"The Incredible Shrinking Yard": Growing McMansions Are Increasingly Devouring Backyards

America"s obsession with the ever-growing McMansion, combined with a perpetual lack of funding for said McMansion, has resulted a unique phenomenon which Trulia has dubbed "The Incredible Shrinking Yard."  Analyzing public records to compare residential lot sizes to home footprints, Trulia says that homes built over the past two years occupy a staggering 25% of the land on which they sit, compared to roughly half that amount in 1975. 

Here are some of Trulia"s key findings:

• Nationally, single family homes occupy 17.4% of the lots on which they sit, regardless of the year they were built.

 

• Homes built since 2015 occupy 25% of the land on which they sit, while homes built in 1975 occupy just 13.9%. This is being driven by a combination of lots shrinking by 36.2% and home footprints growing by 15.2% size.

 

• Meanwhile, some of the oldest homes in the country, built in the early 1800s, occupy less than 5.0% of the large lots they are built on. The last time lot usage was nearly as high as it is now was during the early 1900s.

 

• Don’t mind the neighbors? Single family homes in places like Philadelphia, and San Francisco, which are both geographically small but dense, have the highest lot utilization at 57.7%, and 44.2%, respectively.

 

• Want plenty of yard space? Head to New England. Three Connecticut metro areas, Worcester, Mass., Hartford, Conn., and Bridgeport, Conn. make up the places with the smallest amount of house occupying lot space, at less than 7.5%.

 

• While most metro areas have seen lot usage grow since the mid-70s, with Oakland, Calif., and Miami seeing the largest upward swings, six metros have bucked the trend with San Francisco, Memphis, and Long Island, N.Y. moving toward less lot usage.

When national home price growth charts start to look like an Amazon stock chart, despite the fact that wage growth remains non-existent, but you know your family of 4 can never find a way to survive in a house even an inch smaller than 4,000 square feet, it only makes sense that lawn sizes would have to shrink to keep purchase prices somewhat "reasonable"...and by reasonable, of course we mean below FHA lending limits so that those McMansions can be purchased with minimal money down and backstopped by the American taxpayer.

As Trulia notes, since the mid-70s, when the proportion of lots used by new construction hit a national low of 13.6%, it climbed 11.3 percentage points to 25% of the lot of homes built in 2015 or later. Most metro areas have seen lot usage grow similarly. Oakland, Miami, and Indianapolis have seen the largest upward swing in lot usage, with homes built after 2015 occupying 25.6, 24.9, and 20.3 percentage points more, respectively, of the lots they are built on than they did in the mid-70s.

Meanwhile, 7 of the 95 metro areas analyzed by Trulia managed to buck the trend, with San Francisco, Memphis, Tenn., and Long Island, N.Y. actually seeing a 12.9, 11.6, and 6.0 percentage point decrease, respectively, in the percent of lot usage by homes constructed after 2015 when compared with homes built in the mid-70s.

 

With that, here"s a helpful chart depicted just how small the "American Dream" has become in your neck of the woods:

As Cannabis Becomes Legal, Oakland Now Giving ‘Reparations’ to Ex-Cons Arrested for Selling Weed

Oakland, CA – Oakland is beginning an experiment that can be considered both laudable and questionable. As cannabis businesses are set to spring up across the city, following California’s legalization of recreational cannabis, Oakland is providing reparations to victims of the drug war.

They’re not doling out money, though. They’ll be doing it through the normally mundane permitting process, in accordance with ordinances passed in March.

“The ordinances require the city to give at least half of all available cannabis permits to individuals who were convicted of a marijuana-related offense in Oakland and earn an income less than 80 percent of the city average. “Equity applicants” can also qualify if they lived in an Oakland neighborhood for 10 of the last 20 years that saw a disproportionately high number of cannabis arrests.”

Since permitting began in May, 72 applications have been received, and, somewhat surprisingly, almost half of them (31) are equity applicants.

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There was plenty of doubt and controversy about the program, with many saying it wouldn’t work and others calling it unfair government overreach. And now, some would-be equity applicants are finding it impossible to sign up due to what they call unrealistic qualification requirements.

Another part of this strategy involves incentivizing “general applicants” to help out “equity applicants,” which is certainly strange in that a business owner would be providing a large benefit to his or her competitor.

“Someone who doesn’t qualify under either definition — a “general applicant” — can move up in line by giving an equity applicant at least 1,000 square feet of free rent through an “incubator” relationship.”

The motives of Oakland lawmakers and their constituents who supported the move are certainly noble, and a welcome sign that governments can recognize the injustice of the drug war.

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For decades, individuals and families have suffered under government’s senseless prohibition crusade. The drug war was not started to aid humanity, but was spawned of racism, suppression of dissent, and political corruption.

