LEADVILLE A coffee shop downtown finally got fed up with the question and posted an answer: No, you cannot leave your bicycle in here. Everyone has a $10,000 bike.

The sign got laughs from the locals, whove earned the right by living year-round at 10,000 feet to poke fun at Front Range and out-of-state tourists and their fancy bikes.

Gobs of them flooded this mountain town during the pandemic, bought second homes to work remotely for the summer, drove up property taxes and the cost of breakfast burritos, and pinched out the workers who commute over the hill to clean hotels in Vail and Frisco.

Just a few years ago, Leadville was a quiet place where houses were affordable, workers were available and business was slow compared to nearby mountain towns. Folks who live here figure the high elevation kept people away.

Thats over now.

Leadville has gained international notoriety with its Leadville 100, a grueling, 100-mile ultra-run at high elevation that happens this weekend. Its mountain bike race, 100 miles topping out at 12,424 feet, attracts competitors from around the world, including Lance Armstrong, who won in 2009. Theres also skijoring, in which a horse pulls a skier down the snow-covered main street, and burro racing, in which a donkey and a trail runner take turns pulling each other up and down a 3,000-foot mountain pass.

The extreme-terrain events have been amping up Leadvilles profile for years, yet unlike all the resort towns around it where tourism fueled a booming economy over the past few decades Leadville still felt like a quiet, old mining town.

The coronavirus pandemic, though, shoved Leadville and Lake County full speed into the kind of vacation-rental economy thats now common in Colorados high country. While second homes in the county sit vacant or are listed as short-term rentals, a housing shortage has doubled or even tripled home prices. Half of all home sales in 2020 and 2021 were to second-home owners. Some restaurants have had to close a couple of days a week because they cant find workers who can afford to live there.

Town leaders at least had the advantage of seeing the affordable housing crises unfold in Vail, Breckenridge and Aspen, and they jumped ahead of the curve in passing an ordinance that caps non-owner-occupied vacation rentals at 12% of all housing in the city limits. Now theres talk of lowering the cap, which the city quickly reached and had to put want-to-be landlords on a waiting list.

County commissioners, for their part, made it easier for homeowners to build garage apartments and other so-called accessory dwelling units, simplifying the permit process.

We want growth on our terms, said Jeff Fiedler, one of three Lake County commissioners. We want to keep whats special about this place. We have one school district, one Safeway, one post office. We all know each other. Nothing against people who visit, but we dont want to be 70% short-term rentals and second-home owners.

Of course there is grumbling about property taxes and Texas license plates in the county of about 8,000, as well as plenty of opinions usually expressed in Safeway aisle No. 7 or at the coffee shop on historic Harrison Avenue rather than in public meetings, Fiedler said. The long-time residents pine for quieter times, before their property taxes doubled and the streets were packed with people who drove in for the weekend to watch a racing event and eat a fry-bread taco.

Most, though, are talking about how to deal with the growth in a thoughtful way, trying to figure out how to keep the old-time charm but create affordable housing and more child care options.

On the bright side, the boost in tax dollars is helping Lake County begin to catch up on gaps in services left lingering for decades. County commissioners have moved ahead with plans for a $45 million justice center after major liability and safety concerns about the dilapidated jail. The jail in Leadville hasnt been updated in 65 years and, before closing two years ago, had cell doors so rickety that deputies had to ask inmates to help wiggle them open.

The county has been driving criminal offenders all the way to the eastern plains, at a cost of about $250,000 per year.

You could get arrested for a DUI or drunk and disorderly on Saturday, and you wake up Sunday morning on the Kansas border, Fiedler said. And then you have no way home.

Growth brings plenty of problems, but at least there are more tax dollars flowing into the city and county to fix some of them, he said. Commissioners recently boosted salaries so now the lowest-paid county workers make a minimum of $40,000 per year. Construction on the new justice center is expected to start next year.

We are catching up on that kind of deferred maintenance. We are able to provide raises to county staff, said Fiedler, who became a commissioner a year and a half ago. We havent had the money to consider doing that.

Vanessa Saldivar moved to Leadville about a year ago after accepting a job with a local nonprofit. She and her husband had dreams of buying a home and settling into the small-town life. Except there were no homes, to buy or even to rent.

The move from Denver was delayed by months as Saldivars new coworkers networked through friends to find a rental house. They took the rental and kept looking for a home to buy, watching as the prices were inflating at an alarming rate, Saldivar said.

At this point, we have given up hope, she said. It impacts our long-term plans and our ability to put down roots here.

