Besides most people even with a traditional loan aren’t putting that much into equity during the first 5 or 10 years of their mortgage anyway. Long term it is foolish to expect the long-term property value to do more than match inflation. Sure you may get lucky and prices will appreciate faster, but it isn’t a good idea to plan on that basis unless you know what you are doing in real-estate investment.

Nor was it economically “better sense” to buy a home in a cheap suburb. In the mid-80s I was looking to buy a home and ‘did the math’. At that time, any property more than three miles from the city center was pretty much the same on total costs- what you saved on house price you paid in commuting costs.

Nor is owning a home a safeguard against dependency. For one thing, if you own more than 50% of the equity in your home, it can be taken from you in a bankruptcy proceeding- which often happens when people have a serious illness.

Be careful what you wish for.

While ORCA is making the process of using different transit systems pretty seamless (in my experience, although I may be one of a lucky few who hasn’t had any problems to date), when I sit down to map out a unique trip that might incorporate four or five different systems in one day, the planning seems to take an inordinate amount of time. Every agency has its own ancient quirks that are now set in stone, and the widely varying policies and fare structures are annoying.

And while ORCA seems to be taming the transfer and boarding beasts (note to certain users: don’t swipe your ORCA card, tap it!), I could write a very long essay based solely on my recent misadventures while planning to load cash on my ORCA card on a Saturday. I like to plan my trips and itineraries so I have no rude surprises, and I like to think I’m a pretty good researcher, so I can imagine what a casual rider has to face. The misinformation I was given on Friday, both verbally and in writing, was maddening, and the buck passing from agency to agency was inexcusable. I finally called Sound Transit’s main number and insisted they let me talk to a staff member who could give me a straight answer. They wouldn’t, but a receptionist spoke to somebody, somewhere, who appeared to know the answers, and relayed his/her responses to me. l’m not going to detail my even more frustrating Saturday.

Despite the new issues a single agency would have, its employees and the elected officials on its board would have to be on the same page, and I think, generally, in the end, the region would be better served. You make a very good point, though, about Sound Transit vs. Metro’s 40-40-20 mess. That sort of monkey business would have to be addressed and firmly dealt with before any merger.

I’m sure some of the biggest supporters of keeping 20-40-40 are the very same people who blast metro for being inefficient and having such low farebox recovery.

Not me. I’d not only junk 20/40/40 but return Seattle Transit to Seattle. Redmond and Bellevue can damn well provide their own transit. ST should continue to provide regional (i.e. commuter service).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPI_MPXpress

http://www.motivepower-wabtec.com/locomotives/commuter/mpxpress.php

The engine in the 3600 Horsepower is made by MotivePower. The engine in the 4000 HP version is from EMD.

Boston’s MBTA tried to order some new “Euro 4000″ locomotives from Vossloh’s Spanish subsidiary, but WabTec’s lobbyists were able to get that stopped because of “Buy America” rules.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vossloh_Euro_4000

I’m sure some of the biggest supporters of keeping 20-40-40 are the very same people who blast metro for being inefficient and having such low farebox recovery.

However as someone who has always rented let me point out nobody shed a tear when the sort of cheap rentals in Wallingford, Ballard, Freemont, or Capitol Hill I used to live in got too expensive for my former income bracket or were torn down. There is no reason affordable housing should be something exclusive to Rainer Valley.

Workforce housing is a city-wide problem and needs city-wide solutions. One problem is by making single-family neighborhoods so sacrosanct in Seattle it limits the amount of land available for multi-family housing. Furthermore the current building and zoning codes keep the cost of new construction fairly high.

One quick way to drop the price of new units would be by dropping the parking requirements entirely and prohibiting developers from bundling parking with the unit. (note I think there should be no such thing as “free parking” within the Seattle City limits)

If you want to point to one thing that doomed GM was it’s failure to take to heart quality control. That increased costs through increased scrap, warranty repairs, loss of brand loyalty, etc. I think Chrysler is in a better position to turn it around than GM because they have Fiat which has turned it’s self around in the last five years. I have my doubts any future board or CEO appointed by the currently proposed ownership split will really have the guts or ability to invest in quality. It looks much more like a recipe for bean-counter soup. The decision to keep Chevy, Buick, GMC and Cadillac is based on past sales in a completely different market and because of costs associated with closing dealerships. If a buyer is found for Saturn I wouldn’t be surprised if it outlasted it’s parent company.