Only the police state and corporate entities such as the prison-industrial complex, the alcohol industry and Big Pharma benefit from locking people in cages for using “illicit” substances. Cannabis prohibition is particularly cruel and unjust, as it denies people the miraculous healing power of this medicinal plant.

The brunt of prohibition’s injustice has fallen on minority communities. Even though cannabis use is about the same among white and black ethnicities, blacks are almost four times more likely to be arrested for possession.

Recognizing this, Oakland intends to give an advantage to those who’ve been victimized for decades. But even with its noble motivations, do drug war reparations amount to government overreach? Is it rationing, or unfair denial of business opportunity to “general applicants”?

The plan will surely be tested, including when applicants must apply for state licenses.

“The city permit is only the first step in legally operating a pot business in California. Starting next year, pot businesses that have local permits must apply annually for state licensing. It’s unclear whether equity applicants with criminal backgrounds will be approved for state licenses. State law authorizes agencies to deny licenses to some applicants with criminal backgrounds.”

Equity program or not, there is a “labyrinth of regulations” in Oakland for those seeking to get into the cannabis business in Oakland. However, the city is very appealing because “it’s one of the few places in California that allow every type of operation — from laboratory testing and cultivation to delivery and dispensary.”

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Even though Oakland’s foray into drug war reparations could amount to overreach, it is a symbol of the dramatic turnaround that has taken root with respect to the war on drugs.

BART Swarm Invasion Shows Mandated Helplessness Invites Attacks

Based on the way they vote, that’s the way most riders want it.

‘[D]ozens of juveniles terrorized riders Saturday night when they invaded the Coliseum Station and commandeered at least one train car, forcing passengers to hand over bags and cell phones and leaving at least two with head injuries,” the San Francisco Chronicle bemoans. “Witnesses told police that 40 to 60 juveniles flooded the station, jumped the fare gates and rushed to the second-story train platform. Some of the robbers apparently held open the doors of a Dublin-bound train car while others streamed inside, confronting and robbing and in some cases beating riders.”

Want to know if these smiling folks are Oath Keepers? Let them know you’re keeping and bearing arms because it’s your right and see what they have to say about that. (BART/Facebook)

The passengers weren’t in much of a position to do anything but be victimized, thanks in no small part to the Bay Area Rapid Transit’s “no guns” policies, combined with the utter refusal of regional “Only Ones” to approve “may issue” (meaning “probably won’t unless you’re connected) concealed carry permits. That’s all enabled by the overwhelmingly dominant “progressive” mindset of a constituency that demands defenselessness for citizens and “sanctuary” for everyone else.

In this case, the assailants were referenced with euphemisms like “juveniles” and “teenagers,” lest the “reporters” commit the cardinal sin of admitting the truth about the inevitable result of “progressive entitlement” policies. That a real entitlement articulated in the Second Amendment is denied while phony ones designed to keep collectivists in power nurture destroyers is undeniable – except for those with an agenda to smear truth-tellers as haters.

At least we know some are protected, even though oath-breaking “government” officials and enforcers have no duty to protect productive citizens and forbid them from having the means to protect themselves.  Think of this mandate as “for the children,” a favorite gun-grabber sound bite:

“We are in the process of pulling all surveillance video, and we will share with Oakland police, Oakland Unified School District and Oakland Housing Authority to see if they can help identify the minors,” Trost said. “We have had success with sharing images of juveniles with this group and identifying and making arrests in the past.” The images cannot be shared publicly, she said, because the attackers appear to be minors.

Why the hell not? Why is the public not “allowed” to know who the public menaces are, so that if they’re not allowed to fight they can at least flee?

Now that they know they can get away with it, and that’s pretty much already been confirmed by social media-organized flash mobs (by “teenagers,” or as anti-gun SEPTA Police Chief Thomas J. Nestel III characterizes it, “kids … hurting kids. Love them by making them come home”).

Gee, Officer Krupke…

All that’s left to those unfortunate enough to have to use public transit is to be prey. If you choose personal safety in defiance of “the law,” you’ll be a “vigilante” and a “criminal” (like Bernhard Goetz). The same will apply if you have one of those impossible-to-get (unless you’re connected like anti-gun Sean Penn) permits, chances are the survivors of your assailants – and the media – will paint them as the victims who were just starting to turn their lives around.

Those are the risks those choosing to remain in such environs will continue to take, and based on their voting patterns, the dangers are self-inflicted.

So just don’t go there? Let ‘em stew in their own juices? Problem solved?

How many live in “flyover” areas where “refugees” leaving fouled urban nests have moved, bringing the same insane “progressive” politics with them? And does anyone think the gun-grabbers are going to stop blaming relatively freer areas for urban self-destruction, inventing scare terms like “iron pipeline,” and imposing disarmament edicts everywhere, in Everytown…?

