The Gap

[Jolly]

Sucks to live in Hawaii...

https://www.statista.com/chart/25574/living-wage-vs-minimum-wage-by-us-state/

[jon-nyc]

Though Georgia and Utah are worse, GA being the absolute worst.

For those states it’s probably that minimum wage is very low. For Hawaii it’s the cost of living being very high.

[Jolly]

Just for shucks and grins...Retail used to be a profession. I can well remember as a child walking into a Sears or J.C. Penney store and seeing many employees that had been there for years. I looked at the average retail salaries in 1965. Calculated for inflation, that average salary would now be about $52k/yr.

Actual average today is about $47k/yr.

Those numbers are national sector numbers and not regional.

[Jolly]

For comparison...

A 1965 Mustang sold for $2500 (counting destination charges). A/C was a $200 option. Automatic was $179 extra. In today's dollars, the Mustang would be a bump over $24k.

National median 1965 house price? $17,664. Today? $400,000.

[George K]

Personal Experience:

My parents bought their 3-bedroom split-level home in 1958.

My first car was a bare-bones 1968 Mustang.

Inflation-adjusted, here are the numbers:

Zillow claims that house is $357K now.

It sold in 2018 for $248K.

[Jolly]

Could be whatever calculator we're using, but I think your car price today might be a smidgen low.

[Jolly]

I don't remember...George what did your parents do?

[George K]

@Jolly said in The Gap:

I don't remember...George what did your parents do?

Mom was a pediatrician in a very middle-class neighborhood.

Dad did basic science research at the U of I dental school.

[George K]

@Jolly said in The Gap:

Could be whatever calculator we're using, but I think your car price today might be a smidgen low.

Could be. I just remember that number being mentioned when we bought the car.

Did they get $200 off MSRP? Possible.

[Jolly]

@George-K said in The Gap:

@Jolly said in The Gap:

I don't remember...George what did your parents do?

Mom was a pediatrician in a very middle-class neighborhood.

Dad did basic science research at the U of I dental school.

So, smart folks making a decent living. Where I'm going with the retail angle is where does that fall in today's economy? These are people that used to be able to afford a small slice of the American Dream, that are now doomed to be forever looking in the store window.

[George K]

@Jolly said in The Gap:

So, smart folks making a decent living. Where I'm going with the retail angle is where does that fall in today's economy?

I get that. The neighborhood in which I grew up was decidedly middle-class. It was in a subdivision with 3 styles of home. Pick one. Our neighbor to the north worked in sales. My best friend's dad was an announcer at the local racetrack.

Nothing special. Not at all.

[Jolly]

@George-K said in The Gap:

@Jolly said in The Gap:

So, smart folks making a decent living. Where I'm going with the retail angle is where does that fall in today's economy?

I get that. The neighborhood in which I grew up was decidedly middle-class. It was in a subdivision with 3 styles of home. Pick one. Our neighbor to the north worked in sales. My best friend's dad was an announcer at the local racetrack.

Nothing special. Not at all.

In today's economy, your mom and dad probably wouldn't have those neighbors.

[Mik]

While home prices have certainly risen, so the size of homes and their features have as well.

[George K]

@Jolly said in The Gap:

In today's economy, your mom and dad probably wouldn't have those neighbors.

Intersting demographics of where I grew up:

The median income for a household in the village was $53,596, and the median income for a family was $58,589. Males had a median income of $35,774 versus $27,872 for females. The per capita income for the village was $21,881. About 12.6% of families and 15.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.4% of those under age 18 and 13.5% of those age 65 or over.

Median home value of "owner-occupied units" is $248K.

[George K]

@Mik said in The Gap:

While home prices have certainly risen, so the size of homes and their features have as well.

Just for S&G, here's a couple of pictures of the house I grew up in.

Here's the bathroom we shared (master bedroom had its own). No, this is NOT how it looked when I lived there, LOL.

The ground-floor family room was paneled shortly after my parents bought it, maybe two years later? All that wood is cherry. The cabinets are solid cherry.

[Jolly]

@Mik said in The Gap:

While home prices have certainly risen, so the size of homes and their features have as well.

Interesting point.

If you lay it out well, you can get a lot of living space in 1600-1800sqft heated&cooled home.

Is that the size 3/2 builders should be concentrating on?

[Jolly]

BTW...Was out at granddaughter's piano teacher's house a couple of weeks ago. Her husband is a retired principal, still pastoring a small church and piddling around with his woodworking hobby. He's not in George's league, but I've seen some kitchen cabinets he'd done and he's pretty decent at those.

When I drove up, he was working with the owner of a band saw mill and they were cutting up a pretty good-sized cherry. They were stacking mostly 8" wide 5/4.

Pretty wood.

Forgot to hit him up for some slabs. That would make for good barbecue wood.

[Mik]

If home ownership is to continue as the norm there needs to be affordable houses for starters. That would be a good place to target.