Nevada's Economic Misery May Be America's Future

[marmar]

from HuffPost:



So many homes in Las Vegas have been foreclosed upon that banks rarely bother to hang a "For Sale" sign on the front lawn anymore. Instead, visitors identify bank-owned properties by the brown grass and the 8.5 x 11-inch sheet of paper taped to the front door or the garage.

On a cul-de-sac in the once-pleasant neighborhood of Silverado Ranch, Larry Wood is the last remaining resident. Two of the four homes are in foreclosure and a third is a "party rental" only occupied by rowdy tourists on weekends. One of his neighbors made a few bucks before abandoning the home, he says. "They sold all the palm trees and just walked away from it," says Wood, sporting a "Freedom Isn't Free" T-shirt. "It's a great neighborhood. I guess that people weren't financially set up to get through the crash."

Wood takes little comfort in being the last resident. "Sometimes it's scary. There's a possibility someone would try to rob me and I wouldn't have any neighbors to help me," he says, recounting a previous attempted intrusion when his then-neighbor called to warn him not to answer the door because there was a group of thugs knocking. Armed and ready, he huddled near the door but the gang gave up and left.

Walking away is becoming a habit among law-abiding residents too. It's hard to find a home bought before 2009 that isn't underwater and very few landlords, when running credit checks, look for foreclosures or short-sales on a tenant's record. Otherwise, a manager couldn't fill a building. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/27/nevadas-economic-misery-m_n_661043.html

[FiveGoodMen]

1. The money hasn't disappeared

We need to take it back from those who stole it (however legal the theft may have been on paper).

[izquierdista]

2. What a laugh at the end!

Someone needs to sit Barry down and tell him "You are brain-dead stupid. Only Sharron Angle would spend $39 to buy your product, and that's only because she is too stupid to know it can be replaced by a box of baking soda from the dollar store."

[sandnsea]

3. What exactly does that mean n/t

[izquierdista]

5. Barry from Chloride is a dipshit

No, being unemployed is better than trying to sell overpriced fire extinguishers door to door in 115 degree heat. Probably wants people to waste their money on gas and only pay them on commission, too. But he got that RW talking point down well.

[sandnsea]

7. Oh okay

I actually didn't click and read, shame on me. That is funny, although I do think having a fire extinguisher in the house is a good idea, since my house burned down and all. Afterwards, my husband sold little cans of mace spray door to door, because he couldn't work at a job and had no unemployment to collect. You do have to be a little desperate to do that kind of work, no doubt. You have to wonder if Barry isn't the writer's PITA brother-in-law which is why he got the plug, maybe to get him the hell out of the garage.

[L0oniX]

4. Hmmm ...a state supported by those who gamble is like the rest of the country?

Guess I don't get it.

[enlightenment]

6. Congratulations on being the first to drag out the

standard stereotype of Nevadans.