As impressive as job growth is in Las Vegas, though, people are losing their homes at a rapid rate. Nevada recently reported one foreclosure filing for every 152 households, the highest rate in the nation for the 11th straight month.It reminds Polk of the economic decline in Flint, although she knows Southern Nevada's gaming industry isn't going anywhere.
"It doesn't seem right to live in a city where your main industry is setting record profits and so many people are losing homes," she says.
"I hate to see so many vacant homes. I know those people who lost those homes are hurting."
Monday, January 21, 2008
Viva Las Vegas
The Las Vegas Review Journal has an article on the mortgage foreclosure crisis that features Flint expatriate Pat Polk, who has discovered, once again, that a successful local industry doesn't ensure prosperity for all:
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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.
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vegas is getting bad, everyone bought homes when they could get subprime mortgages and now they can't sell them. they were almost giving homes away. it's even worse when you figure in how many homes are owned by people out of state. now we have families renting nice places and knowing that they will never be able to afford to buy their own homes and they don't have rent control protection. they are basically stuck in a lifestyle they can only ever afford to rent, while similar houses on their street sit with no buyers. my dad was recently told by a real estate friend that our house is worth 240k or so (or at least is tax assessed as such) and to even hope for an offer right now we'd have to list it at 200. zoiks.
ReplyDeleteAnd think what will happen in Vegas when the water runs out in 15 years.
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