By jquinlan Hi, Doug! Just finished your column regarding No-growth meaning No-kids. What's more dangerous, in my estimation, is that even a young, two-income professional family cannot afford to live and work in the same community, that is, Orange County. Historically, this may be a first, and ndicative an underlying sickness: runaway debt to purchase a house. It's scary, really. Where is a new family to begin? What impact will it have twenty or thirty years down the line? Jim

Response from Douglas Cunningham [ADMINISTRATOR] jim, thanks for writing. yes, i agree that is a scary proposition. i don't think the cause is so much runaway debt (though low interest rates have accelerated the transformation) as a shift in the orange county market. that shift has meant that our market no longer is run mainly or primarily for local residents. in terms of price, the market is dictated by people coming from outside. commuters have always been buying in orange, primarily in southern orange. the shift, beginning in 1999, 2000, roughly, is that so many commuters wanted to buy here, they became the driving force in the market. where's a new family to begin? locally, that will be very, very difficult. certainly, there's the fixer-upper (that does require that one be handy). and there are the three cities. but truthfully, i think the basic answer for most will be to go to sullivan or pike counties. 20-30 years from now, we will find fewer tradespeople, fewer clerks, fewer municipal workers live in orange. our fire departments will be even more shorthanded. orange will have less diversity, far less than now. it's economic elitism. best, doug
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