I've never visited Slate.com to read an article. Perhaps I've read an article or two forwarded to me in the distant past, but a couple days ago I thought, why not, they're supposed to have interesting reads...
So I just read this article about Flint, Michigan in Slate. It's apparently a dilapidated, crime-ridden town with few job prospects, but that aside the San Francisco transplant who writes the article drops some values on the homes out there, it's really surprising!
The SF housing bubble is ridiculous. The slate article (below) relates that a perfectly good 1000 sq ft house near a university campus went for 7 grand in a short sale recently. WTF. Aside from all the quality of life factors, housing bubble dynamics, robustness of local industries, etc. just compare that number for a second to the $2750 you could be paying for a recently renovated sub 800 sq ft'er 2 bedroom in Mission Dolores. Less than 3 months of rent for that bigger house in flint, it just blows my mind. I mean the author here talks of crack dens, etc. plaguing some of these Flint neibhorhoods with really low housing prices... it's not like people don't regularly get shot just a few blocks away from the ivory tower mission dolores neighbhorhood. I'm thinking below 16th and Mission... and that doesn't include all the dealing that goes down just at Albion and 16th... ah, but the grungy hipster entrepreneurial lifestyle!
The Slate Article About Flint by Gordon Young
SF Murders - A great interactive feature
I count roughly 10 murders alone near my old Mission Dolores pad, they occured between 07-08.
Gordon Young, the Slate article that inspired this post also has a blog, I've included a link here to his Flint murder map... I love how they call themselves Flint expatriates... maybe they should be known as refugees...
Maybe someone can write a robust post on the concept of Murder Maps...
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1 comment:
Interesting!
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