Dear Editor:

Homeownership was once a good idea, according to Barbara Kiviat’s article in the Sept. 6 issue of Time magazine on “The Case Against Homeownership.” But with all the foreclosures, the walk-a-ways and the neighborhoods plagued by abandoned properties and plummeting home values, these days she’s obsessed with “the dark side of homeownership.” The American dream has become the Nightmare on Elm Street!

Barbara has convinced herself that homeownership is one of the root causes of America's overuse of energy and oil and that homeownership is to blame for the "hollowing out" of our cities and is highly overrated, a poor investment.

Barb, what are you thinking? Your logic is like calling the color purple red. I have been a home owner all of my life and am proud of it. My home is the place where my kids grew up, my own space. It was a good idea when I purchased it and it is a good idea now, despite what you say. Believe me, Barb, it isn't homeownership that created the mess we are in and articles like yours certainly do not help the situation. You only have to look to Washington D.C. for the real answer.

Opportunism — or greed for short — was the cause of the financial collapse. Caution was thrown to the wind, commissions were up and top managers took advantage of their good fortune through bonuses and pay increases. Thousands of families who would not have qualified for a loan before were suddenly eligible. And the good times rolled until, unfortunately, reality set in with a vengeance, and we all know the rest.

I do agree that homeownership is partly responsible for America's overuse of energy and oil. But so are rental housing, cars, factories and stores, the drugs we buy and anything made out of plastic.

Kent Sherry,
Executive Officer, Building Industry Association of Clark County
Springfield, Ohio