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March 10, 2008
Bay Area housing issues continue to worsen due to a lack of credit and growing economic uncertainty . . . except Marin County. Chronicle writer James Temple noted in February that “The largest price drops for existing single-family homes recently occurred in Solano and Contra Costa counties, at 22.5 percent and 20.4 percent, respectively, to $333,000 and $450,000.” The largest gain, 5.9 percent, was in Marin – to $990,000.
La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems noted that Marin County’s median price for a single-family home rose to $978,000 in October of 2007, up 6.9 percent from October 2006.
Carol Lloyd, a contributing writer to SF Gate, has joined Temple, DataQuick, Forbes.com and others in noting that Marin’s real estate is holding (she specifically mentions Sausalito).
Lloyd cites Richard Florida’s new book "Who's Your City” wherein he explains “How the Creative Economy is Making the Place Where You Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life.” The job market in key fields is concentrating in fewer and fewer communities and there is now a massive migration of the most highly educated and talented people to just a handful of city-regions. These mega-regions — centers of both creative innovation and economic productivity – include the Bay Area: "Despite it being extraordinarily costly, the Bay Area still offers enough economic incentives, innovation and amenities to offset the expense of living there.”
The Bay Area’s reputation holds as a desirable place to be: Before creating his own rankings, Florida looked at every best-place ranking ever done, and the Bay Area had the most appearances. He noted that “Despite the fact that it struggles with housing affordability, I think it has a strong economic future." Joe Gyourko (an economist at Wharton School of Business and probably the premier real estate economist in the country), discussed this with Florida and said, "It's not that superstar cities don't go up and down, it's that they are more resilient than other regions."
Other indicators are present in Marin County real estate that support growth; according to US Growth statistics California population growth is #1 in the nation (followed by Texas and New York). California’s growth is projected at 129% over the last Census conducted in 2000. Experts predict core California markets such as Marin County will continue to see escalating home prices out of sheer supply and demand for real estate in prime locations.
List of the Best Large Regions from
Who’s Your City by Richard Florida
His book evaluates:
Part I. Why Place Matters - explains why place is best described in terms of mega-regions, of which there are 40 in the world.
Part II. The Wealth of Places describes why the creative class is a primary reason why these 40 mega-regions are the economic and cultural engines of the world.
Part III. The Geography of Happiness - looks beyond jobs and identifies the primary factors (aesthetics, openness) and personalities cities possess that are much better predictors of attracting the creative class.
Part IV. Where We Live Now - identifies the three big moves we make in our lifetime - post graduation/career development; when we have kids; and when they leave/we retire.
The results:
Best Cities for Young Singles
(ages 20-29)
- San Francisco, CA
- Washington, DC
- Boston, MA
- Los Angeles, CA
- New York, NY
Best Cities for Mid-Career Professionals (30-44)
- San Jose, CA
- Minneapolis, MN
- Austin, TX
- San Diego, CA
- Denver, CO
Best Cities for Families with Children
- Washington, DC
- Boston, MA
- San Jose, CA
- New York
- San Diego
Best Cities for Empty-Nesters (Ages 45-64)
- San Francisco, CA
- Seattle, WA
- Boston, MA
- Minneapolis, MN
- Hartford, CT
Best Cities for Retirees
(Over 65 years of age)
- San Francisco, CA
- New York, NY
- Boston, MA
- San Jose, CA
- Miami, FL
Best Cities for Gays and Lesbians
- San Diego, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- Hartford, CT
- Boston, MA
- New York, NY
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