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Homeless Build Drug-Free Camp to Help Others Get Sober, Cops Promptly Tear it Down

Oakland, CA — Known as ‘The Promised Land’, a group of homeless people in Oakland sought to improve their situation by creating a camp that would foster sobriety and help people to get jobs. However, because the government constantly wages war on the people’s right to exist, this unique and inspiring place is no longer.

The Promised Land, also known as The Village, was a small camp under multiple layers of highway in a small and underused city park. Multiple homeless camps in Oakland, California are rife with heroin abuse and crime. However, the people who created this one, aimed to be different.

The camp’s organizer, Needa Bee, explained to CBS San Francisco that while only 16 people lived there, they were providing services to hundreds of other homeless people a week.

An aerial photo of some of the hard work that"s gone into #TheVillage. Join us at Marcus Garvey Park (36th/MLK) #homesnow #feedthepeople pic.twitter.com/FHpLwgYvwm

— The Village, Oakland (@VillageOakland) January 30, 2017

Bee was able to obtain portable toilets, hand washing stations, a hot shower, and even offered up basic medical care and food. According to Bee, the camp had strict rules against drinking and drug use in an effort to help others get sober to get jobs. The homeless members of the camp had even begun cultivating gardens to feed themselves.

But on Thursday, all that amazing progress came to a grinding and crushing halt.

#TheVillage get down to 36th and MLK #Oakland NOW dozens of cops trying to kick out residents of tiny home village. #HomesNow #resist pic.twitter.com/1kjLHf84KQ

— Occupy Oakland (@OccupyOakland) February 2, 2017

As CBS San Francisco reports, residents were abruptly awakened Thursday morning by dozens of police officers and public works employees who told them to leave with what they could and loaded what was left into garbage trucks. One person was arrested attempting to stop the process.

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During the week prior, city inspectors came through and cited the camp on 18 health and safety violations. Even their gardens were considered violations and their entire presence in the park — without a permit — was declared a “public nuisance,” city spokeswoman Karen Boyd said.

“This was a solution and it was viable. … The people of Oakland believed in it,” said Bee. “Now all those folks are going right back onto the streets.”

“I’m disgusted by the mayor and disgusted by the administrator,” she said. “We actually did something that they were unable to do.”

To add insult to destruction, several other homeless camps in the area remained untouched during Thursday’s crackdown — in spite of rampant  and widespread drug use and piles of trash.

As SF Gate reports:

Clearing the encampment at 36th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way was a striking change from how city staffers have approached other camps, including a line of tents and waste just outside the park — which they left untouched during Thursday morning’s shutdown — or another camp six blocks away, which Oakland leaders chose for the inaugural “Compassionate Communities” program.

At that encampment, at 35th and Magnolia streets, city crews added portable toilets, trash bins and needle containers, then hosed down the sidewalks and left. With the deployment of counselors and other services, the idea is to get everyone into housing by March 31, then replicate the program at other sites.

This camp was specifically targeted because they were inviting people in to help them.

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“There’s a difference between people living in tents, versus setting up an intentional, unsanctioned encampment,” Boyd said. “They were inviting and recruiting people to bring them into a park without the adequate infrastructure.”

Apparently, the large piles of trash, rampant heroin use, and unsanitary conditions at the other camps is considered ‘adequate infrastructure.’

During its brief but profound existence, there was not a single incident at the Village — yet they were still shut down. They even provided their own security at night to protect those who sought sanctuary.

“Before, it was so drug infested, you couldn’t even walk through here late at night,” Majid Ahmed, 44, said as he packed up his belongings at the camp, according to SF Gate. “Since we moved here, there has been zero crime and every one of us has got off drugs.”

But no more.

Oakland PD, DPW clearing "the Promise Land," homeless village set up 10 days ago under hwy. 16 slept here under condition they stay sober. pic.twitter.com/bO8fWvfpC9

— Kimberly Veklerov (@KVeklerov) February 2, 2017

Daniel Weaver, a resident in “the promised land,” said he has a part-time job but remains homeless. And, now that the Village has been torn down and thrown away, the likelihood of him keeping that job has greatly diminished.

“I need to be able to brush my teeth and take a shower and get to work. If I’m going to get my act together, I need a place,” he said.

A 60-year-old homeless woman, Nancy Mitchell was living on the street at one of the nearby ‘city-sanctioned’ camps with heroin use and trash. However, she explained to SF Gate that she came to the Village one day to get a cup of coffee and a plate of food, and decided to stay. Volunteers at the Village grabbed their dollies and helped move her in.

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“It was welcoming,” she said. “I never seen so much love in that park.”