To add to their stress, the couple had a baby last fall but hasnt found child care. They are 12th on a waitlist and Saldivars husband is staying home to take care of their daughter.

Its such a lovely place to live that we just keep pushing through, she said.

The price for Leadvilles growth is being paid for by the families that live in this town who, by and large, are not super affluent, Saldivar said. Weve reached a point where people cant innocently own a second home in Lake County and Airbnb it and think theyre not hurting people. If we cant house teachers, health care workers, our nonprofit leaders, our families that live here are the ones that pay for that. Not the vacation-home owners.

Ted Green, who moved to Leadville from Chicago with his wife and three kids a year ago, spent the first few months dismantling suspicions about his intentions. Green left behind what on paper was the picture-perfect life, spacious home and a job at Facebook to open a candy store on Leadvilles main street.

Locals who walked into the new Blueflower Candies & Provisions suspected Green was some rich guy who opened the store and then intended to live elsewhere and pay someone minimum wage to run it. Hes had to win them over, one by one, by explaining that his wife is a teacher at the local school and his family is living full-time in Leadville.

Residents are fed up with people with money coming into town and buying buildings and turning them into swanky things that they had where they were from, said Green, who admits he used to wear tailored clothes and tried to keep up with the Joneses and was miserable. They walk in and say, Where do you live? What else do you do? Theyre waiting for me to say that I live in Denver and Im going to have somebody run the store for 12 bucks an hour. Im super sensitive to that. Thats why Im so cautious and welcoming to everybody in the community.

The Greens were lucky, buying three acres south of town about four years ago, before the rush. Theyre living in a rental while building a house on their property, which has a view of the Mosquito Range and access to Mount Sheridan from a backyard that touches a national forest. Its like 360 degrees of awesomeness, said Green, a cyclist. Our backyard is basically infinite.

He quickly got involved in Leadvilles economic development corporation and ended up bailing on his initial plan of opening an ice cream shop when he learned a nearby hotel was putting in an ice cream parlor.

With the candy shop, Green is trying to make sure he fills a need for locals, not just tourists with kids. In the summer, tourists raid the grocery store and leave the shelves bare, so Green added some basic groceries and granola bars to his inventory. He also keeps a running list of nostalgic candy mentioned by locals, including Boston Baked Beans and Black Jack chewing gum.

I didnt want to be the guy that came in from the big city and said, I know what is going to work, he said. I wanted to support the community first and the tourists second.

The reasons Leadville took off so fast stem from how it was doing before coronavirus showed up.

Interest in the town was growing, thanks to the race series that goes all summer, building up to the Leadville 100 in August. But the town was still low-key and affordable, the 10,000-foot location a deterrent to many. Its harder to breathe, obviously, but also harder for some to sleep and a more difficult place to grow old. Vacation homes were under $200,000 only a few years ago.

Also, theres no huge resort, only the family-oriented Ski Cooper about 15 minutes away. The tourism was never centered on a ski resort, but on a combination of smaller attractions hiking trails, ultra running, mountain climbing and cycling, and the museums focused on the history of the mining town that stretches back to the 1850s when miners discovered gold.

All of it meant Leadville was set up to blossom when the pandemic sent tourists outdoors and remote workers in search of mountain homes.

It hadnt bloomed yet, and why? asked Francisco Tharp, who has lived in Leadville for 12 years. The towns surrounding Leadville Vail, Aspen, Salida went through the booms long ago. But Leadville was a depressed mining town into the 1990s. It hadnt blown up in that way.

Leadville was still considered a bedroom community, where many residents traveled to work in nearby resort towns, cleaning hotel rooms and serving food. About 70% of the workforce was going over the hill to work in Summit and Eagle counties, said Tharp, who recently stepped down from the city council after moving out of his ward. Thats beginning to shift as there are more construction and tourism jobs in Lake County, he said.

Its not a bedroom community anymore, Tharp said. And people have nowhere to go. Leadville was the last place that people got pushed out of, and thats going to affect Summit County and Eagle County.

In 2016, Tharps family bought a three-bedroom home in downtown Leadville for $175,000. You couldnt even get a closet in Vail for that, he said. Now, his house, which he uses as a long-term rental, could sell for four times that, Tharp said.

The population in Lake County hasnt actually gone up that much, but the shift has brought in more second-home owners and pushed out lower-income residents, local leaders said. And the divide between the wealthy and the poor is widening, which has caused a kind of geographic segregation. Many of the countys working class are Latino, concentrated in some of the last available affordable housing mobile home parks. About 70% of the school district is Latino.

