Slog - Comments on First Against the Wall http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1 From the front page of today's NYT: Julia Kim rapped her spiked Gucci heels along the floor of a Midtown furniture showroom earlier this year as she approached a $30,000 custom wraparound couch that will be the centerpiece of the Manhattan co-op apartment she plans to share with her fiancé, Stephen Rushmore. With advice from Mr. Rushmore and their decorator, John Barman, Ms. Kim deliberated for more than half an hour over details like the density of the cushions, the number of pillows and the height of the seating. This purchase was just one of many steps in the journey... Copyright 2008 Sat, 06 Oct 2007 12:20:49 -0800 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:34:34 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Erik Everybody needs to learn a little about economics before they complain about:
1) High housing prices in Seattle
2) How awful higher density is. "Oh, these quaint neighborhoods are being bought up by evil developers..."\

P.S. Why do we have to enter our email address before each post? I get tired of typing in "a@a.com" each time.

]]> Erik http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819165 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819165 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 12:36:16 -0800 Comment by elenchos Unless I'm misreading the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Americans in their 20's shall be provided a cool yet quirky apartment in a vintage building, located in a hip bohemian neighborhood at a cost of no more than one third their income. Economics be damned: this is about justice and the dignity of man.

]]> elenchos http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819168 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819168 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 12:48:39 -0800 Comment by Kristin Bell New York is too damn expensive. I don't know how any normal humans live there. I could barely stand the dorm life there even though I loved the city. The living conditions are horrible unless you have a boatload of money. Still $500,000 is a boatload of money too, not as much as $6 million, but still. I'm simply too provincial and broke to live in a big city no matter how much I might like them.

]]> Kristin Bell http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819172 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819172 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 12:57:07 -0800 Comment by TacomaRoma That article makes me seethe with contempt, but I'm not supposed to begrudge another their good fortune. I guess I'll just get drunk.

Seriously though, a $6mil house? Did I miss a critical class in college or something? How the hell can a 20-something be able to afford that kind of a place without serious help from a trust fund?

]]> TacomaRoma http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819173 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819173 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 12:58:30 -0800 Comment by stinkbug @4 they aren't in their 20s. go look at the photo of Mr. Rushmore that's alongside the NYT article.

]]> stinkbug http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819174 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819174 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 13:05:07 -0800 Comment by Boomer in NYC You can all go fuck yourselves.

First--anybody who own more than ZERO homes shouldn't bitch. Anybody who owns more than one shouldn't use headlines like "Up Against the Wall"--now should they? More than likely you'd be the victim of the revolution than the instigator, so knock it off.

Second--a person can live anywhere provided he or she is willing to compromise. Trust me, even the rich have to bend to live in this town. But no matter how crappy your New York apartment is, it's still in New York.

]]> Boomer in NYC http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819177 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819177 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 13:17:27 -0800 Comment by exelizabeth Sure, they're spending my yearly income on a couch. I spent $250 on my couch (and I thought that was steep!) and it's the best couch in the world. I bet my apartment is cooler than theirs in the end, because I decorated it myself and I love everything in it as an extension of myself and my style and my taste. They're paying for someone else to invent their taste.

People like this are in a different world. I will never interact with them, and I don't think I would really want to. So why should I worry about them?

]]> exelizabeth http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819184 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819184 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 13:43:20 -0800 Comment by COMTE In the end, they'll be just as dead as me, feeding the worms (although I plan on donating as many functional organs as possible before the rest is burnt to ashes, preferably in a Viking long-boat floating in the middle of Lake Union), so I say, let them have their fun now, while they can.

In 100 years, their names will be just as forgotten as mine, unless of course they develop some sort of a conscience between now and the day of their death, and set up a charitable trust, in which case their names won't be forgetten for maybe 200 years.

]]> COMTE http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819193 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819193 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:06:13 -0800 Comment by Anne The prices in Seattle are obscene, the prices here in SF are obscene, and we've all known since the 80s that NYC prices are ridiculous. The problem is the same in all three cities, in my opinion - basically the cost of living not matching with the average incomes paid to people. That's the economics issue - it isn't the number on paper, it's what people can (or most likely can't) afford based on the fact that the top wealthy consumers drive up the prices for the rest of us. I don't care if people are rich (good for them, congrats) but why should that mean that the rest of us who don't earn that much are subjected to insane prices that only a small few can actually afford? Some of us don't particularly want to join the rest of the nation in mass consumer debt. I hope the housing and rental bubbles burst big time, and there's a lovely, wonderful drop in prices (ha).

]]> Anne http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819195 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819195 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:15:01 -0800 Comment by Dan Savage Whew. I only own one home. Luckily for me.

