There goes the neighborhood...one house at a time.

I stepped out of my basement studio apartment this morning to catch the subway. As I looked out toward the house behind us, I noticed that the house next door... wasn't there.

Instead there was a bulldozer, going over what was left of it. Now, this house appeared to be in perfectly good condition from the looks of things. I remember seeing the neighbors out on the deck one evening only recently, having a barbeque or whatever. But in its place was only rubble -- and a sign advertising the firm that was building a new one where the old one stood.

This neighborhood has been mostly gentrified, with a few pockets of resistance. And new houses do go up on empty lots, or those of houses that should have been condemned long ago. But this wasn't one of them. What it is, I believe, is another case of American greed, as made manifest in the current real estate boom. The eighties didn't teach us anything. That was then; we're much too smart these days to lose our shirts over somehthing the price of which is artificially inflated.

We shall see. Meanwhile, my own search for a townhouse later this summer has begun in earnest. An agent is scoping the territory, and the lender is getting my information. Stay tuned...