isabellesalvadori

Back to the future

In the wake of the real estate boom, some housing markets are now fragile and vulnerable to higher interest rates. Growth in the second quarter was way down with continued moderate yet more sustainable growth. We are in a slower employment growth phase as well. Unemployment is now at 4.6 % and moving upward. The two main factors for the slow down are both consumer spending and housing giving way. Most serious signals are from our Builders association surveys which are more accurate than the Department of Commerce numbers. The completed surveys are of 30 very large companies that represent a full 25% of homes constructed. Building cancellations are running at about 7%, which is double this time last year. New contracts are also down dramatically. Speculators are out of the market and are reselling homes, thus adding to increasing inventories. The housing market is really cooling down.

The market may be softening, but there are still new buyers. According to the NAR (National Association of Realtors), 37 % of first-time homebuyers reported that they had paid for their down payments in part or in whole with a gift, loan or inheritance from a family member or friend. And about 50 % of first-time homebuyers took out zero-down-payment loans.

Support to the economy provided by large capital gains on housing and associated stimulus to personal consumption expenditures undoubtedly will wane as time passes, but this shift will not be abrupt; indeed, equity in owner-occupied housing displayed solid growth in the first quarter despite the slowdown in price appreciation and ongoing borrowing against housing equity.
Forecast is that housing starts will be off 8% this year and another 5% next year, down to 2003 - 2004 levels, which is not bad in and of itself. 2008 may be the year that housing and the overall economy start to firm up again. 2007 starts will be at below sustainable levels. There is a good chance that this will be a mid-cycle slowdown rather than the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. If so, the upcoming slowdown will be followed rather quickly by another strong market.

Dates to remember for the tree planting

Thank you again for your interest in planting a tree in front of your property The FUF will not plant a tree without your consent and involvement.
Here are the dates to remember:

Community Planting Meeting
Tuesday, April 4th at 6:30 pm
At Saint Philip’s Church
In the Parish Hall
725 Diamond St. @ Elizabeth St.
This is an important, mandatory community meeting we will:
• review a list of tree choices
• explain planting day logistics
• answer your questions

Wednesday, March 29th at 8:00 am
The  utilities companies require that you show them where you want to plant the tree. Therefore please mark the sidewalk with white X’s where you want the tree(s). Use tape or paint that can withstand a little rain.  The Utility companies will be marking the location of your utility lines. This does not commit you to planting a tree in that spot or commit you to a tree at all, but is a required first step in the process. If you do not mark your spot, you may miss out on this planting.

Between March 30th and April 3rd
Utility markings should appear on the sidewalk showing where the underground lines are or are not. PG&E, Pacific Bell, and other utility companies will make these marks. Weather will affect their response time. The utility companies will only mark properties which have an X, and only if I have your forms.

Between April 4th and April 19th
The FUF will come to each property and note where the tree(s) can legally and logically go, taking into account your location choice. Look for a pink X and four dots that indicate the future basin. This will be the final tree location unless the FUF hear from you otherwise.
April 11th is the cut-off for all new addresses.

If the FUF has your forms and you’ve marked your sidewalk before the meeting on April 4th, the FUF will be able to show you where you can plant otherwise it will have to wait.
There is still time for your neighbors to sign up before or at the meeting. Spread the word on your block. The more neighbors involved the more fun on planting day!

Our Tree planting day is May 6th 2006

Come to our Community Meeting to choose your tree on April 4th, 2006 - 6:30pm at St Philips, 725 Diamond St. Parish Hall

Beauty and oxygen are two reasons to plant a tree. Other reasons include increasing your property value and making your home more energy efficient. Streets with trees feel warm and inviting. Trees soften the hard line of cement sidewalks. Through their marvelous variety of shapes, sizes, colors, flowers and shade patterns, trees add visual interest in every season. Quietly, in exchange for a few gallons of water a week, they help mitigate the noise of traffic, remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and trap dust particulates on their leaf surfaces. Trees offer wind protection. They provide our urban wildlife with a place from which to watch the neighborhood and enjoy a meal.

We have our Community Day on April 4th, 2006.

1 - The meeting will last around 90 minutes or so, 

2 - We'll bring calendars, which show the deadlines for marking sidewalks, paying, choosing species etc.

3 - We'll bring a specialized list of trees for our neighborhood, pretty comprehensive.

Planting trees is fun. Join us and find out for yourself!


 

The Noe Valley Community Benefits District means even more trees... and more!

Over the past many months, a broad collection of residents, merchants, and property owners in the vicinity of the 24th St. commercial district formed the Noe Valley Association Community Benefits District. The goal of the NVA-CBD is to use locally raised funding to support and enhance the cleanliness, beautification, security and promotion of our own neighborhood.
Encouraged by Mayor Newsom’s support of CBD’s in neighborhoods throughout the city, an effort was organized to establish a CBD in Noe Valley. Organized as a non-profit with an independent Board of Directors, the NVA-CBD was formally recognized by the city Board of Supervisors in August 2005.
While property owners provide the majority of the financial support, residents and the local business community are also providing substantial volunteer efforts to organize and execute a wide variety of programs all long 24th Street.
Guess what one of the first projects is? You got it: TREES!
Many of trees in the Noe Valley commercial district are in pretty poor shape: they vary widely in age, species and condition and besides, the area has room for far more trees than we have now. So we’ve consulted with Friends of the Urban Forest and with professional landscape architects on a pro-bono basis, and they have advised us that a major planting program would definitely advance the Association’s overall objectives. 
We aim to plant nearly 100 trees along 24th Street from Church Street to Douglas Street, plus along partial blocks on several intersecting side streets. With this planting, we seek both to improve the appearance of the street and to achieve the environmental benefits that trees provide: creating oxygen, absorbing carbon dioxide, and reducing storm water runoff.
If you have any thoughts about this planting or want to get involved in any way, again, please let me know.