of the American Dream is thru home ownership. Anything that lessens the chance for someone to achieve this is holding the working class down. How can one obtain the level of middle class if the greatest assett they will ever own will be harder to obtain.

only those that can afford a 20% downpayment and have adequate financial "credentials" (note that the word credentials is derived fron the word credit) should be allowed to own homes. The rest should have to rent, shack up, pitch a tent, or use some other creative form of shelter until they are able to meet the standards of home ownership. Plain and simple.

In the end, it's cheaper to own, especially for a retired person with a paid-off mortgage (I guess I mean w/o a mortgage any more). The problem is getting from "I'm renting" to "I own, and have no debt". But Schaller is right about tax incentives, of course.

Can you please do a post on what exactly the stimulus package provides first time home buyers, or link to the specifics?

Thanks

Dunn, you are one crazy s-o-b. Did you used to date this woman or something? You attack her like it was the first woman who broke your heart.

Hi, jmw -- I've got details and links here: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/business/realestate/blog/2009/02/tax_credit_for_home_buying.html

And also here:
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/business/realestate/blog/2009/02/more_answers_to_newbuyercredit_questions.html

If you have more unanswered questions, let me know and I'll see what I can find.

What should the country change in the housing industry? How about requiring banks to check up on people before lending out hundreds of thousands of dollars for a house (i.e., credit check, employment history, annual salary, outstanding loans, etc.)? How about getting rid of exotic mortgages who made everyone but the purchaser somewhat richer? How about somebody telling a potential buyer "you cannot afford this house, but you can afford this other one?" How about requiring some % down of the house's cost instead of 0 money down? How about not tieing mortgages to the stock market? Those are a few areas to start since they are what got us into this mess as opposed to suggesting removing one of the few benefits of the middle class.

Thanks for the comment, bv. Most of those things have happened -- lenders clamped down in 2007 -- but by then the damage we're seeing now had been done.

jmw: No. I have just been following her stories for 3 years and have seen the awful affects they have on the city. She goes for the easy stories, is highly opinionated, does not do investigative journalism, doesn't speak up about issues that affect Maryland real estate on and on... She goes for the low hanging fruit and makes two phone calls to biased people to make story.

Some of the cr*p she writes is pure hypocrisy, and disses the town that employs her.

The Sun promotes her because this paper can no longer do anything of meaning. They have laid off so many people and are lacking talent and risk takers to do so. This is the Tribune's take on Baltimore and she falls in line. This blog is not about Baltimore, it about the graces from corporate so she can have a job.

She has done a ton of harm to this city all in her vain. When has she reported anything positive? There are many things this town has conquered in her time... She just poos on it, and there are few who will call her on it... I do it harshly because it pisses me off! I am sorry to those I have offended.

Now that some real estate markets are rebounding. I would like to see the correlation between neutral to positive media on real estate articles and prices vs. areas that have had constant clobbering from the local media. That is too hard for this paper; it only goes for low hanging fruit… Others do the work they report it.

This is the Chicago Tribune, not a Baltimore Paper BTW.

This is a disingenuous newspaper with loyalties elsewhere.

While the blogs are breaking the stories, it will never make up for a credible local newspaper, unfortunately we don't have it.

This blogger/reporter only gets more negative. It's nasty at the wrong time.

Watch for yourself.

BigDragon: This is a dilemma and the legacy of the 20th century. We as a society made it this way and the politicians, leaders and media continue to exploit it. The best thing we can do as a society is to stop creating boundaries and moving further out because we don't like a race or class. We are populating this planet, this country without reverence to environment or humanity.

You can buy a block in Baltimore tomorrow; I will help along with many others. We have thousands of vacant homes with existing infrastructure. We can be green, forego long commutes, build communities that will benefit all. Many people need positive examples, not just filed away in projects and looked down at like animals.

Utopia is not a gated community in exurbs. Maryland is getting 1M new residents in the next 15 years like it or not. We can cause destruction to our landscape and resources, or we can choose to build communities that benefit all of us. Baltimore City already has the existing infrastructure and housing. It is your choice that matters if the things you mentioned continue.

Dunn,

Please check out the economy and the news sometimes. Sorry to burst your optimistic little bubble, but the state of the economy (globally and nationally) is negative and nasty right now. Your endless rants about Jamie are grating and useless. I really appreciate Jamie's columns and insights, but I don't think she has quite the power and influence that you make her out to have. Jamie isn't responsible for the recent history of irresponsible behavior by America in general (that includes lender, borrowers, realtors, appraisers, etc...). The mere fact that she is now reporting on the after effects of this situation does not make her the terrible person you make her out to be. (In fact, I think she is one of the more optimistic bloggers out there and should actually be more negative/realistic at times.)

You are correct that there are few areas rebounding such as CA and FL due to distressed sales and prices that are significantly dropping due to the nature of the sales. Baltimore (City and surrounding counties) is just seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of price drops that hopefully will occur to bring homes to a more affordable level. I'm stating this as a current TH owner who will buy a SFH once (if) the market is allowed to properly correct; therefore, I'm likely viewing this from a different perspective than you.

I seriously don't know if some of your posts are joke or if you are just a raving lunatic. If you think coming on here and berating Jamie, as you have done as long as I've read this blog, gains you any respect or makes someone "see the light" and buy a house in the city right now, you are a bigger fool than I already think you are.

Jamie,

Thanks for the great blog...keep up the good work. (Although I do live in the suburbs so my opinion is probably irrelevant and I am a part of the evil conspiracy to ruin the city of Baltimore :)