In relative terms 2010 could be the worst year ever in terms of growth and development. That may come as no surprise in light of what’s happening elsewhere, but the disturbing aspect is that activity seems still to be declining here and that may continue indefinitely. Here’s a comparison in terms of the estimated value of the building permits for both residential and other construction that were issued this year and last year (data is from current postings on the City’s website):
2008: 1ST Quarter - $ 7.0 Million
2ND Quarter - 20.8 Million
27.8 Million
2009: 1ST Quarter - $ 4.4 Million
2ND Quarter - 5.3 Million
9.7 Million
Although the economic malaise is surely a factor, there are other matters of major concern, including the City’s rapidly rising impact fees, water and sewer charges and property tax rate, all of which can be avoided by locating elsewhere. That factor and the City’s increasing crime problem may explain why so few single-family homes are being built in Salisbury.
In fact, residential development in Salisbury began to decline several years before the recession began, so there is another reason for concern. And in case you have not noticed there is now a glut of vacant commercial and retail space in many parts of Salisbury.
We could be in a period of several years of very little growth and an even longer period of lower growth than in most of the past 10-15 years. This could be a self-perpetuating situation because one effect of low growth will be higher impact fees and charges for services as well further increase in the tax rate. And being in Wicomico County and the State of Maryland will also result in lower growth and higher costs than would otherwise be the case.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
21 comments:
We all got screwed and were all going to lose everything. So much for twenty five years of back breaking work.
The bigger builders around town cant hold on any more. They will start dropping like flies.
I quess the lesson is to be thankful for what you have when you have it & save more. Lesson learned.
Development in Salisbury for the past decade has soared while demand was falling, so there is a huge glut, and demand will continue to fall because of the competition from the surrounding towns and counties. The boom years for Salisbury are over for at least 10 years and probably forever. The City's taxes, fees and policies are the primary reason, but the crime and general conditions don't help.
"Help is on the Way"!
I quess the silver lining is the fact that most of the homes were built like sh0t & they will all break premature, somebody has to fix it.
Salisbury is a dead city.
Wicomico county is great, just a bunch of losers run it.
You have the college, the doctors and the hospital and Perdue. Other than that this area is dead. I should know I was born here.
What has the county or city done in the last five years to promote growth of any kind?
They have done everything they could to run businesses out of town, for years maybe decades now.
12:05 has got it right. Real estate growth was huge just a few years ago. The problem was that job growth was nill and has been for a long time. WBOC reported that the median age of the shore is getting older and retirees dont need jobs. The few companies/retailers that have opened here dont pay enough to support the boom of increased real estate pricing that the retirees drove up. Now we have a community that lives paycheck to paycheck and a horribly lopsided local economy that put all its eggs in one basket. The word is out that Salisbury has problems and mostly that is due to this site. I have never seen so much local corruption covered up in my life. WBOC reports on crimes in NJ, and Wilmington as if they are local. Meanwhile, murders go unsolved here, banks get robbed and nothing gets done. As long as the good-ol boy network runs this area NOTHING will ever change or progress.
Yes it will, just some of us are going to have have to do things we never wanted to do.
Moved to the area years ago. Sorry to offend some people, but Salisbury, and much of the eastern shore in general, sucks. Salisbury has a college (same a princess anne, but neither can be considered "college towns" at all. Neither have the samll town charm. And there is very little room to find a niche for new business
The good news is, Salisbury University is growing exponentially, which will bring a lot to this area...
I agree with 1:22.
Everything is overpriced here on the shore, especially real estate. For some reason, during the real estate false boom, people decided that their property values should be 4 times what they're worth. Some idiots bought and are now crying the blues. Salisbury will not survive as a college town alone. You need to bring in more responsible citizens to this town, but unfortunately that requires decent jobs to attract them. Good luck with that.
The good 'ole boy system, littles hilters and little gangsters are running this area.
It would help if Salisbury would embrace the college as opposed to fight against it. This is the biggest town on the shore and Cambridge has made better strides than Salisbury. For whatever reason Salisbury talks every issue to death instead of taking any type of action. This area won't grow at all without a true effort to recruit and keep new business. The lower the ses in this area falls the worse it will be for everyone.
Aren't there other means of growth besides new construction?
No matter what you can only build so much, but if you build-up other things, "they will come".
Embracing the college just as soon as their hoodlums stop destroying our properties and have some modicum of respect for others & theirs. Wake me up when it gets here.
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