"Many economists, like the Wharton School's Joseph Gyourko, are beginning to make the case that public policies should encourage renting, or at least put it on a level playing field with home ownership. A June 2009 survey commissioned by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, found a deep-seated pessimism about home ownership, suggesting that even if renting doesn't yet have cachet, it's the only choice left for those who have been burned by the housing market. One third of respondents don't believe that they will ever be able to own a home. And 42% of those who once purchased a home, but don't own one now, believe that they'll never own one again."
- tiffany
from Bookmarklet
"Federal housing policies changed the whole landscape of America, creating the sprawlscapes that we now call home, and in the process, gutting inner cities, whose residents, until the civil rights legislation of 1968, were largely excluded from federally backed mortgage programs. Of new housing today, 80% is built in suburbs—the direct legacy of federal policies that favored outlying...
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- tiffany
you know, if i had to do it again, i would not have bought a house.
- tiffany
@angryK ...i'm with you. however the one thing that sucks about renting is you can't make modifications to your home.
- .LAG liked that
not entirely true .LAG. some places will let you make the mod as long as you restore it when you leave. if you rent a house from a particular landlord, you may have even more flexibility. and if your modification has to do with more space, renting means you can move with greater ease. home ownership is expensive as hell precisely because of those incidentals like yardwork / landscape services, fallen tree branches, and maintenance.
- tiffany
tiffany... you're right, no doubt. my landlord, however, had no intention of allowing the "modification" i wanted, which was to put a DirectTV dish on his roof. so i'm stuck with cable TV. oh well.
- .LAG liked that
While I like the artwork and sentiment, the characters are really accurate. MySpace are moms and kids, Twitter is 30+, ok the YouTube guy looks about right assuming he's a commenter :-)
- DaveDelaney.ME
OK, time to get out the water buckets and brushes, and let them "paint the fence" My Uncle pulled this on us little tykes, and when we got to the end of the fence, we had to start over! Finally caught on when we caught my uncle laughing on the back porch! Very cute twins!
- Nicholas Chase
I've had a couple of puppies that do the same darn thing! God loves toilet paper, that's why all the children of the world find it so fun!
- Laurel Chase-Dunn
The beginnings of my office supply fetish, I'm sure. Pens, pencils, folders for each class, narrow rule paper. Those were the easy days and we never knew it.
- CAJ, somewhere else
yes, I had several, and love how I kept everything in order!
- magali
I refused to get a Trapper Keeper because *everyone* had one. Instead I got the off-brand ones and would get a sticker and write "BINDER" on the spine. Yes. 5th grade me was HILARIOUS.
- Admiral Anika
Didn't have a trapper keeper. Also had a knock-off. Didn't really see what the damned diff was though..LOL
- Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah
Anika, OMG, you're such a creative rebel! OMG OMG OMG SOOOOOOOO COOL.
- Akiva Moskovitz
Those were awesome. I probably owned like 10 while growing up.
- Brett Kelly
from iPhone
One year, I found some MEGA TRAPPER KEEPER that was also some off-brand but it was twice as large, twice as nerdy, and I instantly became twice the virgin. School ruled. [crying]
- Akiva Moskovitz
I never had a Trapper Keeper. I was very picky about the way rings in notebooks looked and didn't like the Trapper Keeper rings. I always chose a plain white binder with the clear front that I could slip a sheet of paper into. I then bought several 8.5"x11" sheets of printed paper (like scrapbook paper) to slip in the front as decoration.
- Rochelle
Never got any because they were too expensive. We were po'.
- pea
I had one once, but it only lasted about 2 months. I was rough on a binder. *edited* Still am.
- ha3rvey (doesn't dance)
I remember the first Vietnamese Nerd who showed up with a D-ring binder. It was like someone discovering fire and showing it off.
- Akiva Moskovitz
I've always liked these. Even today I have a bad habit of buying leather portfolios with way too many pockets.
- Rob Haas
I would get one and never use it. I'd put paper in the folders label them for each class and proceed to not use it the rest of the school year. Total waste of money but I had to have it.
- Give 'Em DBizness
Can't you just feel the vinyl separating from those brads in the spine? And smell it? And hear the velcro rip? Man that brings back memories....
- Fa La La La Lindsay
@Lindsay: The sound of velcro separating makes me feel uneasy.
- Brandon
Really? What started that phobia for you? I like that sound. :)
- Fa La La La Lindsay
The all black ones would get sold out first. Brandon - I am TOTALLY allergic to the sound of velcro, too!!
- Mona Nomura
I never had one. I've never been the most organized person. Maybe its because I never had one? *ponders*
- Derrick
I wanted one of those so bad. I don't think I ever did get one.
- Trish Haley
@Lindsay: I don't know when it started to happen, but now I don't feel alone bc Mona feels the same.
- Brandon
I had some of these too. I still liked the Pee Chee's a little more? Good memories!
- Michael Fidler
I get this uneasy feeling at the pit of my stomach and a not so good tingling up and down my vertebra which finishes with the shakes. I think i am really really allergic.
- Mona Nomura
My friend gets that way when she hears markers on white boards or paper.
- Yolanda
omg we were just looking for these the other day!
- Andrizzle Gizzle
I think mine was purple. LOL! Loved it!
- Gabrielle V
Thats exactly how it makes me feel, Mona.
- Brandon
I heart you for this, Derrick. New Trapper Keepers every year were the highlight of back-to-school prep. /nerd
- Kisha, Well Conditioned
from BuddyFeed
YES!!! This brings back memories. I remember getting a new one every year. I was the anal organized type so I absolutely loved these. It made each new school year extra special :)
- Grant Gochnauer
My red Trapper Keeper had punk band logos all over it. I was such a little Sk8r Grrl back then. lol
- Leslie Poston
I would doodle them on the Trapper Keeper and on the white areas and soles of my Chucks and Vans... no wonder I can't do math to this day...
- Leslie Poston
That time in my life was also my first Sharpie experience. I never did decide whether I preferred the permanence of the Sharpie of the heady smell of the thick black Magic Marker (also, too many comments in a row, sorry!)
- Leslie Poston
We always had the "just as good" kind (to quote my father) with names like "Keeper Trapper" and "Trooper Keeper."
- Noah Belson
I liked the thought of them but they were way too pricey for our budget. Plus I hated how everyone else's looked like crap after the first few weeks: the white edging would tear away from the plastic at the corners and hurt like a mofo if it slid underneath your fingernails.
- FFing Enigma (aka Tina)
@Tina - YES! That was part of the Trapper Keeper experience!
- Fa La La La Lindsay
Each of us kids got one Trapper Keeper at the beginning of the year. If we took care of it, then great. If it got messed up, then we had to wait until the next school year for a new one.
- Jason Huebel
"I don't wanna wait, for my Trapper Keeper to be ovah!" lol I was one of those kids with the dolphin or tiger folders, the ones with stars and planets in the background, inside the bright colored Lisa Frank imitation binders. The ones that I had at home though were self decorated. @hitchhiker, my school had the duct tape trend too, but it wasn't many kids doing it.
- Heather
My mommie and daddie never bought me a trapper keeper... *sniffles*
- Joel Robert Perez
I never wanted one because I didn't want to lug it around to every class like everyone else did. I preferred just taking one folder to each class. I didn't need something extra to put my folders in.
- Katy S
After an initial "WFT is a Trapper Keeper?" I checked. I'd say we were po', but it's more that it didn't exist when I was going to school... Suddenly feeling very old.
- Walt Crawford