New Orleans… gone about six weeks. settling in now.Hard to leave my house… I got my tv in front of my bed. bed situation. just lay there and sleep and watch tv. I bought the ECHO from Amazon. It’s pretty cool. Her name is Alexa. She had a girls voice. It’s already starting to irritate me. She sounds like she’s just little tired of me asking her questions already.
So I came back and went to see a house for sale, the first one I have gone to see… and it was a very nice house, but no parking, no yard.
And what I want to mention in today’s blog is the outrageous increase
in real estate in the less than 2.5 years I have been here. Now, people
pay too much for houses in LA, but there are reasons. And of course
New York, all of the east coast. Places where people have way too
much money. People who can pay a million Cash are coming here.
And, I am not poor, by any stretch, but I will not be able to buy a house
here. Because already the houses in my bracket are crappy houses,
either redone via Lowe’s, bad taste, poor quality, or some very greedy
landlord is selling an apartment for the cost of a house two years ago.
The reason this is greedy is simple. Nothing have happened here to support
this increase. The roads are shit. The infrastructure is all but broken. Crime is high and there are not enough policemen and those that are employed sometimes take a bit too long to get the scene. I might have mentioned
no one ever came when my car was stolen.
Real estate agents support this by saying… well people are moving here with
the money. So they can now buy what on one around here could buy. And
they can pay cash. I’m starting to hate these people. Do they know what they are doing to this local area by throwing money around to get what they want? No they don’t. They are used to living in cities where everybody does this, and the neighborhoods are better- at least for the banks – for it. I see houses in New Orleans going for LA prices. shitty houses in bad neighborhoods. Devastation to neighborhoods. Im sure someone is thinking well it has to be good if white people move in here. No really. They are thinking that.
Last year it was a few young hipster entrepreneurs setting up business
on ST Claude. a vegetarian place, popsicles ( out of business) and a dog
washing place. the notary public and grocery closed long before. This is
a tenuous area and for real estate to cost here, and in Treme, what it is
costing is just crazy.
You are going to see the market median price for a house reach half a million dollars here in NOLA in the next two years. People who make this much money usually have high overhead just in the job place, forget about the house, luxury, kids schools, whatever. To safely buy a house you must be a wealthy person.
the places left over for people who can pay less for a house are few and pretty crappy. I have watched them rise about 8% just in the past year.There is no grocery store in this part of town at all! Mardi Gras zone, sure, but … I mean come on. that place is like shopping on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. In 1986. actually it really is like shopping in the Seychelles, I was there once.
So what is the answer? A real estate board that regulates the growth more carefully. A situation where one realtor does not buy up a lot of one part of town. And a reason to protect the indigenous population of a growing economic neighborhood, i mean a neighborhood that is growing economically.
Because the reason people move here is because of the PEOPLE. We like
the people, we like the neighborhoods not just because of the big
magnolia tree or the floor to ceiling windows, but because crazy people
walk by in sudden parades and kids meander down the streets on warm
afternoons and dogs lay in the sun and chickens run into the grassy open
fields. None of this will remain if this area is sold to the highest bidder.
Some of it needs to be set aside for people who cannot afford $500,000
to live among those who can. And, come on, not just in a two room unit
designated for old musicians. someday soon I will be an old musician.
(thats when sailors cant take the moment o f the ship any more, and they
stay home and watch the ocean and keep a weather eye on the horizon)
and when I am too old to check in and out of hotels every day, and play
two hour shows and then do it again the next day, I hope I don’t look around
me at this town and say ‘wow, I should have spent my very last dime and
bought that shitty house over in Treme that had been outfitted with Home
Depot flooring and cabinets. ‘
Just slow it down little, won’t you? $650,000 for a two bedroom
house with no yard and no drive way? Or the one on Dauphine where
the woman is paying even more – in cash? Everybody here knows
you got to have a drive way or someone is going to steal your new
Lexus. I know, they stole my new Nissan twice. and my bike and my guitar.
