David Ian's Home

Choice Neighborhoods: Improving Housing and Lives

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Choice Neighborhoods: Improving Housing and Lives.

An interesting article on a comprehensive approach to affordable housing and the related issue of community development.

 

Our Housing Options Task Force in Chester County, Pennsylvania, takes a similar approach in seeking real action to achieve the housing needs of the area.

 

The large number and a wide array of organizations assembled to form the task force - profit and nonprofit, private and public - highlights both the great amount of resources available, and the challenge in coordinating their efforts to produce results.

 

We have found that progress depends on a broader and deeper understanding of the very term, "affordable housing", to mean the ability of people - virtually everyone living or working in the area, now or a some point in their lives - to afford their home - the home they are living in or the one they need.

 

This in turn leads to an assessment of exactly what those needs are for a Healthy Home Life - for individual and the community as a whole. 

Obama Administration Releases February Housing Scorecard

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Obama Administration Releases February Housing Scorecard.

This update of the Housing Scorecard gives the national picture.  It shows mixed signs of recovery of a still very fragile market.

 

Locally, in the Delaware Valley of the Philadelphia suburbs, while there are some signs of improvement, and the overall numbers on affordability are moving in the right direction, there are still major gaps in "Real Home Opportunity".

 

Our Housing Options Task force in Chester County is focusing on this, and is working to find solutions to the obstacles to the related underlying needs -  for quality and healthy home life  - and positive community development through smart growth.  

Pennsylvanina Housing Finance Agency (PHFA)

Pennsylvanina Housing Finance Agency (PHFA).

Check out this excellent resource!

The articles by the Housing Wire and the National Housing Conference offer the latest updates on what's happening with Housing.  

Key in all of this is affordability - and not just mortgage qualification.  The larger issue is "Real Affordability" - or the overall, very realistic "Total Home Affordability".  

Many of the measures of affordability use qualification ratios ranging from 30% for normal to 50% for a severe cost burden, but when real lifestyle cost are taken into account, a healthy cost burden may actually be much less.

West Chester, PA - Worthy Cause Happening - Support Communities That Care at The Stadium Grille!

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Here's the info on a definite worthy cause happening in West Chester, Pennsylvania - support Communities That Care and the Youth Leadership Council - and have a great time at the Stadium Grille!:

Come out to the Stadium Grille of West Chester On Wednesday, August 11th, anytime from 11 AM- 10 PM and have a meal to support West Chester Area CTC’s Youth Leadership Council!   (Stadium Grille of W.C., 104 Turner Ln.)

** Mention “YLC” at the door!**

 

Special Family Time: Our Costa Rican Zip Line Adventure

Our family just finished a very special time together on a great vacation in Costa Rica. 

 

Our daughter graduated from college in early May, and we enjoyed having extra time with her for a few weeks before she started working in the “real world”. 

 

The wind-up to that time was this fabulous vacation. 

For all of you with younger children, it is definitely possible, and certainly fantastic to spend good times together right on into adulthood. 

We have had many wonderful family vacations and gatherings over the years – most of them extended family, including the grandparents (for eighteen years in a row, we all went, three generations of us, for a full week to Cape May as the kids were growing, but that’s for another post). 

 

We have continued to enjoy memorable times together as the kids have progressed thru the college years and beyond.  I’ll add more on this special family time in upcoming posts, but for now, I just want to highlight the best adventure we had in Costa Rica – the Zip Line.  

It began with us riding ATV’s for a good hour – along the Pacific coast beach, through a small village called Flamingo, and up into hills. 

 

The zip-line location was called the Congo line, apply named for the true rainforest environment we found ourselves in, and the many forms of wildlife – including monkeys!

Our adventure involved “zipping” along a total of eleven lines – metal cables running from one tree to another, with small metal landings at the start and finish of each line.  We were literally at the top of the rainforest canopy, with drop-offs and views that really took your breath away.

 

   

The longest line was about a football field in length, but we began with a few much shorter ones as we learned the technique. 

 

We were each fitted with a harness, including a strap was hooked to a pulley on the “line” as we began each run.  A guide would get us in position; advise us to use one gloved hand to hold that strap, with the other hand in position over the metal line to use as a break when needed. 

 

Once positioned correctly, the guide would simply let go of us and gravity did the rest.  Zip is certainly the correct word, because each line angled downwards from start to ending, we really did pick up a lot a speed fast.

After a couple runs like that, we came to some longer ones, and one of the guides then asked who would like to go upside down – that is, forget all about this proper procedure we were just taught, and just hang from your feet with no use of your  hands at all. 

 

They would only allow two at a time to go upside down – extra guides were positioned to make sure we didn’t kill ourselves.  Our son and daughter stepped right up to be the first to do this, and my wife and followed immediately after on the next run. 

What a thrill – you really are up high in the canopy, you get going super fast – just let go!!!!  Any inhibitions you had going in are certainly gone. 

 

 

 

For the same Brant family that jumped off a cliff together in Jamaica a few years ago, it was another proud and crazy accomplishment!

New Moon – Continuing Our New, Strange, Thanksgiving “Tradition” with the Twilight Saga

 

I find myself racing, once again as Thanksgiving approaches, to finish a book in the Twilight series in time to see the newly released movie with my daughter when she is home for Thanksgiving.  A year ago at this time, I was in a similar state - just finishing the predecessor book, “Twilight”. 

 

What is it with the popularity of these teenage love stories about vampires, and now, with New Moon, werewolves?  I realize I’m a whole book behind, as the third book, Eclipse, was published earlier this year, but clearly one of the top priorities for our family this Thanksgiving, besides eating turkey and watching football, will be for us to see the movie that has just been released. 

