Responses to the letter

The SunHerald printed my letter on the 22nd. The only change they made was to the title...they used Price gouging? Or basic supply and demand?

Only two responses thus far, both via E-mail.

Here's one:

Just a note on economics: As you correctly point out, the supply and demand
balance of Coast housing has changed, but that doesn't imply that raising
rents isn't "gouging." The lack of housing simply allows rising rents; it doesn't
require it.

An interesting thought on the rent raising, though I still think if you have a short supply and high demand, that's going to bump the price up in order to ensure a supply. Basic market forces there.

Here's the other E-mail reply:

Excellent letter... Thank God there are people like you who understand
basic supply and demand. It is going to be tough here for quite a
while... Things will get better, but rent may not ever go back down to
pre-Katrina levels.


I have faith that if we can get our housing unit levels back up to what they were (if not higher) pre-Katrina, that rents will eventually go back down.

Note I said "if". Because it will take the residents convincing their planning
commissions and city councils/county boards of supervisors that housing developments that encompass all income levels (and not just high-end condos or 5+ acre lots in the country) are what's needed around here.

And, of course, that will take some doing...

It's been a while. A few months while. Time for an update.

Below is a Letter to the Editor that I sent to the SunHerald today. It's regarding where housing costs have gone here on the Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina.


Title: One person's price gouging is another person's supply-and-demand.

Several times over the last few months, I've noticed complaints in Sound Off regarding how rent has shot up dramatically. The chief complaint I've read is that a given person's rent has gone up x dollars, or is now so high that they can no longer afford it. There have even some accusations of price gouging.

I understand where they're coming from, as my own rent will increase about $270 when my current lease expires. But while it's unfortunate what we've all gone through down here, and that some good hard-working people will be forced to move elsewhere because of high rent, it's just as unfortunate that some of these people haven't stopped to think about WHY rents have shot up through the roof around here.

Consider this: yes, we went through a major hurricane last year. That hurricane destroyed a lot of apartments and housing units. And while people did evacuate for the hurricane and did not return, that loss of population was made up for in the number of construction and other workers that flooded the area after Katrina. Furthermore, I've heard that there are several families that refuse to live in a FEMA trailer, and thus have looked for accommodations in other ways.

So in reality, the result is we have a similar (if not) higher level of demand for housing, contrasted against a big drop in the housing supply. Thus, housing costs and rents go up, often in big and surprising numbers.

If you truly think that price gouging is involved, contact your local supervisor or legislator. Contact the attorney general. Better yet, do the research yourself into how many apartment/housing units were lost, how many are available, and how many people there are trying to live in or find those remaining units.

Ultimately, the solution either way will require replacing the lost housing units or othewise increasing the housing supply. Contact your local officials and pressure them to support developments that will increase this supply, at prices that everyone can afford. Not every one, even middle-class, will be able to afford living in a condo.

Just don't sit and complain in an anonymous forum about the rents.

More catching up...

This time with my household goods...all that survived was my dining room table, and even that took some damage, though I think I'll be able to sand it down and refinish it.

As an aside, I never realized just how expensive kitchen stuff could be until I had to go and replace it all...

A bit of catching-up

Quick notes since I haven't been on this thing in a month...

- My apartment fared quite well...only minor ceiling damage. My household goods are another story...even at this point, I still have no word on them.

- Not quite as much damage around Picayune as I thought there would have been. Most of it was wind damage...flying debris and such. Of course, you'd never know that from watching the news media, as they never made it up here after the storm...

- Household goods aside, things are starting to get back to normal...more or less back to normal ops at Stennis, which means I'll finally be getting busy with what I came down here to do originally.

Should I be here or there?

Part of me now kinda wishes that I'd have stayed back at Stennis. At least then I'd be in a position to do something and help out, albeit at the price of no power, no Internet, and no idea how I'd be able to eat or take a shower.

So part of me is glad that I did evacuate when I did. My friends Billy and Seth have been great, and I'm grateful for them offering me a place to stay during this...event. But I can't help but feel a little guilty about having food, water, a shower, Internet, and a real mattress to sleep on when my co-workers who stayed behind probably aren't in that same situation.

I hope the situation improves....and soon. I'm sure Stennis is more or less intact, but I want to know if I still have an apartment to go back to....or if I still have any household goods.

The good and bad of Katrina...

Starting with the good:

- I'm still in good health.
- Still have my laptop and car intact and functional.
- There's at least some promising reports of rescues and goodwill from the Coast.
- At least one Biloxi landmark (the Beau Rivage) is still standing.
- Most of the French Quarter looks to be more or less intact.
- Friends who are letting me stay with them as long as I need to.

Now to the bad...and unfortunately there's a lot of it:

- Damage and death by the score (no need to go into details here...it's plastered enough across the news media).
- No word on when we'll be able to return.
- *NO* word on any of my friends or co-workers.
- *NO* word on whether I still have an office or an apartment to come back to.
- No word on the status of my household goods, which were supposed to be delivered to my apartment tomorrow (fat chance of that happening now), and last word I had were sitting somewhere in Biloxi.

A special rant for the news media, who seem to be concentrating on New Orleans and Mobile, and a little bit on Gulfport/Biloxi. What about the rest of the region? Picayune, for example, is a decent sized town, yet there's been no word whatsoever on its status...and there's been very little out of Slidell either. How about spreading out some of the coverage? At least *ONE* news item or status report would be nice from areas that haven't received such over the news...

That's enough from me. I'm gonna play Civilization now...

What a way to start...

Been thinking about setting up a blog for months now, and just finally got around to it....though the circumstances behind my setting it up aren't the greatest. The Deep South's latest enemy, Katrina, pushed me north out of Picayune a week-and-a-half after reporting to Stennis (my new duty station) and barely 4 days after getting my new apartment. I've had a rant formulating about the situation for a couple days now, which gave me enough motivation to finally set up a blog (though I took the lazy way out and didn't put it on my website directly). Maybe I'll get around to that one of these days...