^Agreed. CPS treats its buildings like shit, bulldozes them, and then builds new shit. My school was built in 1897 and is still going strong (minus that pesky little partial collapse in 05...

They must.  My hometown shares its mistakes, but I went to high school in an affluent suburb and they kept their school buildings in immaculate condition.  My high school was constructed shortly after world war II.  It had ceramic glazed block and wooden doors and framing.  All of it still looked incredibly brand new.  Even what we always thought was the asbestos tiled ceiling never had any stains from roof leaks.  Similar mid-century structures located in struggling cities looked they had been neglected for decades length with demolition the only solution.  I guess modernism can only put up with so much.  Yet it's surprising how early century architecture can withstand abuse and even abandonment and continue to remain intact for years.

 

It's interesting I never really thought about architecture of my own schools all that much during those days, yet I would pursue this field in college.  You think I would have been staring more at the building than paying attention to class.  I think I was too busy playing games on my graphing calculator.  Rocked the TI-83 baby!  I know people here at least under the age of 30 used them.  Most durable calculators.  We used to have open campus for lunch, but it was a race downtown to beat everyone else.  This dude jumps out the window from calculus class, sets his stuff up on top his car but forgets it once inside.  Hits the gas and dumps the academic load on the road, calculator included.  A small car runs it over, yet the calculator survived with only a scratch at the corner of the casing.

 

Man does this thread make me ramble.

Yes Texas instrumens makes a mean calculator. I myself have the TI 89 from back when I had a promising future. I've had it seven years and dropped it a billion times. Still works like a charm.

 

Trustafarian hipsters are suffering too  :cry: :cry: :cry:

 

full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/nyregion/08trustafarians.html?ref=your-money

 

Parental Lifelines, Frayed to Breaking

By CHRISTINE HAUGHNEY

Published: June 7, 2009

For the past five years, Ernie DiGiacomo has been able to count on parents to guarantee the $1,500 to $2,500 rents he charges for the 15 apartments he owns in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. When he called renters who had missed payments, he often heard, “My parents will send you a check.”

 

But in the past six months, the parents are pulling back financial help, he said, and as a result, he has watched more renters move out.

 

“Most of them are moving back with parents,” Mr. DiGiacomo said.

 

Luis Illades, an owner of the Urban Rustic Market and Cafe on North 12th Street, said he had seen a steady number of applicants, in their late 20s, who had never held paid jobs: They were interns at a modeling agency, for example, or worked at a college radio station. In some cases, applicants have stormed out of the market after hearing the job requirements.

 

“They say, ‘You want me to work eight hours?’ ” Mr. Illades said. “There is a bubble bursting.”

 

Famed for its concentration of heavily subsidized 20-something residents — also nicknamed trust-funders or trustafarians — Williamsburg is showing signs of trouble. Parents whose money helped fuel one of the city’s most radical gentrifications in recent years have stopped buying their children new luxury condos, subsidizing rents and providing cash to spend at Bedford Avenue’s boutiques and coffee houses.

 

 

^ hahahahahaha!  hahahahahaha!  Welcome to life, kiddies.

Holy crap people give their kids a lot of money!

Holy crap people give their kids a lot of money!

my favorite part was that some of them had monthly investment incomes bet. 3K to 10K!

I've been waiting for an excuse to link to this:

 

http://www.latfh.com

 

 

Also, I can claim to have made the acquaintance of someone and visited their Williamsburg loft apartment way before the hipster takeover.  On a summer college trip we visited this guy, who lived on about the fifth floor of a warehouse right next to the Williamsburg Bridge, where he claimed he rented an entire unfinished floor for $600/mo.  I remember the shipping container where he shot this underwater film was discarded on an adjacent empty lot that was probably worth millions by 2003:

 

http://www.reynold-reynolds.com/pages/drowningroom.htm

 

 

 

To the grumpy over 30 crowd:

 

Your spoiled as well.. There are many new things that help you...

 

the " I've fallen and I cant get up" thing that came out in the 80s. 

 

Viagra... it helps u get ur 2 minutes of fame..

 

Sham wow.... so after u (cuz u can't get up to go to the toilet) wet all over urself u can clean it up fast...

 

Mp3s... so you can collect all ur wayne newton and jim neighbors tunes on one little machine without changing records...

 

See we under 30 peeps or not the only ones spoiled... so sit back in ur lounge chair with ur leisure suit on and pop a viagra and watch ur 1970s aunt bee porn...

^Actually, we're going to be the least spoiled generation since the Great Depression. Things are heading to an even worse reduction in standard of living.

 

We still have yet to feel the brunt of the commercial real estate collapse and the half a trillion dollars in unpaid student loans!!!! This is going to be one hell of a collapse for America. Our dollar will be worth less than toilet paper in a year. BTW, speaking of good investments...