 

Enjoying the Twilight stories is sort of a guilty pleasure.  I like to read a variety of subjects – history, fantasy, mystery, detective, but I must admit, every once in a while I include a good vampire book.  They are hard to justify other that they are just a lot of fun to read, and in this case, then go see the movie.

 

Traditional Thanksgiving fare it is not, but since this wonderful holiday is all about gathering with family and friends and taking time to remember all we have to be thankful for, any activity that includes having fun with my family, even if it is going to see a ghoulish hit movie about vampires and werewolves - just having that fun-time together is indeed a lot to be thankful for.

San Diego

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I'm back front a great visit to San Diego for the NAR Conference.  It was a busy week, with a Habitat build one day, many updates on the economy and legislative issues, and the meeting of my Housing Opportunity committee.

 

My wife and I were able to enjoy some of the sights of this beautiful city, including a great tour of the USS Midway, a visit to the San Diego Zoo, a ride on the Old Town Trolley, and lots fun and good dining along the waterfront and in the Gaslight District.

 

You could spend much of the day on the Midway, it is so huge.  A highlight was listening to a retired pilot, standing next to one of the planes on the flight deck, describing the tension and excitement of trying to land one of them, with extreme precision, on a constantly moving ship.

 

At the conference, we got to hear a wonderful presentation by Condoleezza Rice.  Whether you agree with her politics or not, it was impressive to hear such a thoughtful understanding of what happening in the nation and world.

 

The Habitat build was very rewarding, as usual.  I've had the chance to do them the last two years in New Orleans, for a week each time, and I would highly recommend getting involved in this worthy cause. 

 

As an architect, I particularly love the chance to do some "hands on" construction.  But you don't have to have such knowledge or experience - just a willingness to help and to work hard.  The best part is seeing the families who will be living in the homes - it's such an emotional time for them.

 

My only complaint about San Diego is the weather - it is just too perfect.  Don't the natives get tired of constantly comfortable temperatures, soft breezes and sunshine - all with views of palm trees and the beautiful harbor?!

 

Housing Opportunity – An Interesting Week Ahead Facing this Challenge

I am heading to San Diego this week for NAR’s annual convention and conference, and am particularly looking forward to attending the meetings of the Housing Opportunity Committee, on which I serve.

 

Now, you may have trouble reconciling the image of a group of fun-loving group convention-goers having serious discussions about how to help people afford their homes.  However, having attended these semi-annual meetings for the past couple of years (we also meet in DC each spring – just the committee meetings without the convention) I can strongly testify that those serving in this cause – both on the national committee, and in the corresponding efforts in their local communities – are extremely passionate and dedicated to this worthy cause.

 

The issue of affordability is central to many of the challenges facing our nation these days.  The question of whether we can afford our homes, our health care, and so many other things are being debated at all levels.  It’s clear that we have stretched “traditional” measures of affordability of housing over the years. 

 

The old “rules of thumb” – the 28% and 36% debt ratios, the very conservative estimates of income, value, etc. – were stretched and broken, contributing greatly to the current economic crisis.  Contributing also are larger, more global factors.  By applying those traditional measures of basic affordability to whole geographic areas and regions, it is clear that a larger problem of affordability has been developing for some time – many people, holding available “decent” jobs, can’t afford “decent” housing anywhere near those jobs.

 

I realize that what is decent in terms of a home, employment, a life-style, is very subjective, and many of the factors involved are very complex.  All of that makes it very difficult to agree on a solution, or even on reasons for and nature of the problem itself, but it should be clear by now that real solutions are badly needed.  I’ll provide updates this week on how we dealing this particular aspect of the challenge.

 

 

A Glorious Dilemma – Halloween plus the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series!!!

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For those of us in the Philadelphia area, today presents a wonderful combination of exciting happenings.  Just running errands this morning, there were few people who weren’t wearing Phillies gear or were already decked out in some form of Halloween garb, or both (which included me – a Phillies hat plus a bright orange running shirt).

 

I was set to write about housing affordability issues today, as I get ready to attend the Housing Opportunity Committee meetings, on which I serve, in a couple of weeks at the National Association of Realtors conference & convention.  Or possibility another Cape May story, many of which are appropriate to this time of year – such as last year when we (my wife and I) stayed at the Craig House Bed & Breakfast, which was all decked out for Halloween with a gigantic spider on their front porch.

 

But, frankly with all the excited people out and about today, all ready to combine “Trick or Treat” with “Go Phillies”, those other topics can wait.  The big treat for Phillies fans on this Halloween would for them to put together a big win over the New York Yankees tonight.

 

Happy Halloween – Boo – Go Phillies!!!!!!

Cape May Stories - Beautiful Times with Family and Friends

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I’ve been enjoying beautiful Cape May with family and friends since I was too little to remember.  Great beach vacations, bed & breakfast getaways - even one camping trip.  The most recent was just a week ago - a wonderful gathering of long time friends. 

When our children were growing, we went for 18 years in a row in the summers – grandparents, us and the kids – we’d take over the first floor of a great Victorian house, and spend a full week together with no agenda other than spending everyday on the beach and enjoying each others’ company.

There are so many stories from all of those good times – climbing the lighthouse, watching the All-Star Game with my Dad and the Best Man from our wedding, a million priceless moments with the kids -  but at this time of year, with Halloween fast approaching, October trips, like the one last week come to mind.

I’ll share several over the next week, leading up to All Hallows Eve.