Mary Jane McKinney, a publisher of grammar exercises, writes a column for The Canadian Record and other Texas newspapers called "Plain English," usually about language, but she often tackles other subjects, using her skills as a former reporter and editor. When a two-bedroom, two-bathroom home in her town of Christoval, Texas, population 500, sold for $329,500 after four days on the market, she knew it was "something new," as she told her readers.
The house sold to a retired couple from Austin, at least three hours away, and they "probably think it's a bargain compared to Travis County home prices and property taxes," McKinney writes. "The couple who sold the house moved out today into the house next door, their next real-estate flip they have almost finished renovating.
"Our town knows what's happening. Gentrification has been circling our village like a hungry buzzard for years. Property taxes are low here, and so are the prices of old homes. . . . Real-estate flippers are about to descend on our village," which is already "completely surrounded ... with expensive new homes."
Christoval is only 20 miles from San Angelo, a city of 93,000, with plenty of urban amenities for commuters. "The good news is that our tax base will increase. So will the real-estate values. New restaurants and stores will open, and church congregations may grow," she writes. "The bad news is that gentrification always means displacement of people . . . young couples with children, the working poor, and seniors on fixed incomes. Their families have lived here for generations." For the rest of the column, click here.
After giving the basic facts, McKinney writes, "Our unincorporated village is full of small cottages built in the 1920s and 1930s. . . . Most of the old homes are valued at $40,000 to $80,000. The house that sold was ... a classic Craftsman built in the early 1920s. Six years ago, a couple bought the house at auction for $10,000 and .... doubled its size. They installed high-end fixtures, cabinetry, flooring, windows and a fireplace."
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| Wikipedia base map, adapted |
"Our town knows what's happening. Gentrification has been circling our village like a hungry buzzard for years. Property taxes are low here, and so are the prices of old homes. . . . Real-estate flippers are about to descend on our village," which is already "completely surrounded ... with expensive new homes."
Christoval is only 20 miles from San Angelo, a city of 93,000, with plenty of urban amenities for commuters. "The good news is that our tax base will increase. So will the real-estate values. New restaurants and stores will open, and church congregations may grow," she writes. "The bad news is that gentrification always means displacement of people . . . young couples with children, the working poor, and seniors on fixed incomes. Their families have lived here for generations." For the rest of the column, click here.
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