re: #127 b.d. In stoking up resentment, Donald is showing his ignorance. 62% is pretty good these days, considering retirement and the effects of the housing bubble. Retirement? A lot of people are downsizing those old big homes as they retire. A lot of those people who couldn’t afford to buy aren’t, but can now get apartments instead. And some people prefer to rent downtown and save on gas. Not to mention the people who had homes and are still working through those 7 years of bankruptcy and foreclosures still being on a credit record.

I’ve seen it in my own downtown. A lot of old office buildings have become condos-mostly mortgages since the real estate isn’t too bad here. Those buildings, with fine and fancy architecture, high ceilings and luxury entrances are also buildings that no longer needed the space due to technology making the old banks of file cabinets obsolete. They are beautiful and also until they were abandoned, well maintained. Now they have a new life and probably an even longer one as condos.

But I wouldn’t be surprised at there being a lot of rentals as well. The tradeoff is for some people-mobility. I mean work your downtown job and leave the car in the garage except for trips and errands. No yard work needed. Someone else does the maintenance. Work late and walk home instead of a monster commute back to the house. Get off, immediately go out to eat or watch a movie and still get home in time for a good nights sleep. Stay flexible for that job assignment or relocation.

I think the percentage will go up once a huge bulk of the baby boom generation goes into assisted living or dies and leaves the housing to a lot of surprised heirs. I mean there’s more than one way to get a house….