Lol. Let me know if they ever stop working on I 35. We've been here 16 years. Seems there is always a major project on 35 between FTW and Austin.
LS Ayers, Hudson's, Builders Square, Furrow Lumber, Western Auto, Fleener's Auto Parts. Most Ben Franklin stores (5&10 chain). Burger Chef.
Because we like to talk.
Good enoughBecause we like to talk.
Plus how else do you accumulate nearly 50K posts?Because we like to talk.
Not necessarily a bad thing. Needs change over time, look at the amount of office space that's no longer needed in today's remote working environment. Likewise for manufacturing plants, mills, etc. The needs of today don't always jibe with even 50 years ago, and a lot of these old facilities don't lend themselves easily to repurposing.
Seems like a large percentage have been going along willingly, taking on more debt to live a lifestyle that's beyond their means. No one "needs" a new luxury SUV, $1000 I-phone for every household member, a 55" tv, a 3000+ s/f house, etc. The same "working class" who got greedy and priced themselves out of a job while scoffing up low priced imported goods. Yeah, the corporations, the 1%, et al get the bad rap, but there's plenty of blame to go around.
The demise of Burger Chef may be the biggest American tragedy in all of history. I used to love that place.
Try shopping for commercial real estate in Austin or Dallas. The exodus of people and businesses from California and similar states has created a boom with demand and prices at all time highs. The amount of growth is staggering.
7 post a day for 20 years
Since the Good Post button showed up, the count will go down, as a lot of those were "Nice job", "I agree" and things like that.
Jaw Jack'n...
I like to use gasoline and McDonald's meal as a measure compared to minimum wage/median hourly wage. I remember being able to buy a regular cheese burger, frie and coke for 99 cents in 1980, gas was about 1$. I think min wage was about 2.85, don't know median income.
I think my 60" tv was cheaper in actual dollars than my 27" twenty five years ago, not even taking inflation into consideration. Just sayin...
From what I've observed the necessary things are becoming more expensive for the wage earner, particularly housing. Gasoline has stayed about the same. In 1970 I could buy 10 gallons for an hours wage (union job) and now, I can still buy 10 gallons of gas for an hours wage, or I could before January of this year. My 19" color TV cost $425 in 1972, my 43" TV for the den is 4k and cost $275. Housing and land are where we are really losing ground, but that has a lot to do with supply and demand. There are a lot more people so demand is up, they aren't making any more land so the supply is about the same resulting in sometimes ridiculous prices for a single family home.
Remember McDonalds' ad campaign around that time where they made a big deal how you got change from a dollar?
Electronics are definitely something that's come WAAAY down in price over the years. When I was 13 in 1963 I bought my first transistor radio. It was $19.99. That translates to ~$180 in today's money. Lot of money for a cheapie made-in-Japan radio that was only AM!
Some of that difference though is what people are buying these days. When I bought my first house in 1976, it was definitely a fixer-upper, as were the houses most of my friends bought for their first homes too. 2 bedrooms, one (very small) bathroom, dirt-floor basement and only around 1000 s/f. Today's homebuyers want something considerably larger, better equipped and move-in ready. So not a totally fair comparison.
My dad bought our home in the 1940s for $3500. According to the inflation calculator I have on my phone, that $3500 in 1948 would be worth about $35,000 in todays money, his income at that time translates to $18.75 per hour today. . When my dad died in 1991 we sold it as is needing a new roof, new heat and some physical repairs for $75,000, that translates to $139,000 now. Redfin estimates this same 1127 sq ft home at $570,000. Granted after we sold it the new owner put considerable time and effort into the home, probably adding 50-75% to the value but the square footage is the same. My dad bought the home on a ten year mortgage, you couldn't do that today. With a 20% down 2% interest a ten year mortgage would be about $4200 a month not counting any escrow payments. . There is an apples to apples comparison rather than just speculation.