]]> Dan Savage http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819196 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819196 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:19:28 -0800 Comment by Bauhaus That kind of excess is just disgusting. There will be those, though, who envy being able to blow $30K on a sofa. It's not hard to see these people have never been hungry or had to go without much of anything.

I still want to know the chain of events that happened to the housing market. Historically, a home's cost was roughly a little more than a year's salary - even during post-war and the baby boom when housing was in short supply. How many people make half-a-million a year?

]]> Bauhaus http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819198 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819198 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:23:53 -0800 Comment by kinaidos A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another. (Mao)

]]> kinaidos http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819202 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819202 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:33:14 -0800 Comment by kinkos i hope that when that couple has its housewarming party, someone spills a glass of red wine on their couch. that would be poetic justice.

]]> kinkos http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819203 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819203 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:43:34 -0800 Comment by wf Gentrification is the same in Seattle as NYC as Tokyo, it's just the scale that's different. It's the same global economy, same process, same driving forces. What I wonder is not whether housing prices in Seattle and NYC are the same. The question is whether there is parity in the RATE of housing price increases over the last ten years.

]]> wf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819204 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819204 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:46:46 -0800 Comment by a modest proposal Couldn't we just eat them? The nice thing about the idle rich is that they're so tender, from doing nothing all the time.

]]> a modest proposal http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819207 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819207 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 15:11:12 -0800 Comment by Judy Brown Screw them and the other super-rich bastards, they buy their $30,000 couch on the backs of the middle class, and those who can't afford health insurance.

Thank the Bush tax cuts: which have made the wealthy wealthier enuf to afford the indulgence of a couch that would pay a beginning teacher's or police officers salary in some areas of the country.

I wouldn't be surprised if their ill-gotten money was as a result of Halliburton padding, or a homeland security fraud. Can't bear to read the article, so don't bother to inform me otherwise.

]]> Judy Brown http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819219 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819219 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 16:40:47 -0800 Comment by elenchos You know, if we did rise up and overthrow our capitalist oppressors, we still wouldn't allocate hip apartments in central neighborhoods to the young creative types who keep complaining about this.

Parents with young kids, the sick, and the elderly would have first dibs on apartments in walkable neighborhoods with easy access to shopping, work, hospitals and other services. Their need is greater after all.

Whereas the young and healthy are best able to bike into downtown from Lake City or use mass transit from Kent. Or drive if they must. Young people are more flexible and resilient in every way.

So I'm saying you can't afford to live there, and you don't deserve to either. That's what put the 'tragic' into 'hip'.

]]> elenchos http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819222 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819222 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 16:46:54 -0800 Comment by Al As a Seattle native living in NYC, I'll tell you this -- New York and Seattle are both becoming horridly homogenized by real estate developers who are knocking everything down and creating housing that threatens to displace everyone EXCEPT wads like those in the article. Old buildings? Gone! Affordable housing? Gone! New York isn't even worth living in anymore, it's become an everycity. I may just move back to Seattle ;)

]]> Al http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819241 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819241 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 17:31:05 -0800 Comment by Fnarf After the revolution, all the best apartments will be occupied not by moms with kids or the deserving elderly but by party functionaries.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819243 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819243 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 17:42:22 -0800 Comment by catalina vel-duray "$30,000 custom wraparound couch"

Isn't that just a fancy-ass sectional? Unless it's the one from "The Dick Van Dyke Show", I'm not interested.

And what sort of people need to take a year off to decorate? I threw Chez Vel-DuRay together in a weekend, and it looks just fine, especially after a nice dusting and a run around with the hoover.

]]> catalina vel-duray http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819244 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819244 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 17:57:31 -0800 Comment by Amelia @1, isn't there a "Remember me?" option? It works pretty well for me.

]]> Amelia http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819245 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819245 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 18:01:14 -0800 Comment by Jude Fawley I think I need to go into couch-making.

]]> Jude Fawley http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819248 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819248 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 18:25:18 -0800 Comment by Lloyd Clydesdale At the very least, everyone deserves a couch.

]]> Lloyd Clydesdale http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819264 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819264 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 19:31:54 -0800 Comment by Gomez The problem lies in people wanting to live in New York, wanting to live in SF, Chicago, Seattle. These are desirable locales to live in. That's the sad reality. As long as these places are desirable places to live, you're gonna see this problem happening. It's happening to Las Vegas and it's going to happen to Austin.

You don't see moguls who are as disconnected from reality as Julia Kim and Stephen Rushmore spending a year decorating gazillion dollar condos in Omaha.

