seattlejo.com

Home searching and rental searching are hobbies of mine. I like looking at different areas and trying to find the best prices, the neatest places and such.

Home Prices in Seattle are on the rise. That seems to be the news story we get every week about home prices in King County skyrocketing (Article Here or here
  and  here )

Thats no surpise. But last night I had a realization. My family and I are in the ackward middle where we can not afford to buy, we can not afford to rent in some areas, but we are not low income and do not require low income housing.

Whats the big deal? Last night I took a bus ride through our old neighborhood on the way home. I passed a new set of apartments going up on Stone and 45th in Seattle’s Wallingford Neighborhood   I looked up the new apartments and discovered they are a project of the Housing Resource Group. This shouldnt surprise me, the land they are on did belong to the Seattle Housing Athority.

What the Housing Resource Group does is  develops properties and provides housing to those with limited incomes. It provides housing in areas where people are being priced out. I feel like I’m in the ackward middle of these two groups in this neighborhood. The new condos in this neighborhood are running 350,000 to $440,000 for a 1 or 2 bedroom. The cheapest home for sale in the neighborhood is $379,990 for a 2 bedroom. (Unscientific survey of Windermere.com done by me.    Rentals in the neighborhood  run for 1500-2000+ for a 3 bedroom (which is what we require due to family size.).

Thats about $200 a month North of our price range at the least. I dont feel entitled to live in this neighborhood.  It’s just that I think there is this  ackward middle, while I’m glad that we do not need the assistance of the Seattle Housing Athority I just wish the neighborhood itself was more affordable.  With subsidies for low income, and folks with higher incomes able to afford in city housing, where do folks go?

We’re crawling further North. This move into the North end of the city, the next move may be further. When it comes time to buy, I’d be surprised if we’re in King County at all.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003077418_danny22.html

Some educators, parents and kids were in town to describe what it’s like to go to a virtual school, a public K-8 school that exists in minds and computers, not in any building. It’s the Washington Virtual Academy (www.wava.org). It’s a public school, so there’s no charge. Anyone in kindergarten through eighth grade anywhere in the state can attend, if they have access to a computer.

While I’ve not placed myself in the path of raising children beyond the one I assist with now, I’m still interested in the different types of edecuation available.The idea of publicly funded curicullum for home schooling is challenging. While I dont think I’d be able to homeschool my own children I’d always thought of supplementing their education with homeschool materials. But with homeschooling so supported, I wonder if the numbers of those doing the schooling will rise.

And whats to stop an unliscenced teacher from going out and staring their own small school?

So Fat Free Half and Half is Half and Half of what?

The Stranger, a weekly Seattle Alternative Paper, went to a local Christian Cohousing Community  and looked around. Reading the article "Cohousing with Christ" I’m not really sure what the point was. Reporter goes to Christian Cohousing Community, Lies about her faith, sexuality and then balks at the  Statement of Faith and Lifestyle? What did she expect?  On the other hand, I  wonder what the communities response would have been if she had been upfront about who she was? Looking at the Bartimus Profile on the ICA Communities directory, they seem a little more open then she painted them to be. (Open to different spiritual paths possibly.  I guess I just wonder what the point was.

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I’ve been musing a lot about communities and spiritual communities in general.  An aquaintance through Apostles is in a Intentional Chrisitian  household. His household communes through regular group prayer, rituals, dinners and more. Or at least that was the original intention. From what he said, time has made it fall apart.

I like the idea of an an intentional community. I dont think I could do a residential one at this time. That doesnt mean I dont want to be in spiritual community. So why not just go to church? Church is a great spiritual community for Sundays, but everyone is busy and those connections dont always carry over into the week in a meaningful way.

So I’m mulling over the idea of a non residential spiritual community. Something with viritual involvement.  I’m not sure where I’m going yet with this idea. Any feedback?