US Governors report that fiscal worst is yet to come
The already gloomy conditions of states’ economies are set to worsen, according to preliminary survey findings from the National Governors Association released on Saturday. “The situation is fairly poor for a lot of states around the country. In fact, most states,” Vermont Governor Jim Douglas, who is chairman of the association, said at a press conference at its annual meeting. “What we’re finding out from a fiscal standpoint is that the worst is yet to come,” Douglas said.
“Neighborhoods hit so badly by foreclosures that Habitat for Humanity is buying the houses, now costing less than
what Habitat would spend building a new one.”
Flashback, 2008: “Fundamental changes in American life may turn today’s McMansions into tomorrow’s tenements. Signs of physical and social disorder are spreading. Graffiti, broken windows, and other markers of decay have multiplied. Susan McDonald, president of the local residents’ association and an executive at a local bank, told the Associated Press, “There’s been gang activity. Things have really been changing, the last few years.” Residential burglaries rose by 35 percent and robberies by 58 percent in suburban Lee County, Florida, where one in four houses stands empty. Police departments are mapping foreclosures in an effort to identify emerging criminal hot spots. These days, when Hollywood wants to portray soullessness, despair, or moral decay, it often looks to the suburbs—as The Sopranos and Desperate Housewives attest—for inspiration.”
