From good times to bad times

[n2doc]

By John Keilman, Tribune reporter
September 25, 2011

Bob Baschoff used to work for a bank, commanding a corner office and a six-figure salary that allowed his family to enjoy a comfortable life in the wealthy lakefront village of Lake Bluff.

All of that is gone now.

Baschoff was laid off during the financial crisis of 2008 and hasn't found steady work since. The family lost one home to foreclosure and was evicted from two rentals. Though they're still in Lake Bluff — a relative is paying the rent on a modest ranch house — they must rely heavily on charity and the government for food, health care and other necessities.

"When I'm around the parents of my kids' friends or teammates, every guy I look at, it's like, 'I wonder what he does? What does he make? Why can't I do it?'" said Baschoff, 56, a barrel-chested, bespectacled man whose sandpaper voice betrays his South Jersey roots. "I feel so out of place. I feel like a misfit."

Though the recession has been hardest on low-income Americans, it has struck some of the Chicago area's most affluent ZIP codes. From the North Shore to Naperville, tales abound of formerly well-off families that have been tossed into an economic tailspin.

more

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-new-poor-20110925,0,7930927.story

[yardwork]

1. Sad. I hope that he votes for Democrats.

[virgogal]

2. A house worth only $300,000 in NJ in 2008?. Weird. God help the

guy,his age is against him.

I wish him well.

[n2doc]

3. kick n/t