The Optimist sees the glass as half full, The Pessimist sees the glass as half empty, You seem like the kind of person that sees the glass as a swimming pool for the bacteria that you just knows are in there waiting for you.

America, (I assume you mean the United States) has survived worse economic times.  If we can resist the temptation to become a socialistic state, we will be just fine.

But that's what us young'uns do!  We tempt you into becoming a socialistic state.  Don't worry, you always win. 

 

  The United States is ALREADY a socialistic state.

 

  We are just less socialistic than some other socialistic states, such as France.

And to put that scolding into perspective, C-dawg, it was told to you by a guy named "Grumpy"!

 

  The United States is ALREADY a socialistic state.

 

  We are just less socialistic than some other socialistic states, such as France.

 

But less capitalistic than some communist countries....

 

http://www.entrancechina.org/news.php?id=86406

 

Guangxi attracts private funding for highway expansion

 

May 11, 2009  Source:cctv.com 

 

China's southwestern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has been attracting private funding to finance its highway construction. The measure has helped the budget-short local government speed up the expansion of its highway network in the mountainous region.

 

High speed motorways are of great importance to the development of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The mountainous area depends heavily on highways for transportation and communication with other parts of the country as well as bordering southeast Asian neighbors. The region is now building 14 highways with a combined length of around 1500 kilometers.

 

Such scale of construction is not something the cash-strapped local government can afford. Authorities have decided to break its monopoly on the road construction business.

 

Li Xiaolin, Chief Engineer of Transportation Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region said "It's not good for the government to invest, construct and manage the highways all by itself. We had to introduce other players."

 

The regional government allowed the establishment of two transportation construction companies to participate in the investment of highway projects.

 

Wei Yongqiu, MD of Guangxi Transportation Investment Group said "We use highways as a resource to attract investors and cooperators, so all kinds of social funding can help us build highways."

 

China allows road investors to collect tolls as their pay-back. Guangxi has transferred the toll collection rights of 11 highways worth tens of billions of yuan in return for the investment. Earlier this year, 6 commercial banks also decided to participate in the business and provided 55 billion yuan for road construction. This has been an immense help for the 14 new highways in the region that received sufficient funding and started construction this year. 

"Denial":  it's not just a river in Egypt.

 

(In anticipation of smart asses.... Yes, I know the Nile and its tributaries also flow though Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Zaire, Kenya, Tanzanian, Rwanda and Burundi.)  :-D

And to put that scolding into perspective, C-dawg, it was told to you by a guy named "Grumpy"!

For a guy named grumpy to call you a little overly pessimistic isn't that bad. For a guy named Chicken Little to call you overly pessimistic would be a real insult.

 

Just because I have a poor disposition toward people doesn't mean I expect the worst to happen in life. It just means that I don't like it when it does happen.

^pessimists are rarely disappointed.

 

For the first time in my life my debts (car payments, visa, old student loans) are worth less than my assets (401k, bank accounts).

 

Any advice on what to do now from the wize elders on here? I'm thinking the next step is to buy a reasonably priced lakewood-style double home and rent out half. Anyone think thats a bad idea?

I suggest a jacuzzi and a cruise.

And to put that scolding into perspective, C-dawg, it was told to you by a guy named "Grumpy"!

 

In 1930, no one called it a depression. We lived in denial back then, we live in denial today. Trust me, I wish I was wrong. My generation is feeling the full force of this. None of us want it to happen.

 

C-Dawg, try being 60 years old, losing half of your 401K within a year or two of PLANNING on retirement after just finishing sending 3 kids through college.  My point, every generation is suffering.  From what I can tell, you don't have any kids.  Don't sweat it, you just have yourself to take care of.  You have many years for the market to turn around.  You will get your college loans paid off and you will get a job.  Think, you could be married with kids and a mortgage and car payments, insurances for health, dental for a whole family, and lose your job.  It's tough for everyone.

^pessimists are rarely disappointed.

 

For the first time in my life my debts (car payments, visa, old student loans) are worth less than my assets (401k, bank accounts).

 

Any advice on what to do now from the wize elders on here? I'm thinking the next step is to buy a reasonably priced lakewood-style double home and rent out half. Anyone think thats a bad idea?

 

Yes continue to pay down your debts. If I was a bank and you came to me with your assets barely larger than your liabilities, I wouldn't loan you a dime.

^True, I don't have kids. And I don't have college loans. Just medical debts to pay off since I don't get any coverage with my jobs, and I've already made a dent in them. It is brutal in Ohio right now.

 

It is brutal here, but that goes for everywhere.  At your age, stay in Ohio unless something remarkable takes you out of Ohio.  Trust me, this is a great state to get going with your working career and adult life.