AC FILTER GRILLE

The Housing Boom and Bust

This is a plain-English explanation of how we got into the current economic disaster that developed out of the economics and politics of the housing boom and bust. The ?creative” financing of home mortgages and the even more ?creative” marketing of financial securities based on American mortgages to countries around the world, are part of the story of how a financial house of cards was built up?and then suddenly collapsed.
The politics behind all this is another story full of strange twists. No punches are pulled when discussing politicians of either party, the financial dangers they created, or the distractions they created later to escape their own responsibility for what happened when the financial house of cards in the financial markets collapsed.
What to do, now that we are in the midst of an economic disaster, is yet another story?one whose ending we do not yet know, but one whose outlines and implications are explored to reveal some surprising and sobering lessons.

These are some of the housings the MISR cameras are stored in. D there is oh, about 6"-8" tall.

Les habitations en commun
Rue Emile Combes
Common housings

A movement that began in Europe has taken hold in North America because it provides some real answers for the increasing number of people who stop to look at where and how they live and at their impact on the environment. Cohousing is a way for a group of people to work together to develop places to live that offer both privacy and community with the values of an old-fashioned neighborhood-safety, independence, mutual concern. Many of these new ventures are up and running and many more are in the planning stages. Delivering more bang for the buck, this innovative approach to housing is challenging the formidable housing problems we face, and it is succeeding.

Alright, you tried living in a commune in the 1970s, and people kept borrowing your toothbrush and leaving dishes in the sink. Then you set up house by yourself and felt lonely. You got married, started raising a family and ended up feeling isolated from your friends and the rest of the community. You go to work, wave to your neighbors over the fence now and then, and think there must be more to life than this. There is: a whole new concept of building a neighborhood and sense of community. This is the story of how and why cohousing works, and how to go about making it happen for yourself.