My Saturn dealership in Downers Grove, Illinois closed down this weekend. Joining it was the dealerships in Joliet, Illinois and Northwestern Indiana.

Apparently, the Naperville Saturn lives on- but obviously not for long- as the brand is closing. The Naperville Saturn is large and has been in business longer than some of the others which must be why they’re holding on a little longer.

I have owned my green 4-door Saturn since 1997. It was a “new” 1998 model at the time, just new in the showroom, when I bought it. The car now has 83,000 miles on it and has been on both the east and the west coasts.

And it still drives like it’s brand new.

A Tale of One Car

I bought the car at the Saturn of Alexandria, Virginia where the “salesperson” (I use those terms lightly because, as you recall, there was no negotiation on price at the Saturn dealerships …

The pundits are all saying that the housing “bottom” is upon us.

They base it on the uptick in sales that are occuring in less than a handful of states- including California, Arizona and Nevada.

In some places in those states, foreclosures have driven prices down below 1989 levels.

Houses in the Phoenix area that once sold for $300,000 are now listed for $50,000 and $70,000 by the bank.

How could there NOT be an uptick in sales?

The problem is- not many sales are occuring of “organic” properties (i.e. those not owned by the bank.)

Houses owned by normal sellers can’t compete with bank prices so those homes sit on the market. Yet, the bank prices are now setting the comps and essentially ARE the market in those areas.

In many other parts of the country where foreclosures, while plentiful, aren’t yet pushing down prices by huge percentages- can we say we’re at the “bottom”?

Chicago Prices …

A funny thing is happening to the American economy.

Remember all those stories with the dire predictions of labor shortages as the oldest of the baby boomers retire and Generation X, at half the size, not being able to fill all the job openings?

Surprise!

The Baby Boomers aren’t retiring after all.

And those that already have, are re-entering the workforce after the market collapse shredded their portfolios and the housing bust decimated the value of, probably, their largest asset.

In some cases, 60-year olds are competing against their 25-year old children for the same jobs. And, sorry to say, with the changes in technology, if you’ve been out of the workforce even 5 years (let alone 25), you’ll be at an extreme disadvantage.

From the New York Times:

It has been a humbling time. Mrs. Diamond, who has a master’s degree in library science and was chairwoman of the library committee at her sons’ …

Just because a city existed at one time in history doesn’t mean it always will.

Just ask historians of Pompei, which has been wiped out in several volcanic eruptions, or climb the Aztec or Mayan pyramids and wonder, “what happened to those civilizations?”

Will future historians one day be asking, “what happened in this place called Detroit?”

Many Detroit-area bloggers, and some journalists, are now addressing the question of nature “reclaiming” the city land.

From the Detroit News:

Detroit was once home to nearly 2 million people but has shrunk to a population of perhaps less than 900,000. It is estimated that a city the size of San Francisco could fit neatly within its empty lots. As nature abhors a vacuum, wildlife has moved in.

A beaver was spotted recently in the Detroit River. Wild fox skulk the 15th hole at the Palmer Park golf course. There is bald eagle, hawk and …