Media Schmedia

I was doing my sit ups in front of the tv yesterday morning. Another really stupid story about the real estate market was on the news. This one was so stupid that I can't resist saying something about it. The story was about townhomes. It began by applauding the appearance, construction quality and high end finishes of 4 (admittedly lovely) townhomes that have recently been completed in the Wallingford neighborhood. It then showed pictures of townhome projects in other neighborhoods while a "person on the street" opined that most townhouses are ugly and poorly built. At the end of the piece, the reporter mentioned in passing that the Wallingford townhomes "don't come cheap" and list at about $680k and up.

Aaargh! The things they are comparing have nothing to do with one another. The townhomes in Wallingford were built on a lot with almost 100' of street frontage! 100'! In Wallingford! They are in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the city and sell around $700k. The other townhomes shown in the story were in outlying neighborhoods and cost in the high $300k and low $400k range. These houses may not be built with BMW parts, but considering all the construction requirements that the City of Seattle places upon developers, it's hard to imagine that they are poorly built. Has anyone heard of affordable housing? How many people think that we need more $700,000 townhomes? How many think that we need more $350,000 townhomes? I rest my case.