Hi Rickie,
there’s a nice house for sale on the corner of Kentucky and Marais street. 339K. I don’t know what your budget is but this 3 bedroom with off street parking looks good.
Best wishes.
Toby.
Hey Rickie,
Same thing happening here in Nashville. Developers tearing down beautiful old homes on Music Row to build undersized, overpriced condos, and insanely-priced hotels for outside conventions. City’s turning into condo/hotel hell. The Station Inn, historic bluegrass club, surrounded by entire city blocks of retail and restaurants, and…condos. Old clubs, restored or rebuilt underneath condos built on top of them, sanitized and sterilized, new places, never the same.
Had to escape to the outskirts of town.
Hope you find a place that suits you.
Take care,
Charley
Another thing here in Nashville: a lot of nice older homes are considered to be knock-downs, then are knocked down, and replaced with two new overpriced generic twin houses on the same lot. The older homes that do remain, unless you bought in years ago, are priced far beyond the realm of realistic or reasonable. Good luck in your home search in NOLA.
How right you are. This hipster Twilight Zone gets more generic by the day. Around St. Patrick’s Day , a girl told me she was going to Irish Zulu in the 9th Ward. I just shook my head at that silliness. I bought my house 2 yrs. before Katrina, which is something I could never afford to do in today’s real estate market.
A friend recently told me she heard an interview of you on NPR, and that you mentioned that you have Morgellon’s Disease, but I couldn’t find any mention of that anywhere. Please tell me she was mistaken!
Hey RLJ. I grew up listening to you. Bought your first album when it came out. I wrote you a letter after The Magazine came out when I was 17. You sent me a signed picture that said “Thanks for writing” (i still have it). I have bought every release though haven’t had time to listen like the old days. Saw you perform Pirates at the City Winery in NY. I did listen a lot to Desire. Since last week, my dad is dying of congestive heart failure and voila, I started listening again. I have such a deep human connection to your songs. I’ll follow you into the ether. Thank you
Thank you for coming to Hawaii. I was at the Oahu show. My cousin and I stood around hoping you would come back out to play “Satellites”, but then the house lights went up. I am looking forward to your new album. And yes, Kauai has a lot of chickens.
Rickie, I know the run down NOLA,pre Katrina. Stayed uptown on Johnson Street while I explored the city.
Disappointing place,French Quarter, included.
How can NOLA attract decent money?
Overpriced trash will not sell.
hi rickie hope the health is good and all is well. just want to say that the 2nd side of pirates those 4 songs rank with some of the most soulful , moving beautifrl and fun music ever made thank you so much love eric
hi rickie, i’m holly, a resident of phoenix and a creative writer. i wrote a song for you many years ago, entitled “vacancy motel”, and tonight i called the 818- number to your people in calif. a very condescending man told me that the offices had closed two hours before; then he hung up on me before i could ask the hours of operation. please award him 1 ‘flake point’, my treat (wink wink nudge nudge). the song is yours, gratis, if you’re interested.
Come on back to Washington state, young lady. Bellingham–Fairhaven or Southside–is waiting on ya. Our airport even has jets. Sometimes. Okay, not often, but ya know.
Venice…197_, wild times, huh. Your music kept this urchin sane, my friend-in-the-vinyl.
When I was young I would buy your records as soon as they came out. Now that I’m old, I’m slow. I just bought “The Other Side of Desire”, a few days ago. One thing led to another and I started reading about your Juliette. So much like my pit mix Artie! He’s another Beta who always wants to cuddle with my wife (and sometimes with me), and rarely gives kisses. And always wants to sniff and wag.
Anyway, thanks for the music. I managed to hear you live once, about ten years ago; it was special to me. You’ve added so much beauty in the world, but I’m sure others have told you that. You don’t owe anyone a damn thing.
great post Larry! agree with you 100%, RLJ does not owe anyone a goddamned thing.