Photo from NYT Local artist Michelle de la Vega's $32,000 remodel of an old detached garage snagged some press from The New York Times this week, which lauded her salvage-oriented conversion of an aging garage into a 250-square foot mini-home. We couldn't reach her for comment today, but wanted to call more attention to her salvage-centric remodel and revival of an otherwise-decaying space (something we here at PubliCola are hot on lately.) According to the NYT, de la Vega's renovated garage was once an uninhabitable outbuilding that accompanied the single-family home she'd purchased in the Top Hat area of South Seattle for $208,000. She turned herself into a contractor and renovated the works herself, complete with plenty of trips to Boeing Surplus (R.I.P.!) and Second Use and a fateful run-in with a musician contractor who's now her husband. In a city where real estate values have stretched beyond reach for many creative and lower-income workers, it's easy to forget that people do get creative with how they choose to live and sometimes even use real estate as a means to subsidizing a creative end, rather than an end unto itself. De la Vega, a Cornish College grad who is a visual artist and dancer, as well as welder, used her home as a rental for a time while living in the cottage. This nerd personally knows another Cornish College grad, a jazz musician, who bought a home in South Seattle and renovated its detached garage as a rental. She now rents out both garage and house while she tours out of Brooklyn. While extensive remodels aren't for everyone, de la Vega and others who put their all into it are inspirations to anyone mulling whether they can wedge more space onto their lots courtesy of local backyard cottage legislation. Maybe a new spouse, welding lessons, and a bunch of reclaimed stuff won't fit into the picture, as was the case for de la Vega, but damn that little house is cute.
According to MSNBC and Moody’s today, 23 of 381 cities are experiencing a “moderating” recession, which means their economies are contracting at a much slower rate than the previous six months. Does this mean that Obama’s recovery plans are working and we may soon move to full recovery mode? Not so fast. Existing problems remain around housing and credit problems—so many of these cities may loom in “moderating” recession mode for some time. Those folks who track these economic thingies seem to think Texas cities are in the best shape to pull out of recession and move into recovery fastest. Well, great. George W. Bush put us into this mess and his home state is the first to pull out of it. That seems fair.
The only place in the country not officially in recession: Bismarck, North Dakota.
This may be one more splinter of good news for an otherwise mixed economic news month for the Obama team. Not only are his polling numbers dipping to a (gasp) low level of 57%, the unemployment rate has topped 10% in 15 states. Additionally, many “shovel-ready” projects are not, in fact, ready because of the red tape bottlenecking them and delaying the creation of new jobs. And although the job-shedding numbers seem to be slowing, the rising unemployment rates spell trouble for the upcoming re-election prospects of Democratic Governors (looking at you, Michigan!)—those Governors most likely to tout the positive impacts of stimulus money.
On the plus side, some good news that the O-team can pimp around: Home construction permits rose in June, a sign that the housing market may be turning around and key indicator of recovery. Also, the Dow rose 7.3% this week, as a result of some of this good economic news. Some companies, particularly Citgroup, posted some surprising profits. I am not sure what all this means where the rubber hits the road, but I do think good news begets more good news.
Recession fun fact: The state with the lowest unemployment numbers: North Dakota at a stunning 4.2%. Pack up your covered wagons y’all! It’s time to hoof it to that gold rush state of North Dakota. Yee-haw!
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