]]> Gomez http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819267 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819267 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 19:53:27 -0800 Comment by Cale psh, you guys are pussies.

london.

think new york is bad? double it.

]]> Cale http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819274 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819274 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 20:36:34 -0800 Comment by Amelia Who is this Cale?

]]> Amelia http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819293 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819293 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 22:17:23 -0800 Comment by Brad Cale is correct. Me, I sort of gasp when a tiny tudor-y thing down the street from me has just listed for $900K (over $300K more than what it sold for less than a year ago, BTW).

However, Londoners are the bad-ASSES of the world when it comes to cost of living and real estate. We're wimpy little pusses next to them. We should only dream to be even considered in the same breath as London. If we ever get to be like London, we will really know what a housing crunch is all about. I say bring it!

]]> Brad http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819297 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819297 What the Sat, 06 Oct 2007 23:07:53 -0800 Comment by Kristin Bell I have to semi agree with this Cale person. I'm not an expert, but I watch House Hunters, so that makes me a semi-expert! haha. jk. Anyway, whenever they do the international House Hunters in like Paris or somewhere European, the housing costs are wow! Out of the ballpark! But, afterall, it is Paris. WOW! I've never been but I've heard it is c'est magnifique! Au revoir!

]]> Kristin Bell http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819304 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819304 What the Sun, 07 Oct 2007 01:00:11 -0800 Comment by Sto I moved here from London a few years back. Love both cities ... but could never afford to buy over there. Fortunately I had the odd rich friend from college that wanted a roommate, and I lived pretty central for several years.

Difficult for me, when local folk whine about the house prices. My inner imp wants to grab you all and shake you. You have absolutely no idea!

]]> Sto http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819333 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819333 What the Sun, 07 Oct 2007 09:30:56 -0800 Comment by Cale #26, I am.

]]> Cale http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819345 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819345 What the Sun, 07 Oct 2007 10:51:08 -0800 Comment by Just Me you are all right, we are not paying nearly enough for housing in Seattle!!

Realators: Add two zeros at the end of every price in Seattle!!!! We DESERVE it!!!!!!

]]> Just Me http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819424 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819424 What the Sun, 07 Oct 2007 21:01:22 -0800 Comment by Naomi Kritzer When I fantasize about being filthy, stinking rich, the purpose of the money would be to allow me to buy the first sofa that catches my eye when I walk in the high-end home furnishings store, and then donate it to Goodwill when I get tired of the upholstery. Not so that I can spend hours and hours poring over information on cushion density. She's doing it wrong.

]]> Naomi Kritzer http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819429 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819429 What the Sun, 07 Oct 2007 21:25:30 -0800 Comment by options trader I'm hard at work attempting to make a fortune by trading pieces of paper over the internet. It's slow but steady. Once I get enough, I'm going to lounge around all day and live off interest income.

This is my dream; America makes it possible.

]]> options trader http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819432 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819432 What the Sun, 07 Oct 2007 22:14:49 -0800 Comment by Cale #31, good idea, but we should wait 'till i buy a house first ;-)

]]> Cale http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819434 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819434 What the Sun, 07 Oct 2007 22:54:24 -0800 Comment by Darren D. Misklashuvacis COMMENT DELETED: Off-topic
We remove comments that are off topic, threatening, or commercial in nature, and we do not allow sock-puppetry (impersonating someone else)—or any kind of puppetry, for that matter. We never censor comments based on ideology.

]]> Darren D. Misklashuvacis http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819458 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819458 What the Mon, 08 Oct 2007 02:58:46 -0800 Comment by old timer # 35 -The closet case

Christ, haven't you been deported yet?
You are of no value.

]]> old timer http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819473 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819473 What the Mon, 08 Oct 2007 07:57:11 -0800 Comment by It's Mark Mitchell I'm wondering about her shoes, and if she regrets wearing something as predictable as Gucci with the NYT watching. I'd have gone with Roger Vivier -- more interesting, more expensive, and more chic. Better yet, something custom in endangered Siberian baby skin, with Kobe beef linings and diamond soles...

]]> It's Mark Mitchell http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819481 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c819481 What the Mon, 08 Oct 2007 08:27:52 -0800 Comment by derek Mark, you are absolutely right. They smell awfully nouveau to me. Imagine allowing the details of your private life to be seen in a newspaper. Vulgar.

]]> derek http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c820579 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c820579 What the Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:13:37 -0800 Comment by maxsolomon yesterday the NYT front page had a lovely article about the rape epidemic in the congo. it made me sad all day.

i hope mrs. kim has a moment to contemplate that during her "year off to decorate".

]]> maxsolomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c820678 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/first_against_the_wall_1#c820678 What the Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:34:34 -0800