| Author |
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Marie
| | Posted on Thursday, January 11, 2001 - 10:18 pm: |     |
"It's an affectionate, wistful portrait of Maplewood as a traditional town that has seen a lot of changes, but which its residents love. Unfortunately, taxes and home values also make it a place that a couple such as the Cross family may not be able to stay in."
" We're expecting four couples to be touring it along with realtors (we won't be there, of course). We are not leaving Maplewood, but in fact trading up to a larger house here in town -- something we could not do if our current home hadn't appreciated so much in value over the past two years we've been here. We have a lot of faith in Maplewood, and even though we could have cashed out on our house and simply traded up to a house in Millburn, that just wouldn't have been any fun."
"While I think that the article presents a fairly accurate representation of our town, I'm not so sure we should be congratulating ourselves for being known as a town that has taxed lifelong residents out of their homes."
"On the issue of "taxing lifelong residents out of their homes": According to the article, in 30 years the Cross's taxes have gone from $4000 to $9000 (+125%) while their house has appreciated from $33,000 to nearly $600,000 (+1700%). For the sake of comparison, my mother's house in NY State has in the past 40 years gone from $18,000 to around $150,000 (+733%) while her property taxes have gone from $250 (really) to $3000 (+1100%).
Practically every town nowadays is being accused of taxing lifelong residents out of their homes, and of being unaffordable for younger people who grew up there. It's the price of prosperity."
"I think if you weigh the pros and cons, the family featured in the article would prefer to pay high taxes than not have the current valuation of the home at $600,000+. Obviously the ideal sitation would be to have taxes under control."
"Seems to me that a house worth plus or minus 600,000 in which one raised 4 children could be sold and another, quite comfortable, home in the range of 300,000 to 400,000 could be had in our fair town with a very nice profit to boot. Could 3 adults share such a house and afford taxes? Especially where one adult is employed full time and at least one other receives a pension and/or social security? I must be missing something. Maybe because my two-professional income family can only manage a home on the other side of town where houses are still valued at under 150,000? Please! Give me a break!"
" I do love this town and am glad we scraped together enough for a Fannie Mae here. And yes, as it turns out, my great grandfather lived here, too. When there was lots of farmland around and Hilton was a separate entity. Life is full of interesting twists and turns if we can appreciate a good story. It really is all about perspective, isn't it? My cup is half full of something mysterious, yet delicious. What's in yours?!"
"As far as taxes are concerned, I agree that the math on the taxes does not seem that burdensome, but one never knows another family's circumstances. Stratospheric housing prices tend to price out middle class families from the mix, and that would be a very unfortunate consequence of the prosperity here".
"Although we all hope to provide our children with a better life than our own, unfortunately in the real world this is not always possible. Different circumstances and life choices prohibit the ability for one to enjoy a way of life they desire. Don't blame Maplewood! This same situation can be shared with any community where the property values have grown."
- "The future is irresistible. But how much will Maplewood and the Crosses miss each other?" NYT |
Buzzsaw
| | Posted on Friday, January 12, 2001 - 2:50 pm: | |
I give up......who said it? |
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