This town, is coming like a ghost town
Why must the youth fight against themselves?
Government leaving the youth on the shelf
This place, is coming like a ghost town
No job to be found in this country
Can't go on no more
The people getting angry

This town, is coming like a ghost town

I don't know what goes through my head.
Things in this world make me see red.
But I don't want to spend all day in bed.
I want to live in my shed.

'No I'm only hanging round here
until grad school he swore'
Oh he's lived all over this town,
he's worked in every store
There must be something in the water here,
There must be something in the beer...

um. . . i haven't got any catchy lyrics... and, though I am sure one of the options would actually included my neighborhood type, i couldn't really tell which (some were very clear, but others left me confused).

i live in a rented, single family house in a neighborhood of houses and apartments, surrounded by city. :D

"We're rocking the suburbs
Around the block just one more time
We're rocking the suburbs
Cause I can't tell which house is mine
We're rocking the suburbs
We part the shades and face the facts
They got better looking Fescue
Right across the cul de sac"

Are you folks really surprised? Come on. Seriously. . .

Do you realize how expensive it is just to buy condos in the city? I mean. .it's ridiculously expensive.

I mean. . I would absolutely love to live in the city if I could. Give me my 2 bedroom 2 bathroom anytime! . . . but sweet Jesus .. . theres a spot. . barely 10 miles north of the downtown Seattle, we have a new development around the area called "Greenlake" . . the condos start at 899K. If you go over to Bellevue (about 15 miles east of downtown Seattle) it's about 1.2 million

Now can you imagine what it costs just to live in downtown Seattle? . . one bedroom. . studio . . starts at around 900k -1.5 million range . .

Now. . I'm all for sustainability living. . but I'm not going to live "paycheck to paycheck" blowing my wad just to make a point of living in the city. Wait, I don't even think I even qualify for a 1.5 million loan. . even though my salary is considered enough for 2 incomes here in America.

Suburban living is much cheaper. Not to mention the HOA fee of those condos start around 200-400 bux a month .

Sad huh? Condo living is just too damn expensive.

What can we do to bring down the cost of condos to make it affordable without ruining the property value?

she lives in a little house
On the side of a little hill
Picks the litter from the ground
Litter little brother spills

Gonna buy me a condo
Gonna buy me a Cuisinart
Get a wall-to-wall carpeting
Get a wallet full 'o credit cards
I gonna buy me a condo, never have to mow de lawn
I gonna get me da T-shirt wit' de alligator on

(A Weird Al original)

Unpacking the bags and settin' up
planting lilacs and buttercups

But in the meantime I've got it hard,
second floor living without a yard.
It may be years until the day
my dreams will match up with my pay.

I mean. . I would absolutely love to live in the city if I could. Give me my 2 bedroom 2 bathroom anytime! . . . but sweet Jesus .. . theres a spot. . barely 10 miles north of the downtown Seattle, we have a new development around the area called "Greenlake" . . the condos start at 899K. If you go over to Bellevue (about 15 miles east of downtown Seattle) it's about 1.2 million

There's a 2,000 square foot 4 bedroom, 2 bath townhouse on my block that's going for $229,000, and another going for $154,000

Of course, they're in Lancaster, PA.

All around
I see the purple shades of evening
And on the ground
The shadows fall and once again you're in my arms
So tenderly

The sidewalks in the street
The concrete and the clay beneath my feet
Begins to crumble
But love will never die
Because we'll see the mountains tumble
Before we say goodbye

Guess the City. It has lots of songs that name it, but that seemed to obvious.

But, I grew up right here:
http://www.jilldaniels.com/jerusalem.htm

William,

I think there are several faults with your post. First off the survey is about where you live and not where you own a home. Although it might be implied that ownership is involved that really has nothing to do with the survey.

Secondly, I think your sales figures are pretty misleading. Yes it can be expensive to buy a home in the Seattle area, but the figures you quote are not average figures. Also the areas that you provide in your examples are misleading. Greenlake is a popular and much sought after area. While condo's might be more expensive there they are not a fair example. Also I think you blow the studio apartment figures up a bit with your 900k-1.5 million figure. I am sure these places exist, but there are less expensive options do exist.

Also, you ignore the areas immediately outside of Seattle proper. I live 15 blocks north of the Seattle city line and am selling my 3 bdrm 1bath house with a huge yard for around $300k.

So in other words, quit blowing things out of proportion and quit complaining.

As for me I am moving to the "city" of Olympia.

Since most live in cities, I think the next logical question is, how big is the city you live in.

I live in Racine, WI, a small city of 81,000. My experience is vastly different than someone living in Chicago, New York, Huston, etc. I think it would be interesting to see the demographics broken down that way.

I'm from Seattle, too. We gave up and bought up in Lynnwood and we both bus into the city (me to Seattle, partner to Bellevue). The city was completely out of our price range. The culture shock still gets me sometimes, but we're getting a great community of our bus friends and neighbors up here and it's getting better and better. Pluss the 1/4 acre lawn I'm ripping out this weekend for a huge vegie/native garden is a serious bonus.

I too live in Seattle, actually in the area mentioned above- Greenlake. I absolutely agree that prices are ridiculous, but I also have to say that those numbers given are the high high end. I love 4 blocks from the lake and in our neighborhood there are a bunch of houses for sale in the 400-500K range.

I'm not saying that those are "affordable", but I think it's misleading to say that condos "start" at 899K when there are plenty of 2 to 5 bedroom houses on the marked for half of that...

"Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky-tacky" cheapest at $800K, being eaten by termites - but it's in Santa B!

We live in the city of dreams
We drive on the highway of fire
Should we awake
And find it gone
Remember this, our favorite town

You cant hide
In suburbia