Tharps partner, Elsa Tharp, owns a hotel in town on the grounds of an old train depot. Freight has a group of cabins for rent, plus an events venue to host weddings and quinceaneras. Finding workers has been a challenge.

Francisco Tharp said that while Leadville and Lake County leaders are doing what they can to manage the growth, he hopes state lawmakers take action, too. He wants a mechanism for counties to charge a vacant-home tax, as well as better documentation so that communities can keep track of second-home ownership.

While some question whether the racing series, which was sold by its founder to Life Time Fitness in 2010, got too big, brought too much notoriety, Tharp disagrees. When the series began in Leadville, the town was impoverished, suffering from the closure of the mines in the 1990s. People were moving away; houses were selling for cheap.

What was the alternative? Just wallowing in poverty, he said. Its a complicated story, and people might have different opinions about whether we are better off now or could we have taken a different tack.

Trail running, including the Leadville 100, is mainly what made Greg Labbe fall in love with the town. He moved to Leadville full time 11 years ago and now hes the mayor.

Labbe, 74, hasnt run a whole 100 and doesnt plan to, but hes joined his sons in the race for as long as 34 miles.

The mayor says the last couple of years have been weird, to say the least. While other towns and counties were suffering during the pandemic, tax collections were up 46% in 2020 in Leadville, he said. Businesses were reporting a 30% increase in sales.

It was stunning. At the same time, our affordable housing was diminishing, Labbe said. A restaurant that had plenty of staff now has 70% of staff so they have to close on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In 2020 and 2021, about 50% of all home sales were to second-home owners, the mayor said. A new housing development on the north end of town is expected to add about 300 homes, though the 10-year project is just beginning.

Its not just the housing crisis thats exhausting, the locals say. The towns vibe has changed as tourism has grown more intense.

We used to have mud season,said Nathalie Eddy, wife of commissioner Fiedler and director of the annual burro race. There was this quiet time in the fall where you just felt the energy go down. You only saw friends and family in town. Weve lost those shoulder seasons. There is almost never a time when youre like, ahhh. Its good for the businesses, but its just a different rhythm that we are adjusting to.

Still, its not entirely fair to judge others who want to escape to the mountains just because they didnt get there first, said Eddy, who moved to town 14 years ago. We were all new here at some point. Most of us arent old Leadville, she said. Everybody is trying to figure out how to embrace this change.

And the whole town is trying to figure out how to deal with its popularity.

There is a difference between what the races bring to town in terms of commerce and in terms of identity, Mayor Labbe said.

This is a small, mountain city. We are known around the world and I take pride in that. I want people to value Leadville the way I value it, but I dont want them to feel like they need to move here to do that.

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Leadville was an old mining town until COVID brought the tourists - The Colorado Sun

When we last spoke in March, Bonny Doon resident Ann McKenzie, whose home burned down in the CZU Lightening Complex fires, was waiting on the county permits so she could start rebuilding her homeand lifeafter the fires.

Not much has changed.

McKenzie is going on her third year of living without a permanent home. She shares an RV with her husband on the property where their home once stood, and she expects it will be nearly another year before they are able to move into their rebuilt home.

One of the most frustrating parts, says McKenzie, is that they havent even been able to break ground. Thats due to the permitting process, which she says has been slow and tedious. McKenzie and her husband originally applied to get pre-clearance permits on April 14, 2021. They finally received them in May of 2022, over a year after they started the process.

McKenzie is now waiting on different permitsand so are the majority of CZU fire survivors.

Two years after the fires, 187 permits are still being processed, and the county has issued 152 pre-clearances.

Out of the 911 homes that were destroyed in the fires, only 11 have been rebuilt.

That leaves a gap of almost 600 homes that are not currently in the process of rebuilding legally. The remaining homeowners could still apply for permits, but in March, Good Times spoke with multiple people who were fed up with the lengthy permitting processafter living for two years in tents or mobile homes, in many casesand admitted they planned to rebuild illegally, without permits.

County officials say the county has tried to pare down the process as much as possible, by cutting permitting costs, setting up the Office of Response Recovery as a resource to help homeowners rebuild, and hosting informational town halls to help with the permitting process.

As for why only 11 homes have been reconstructed, a county official speculates that contractor scarcity and supply chain issues could be to blame for the large discrepancy between people with permits in hand and finalized homes. CZU fire survivors are looking at higher residential construction costs, a labor shortage problem in construction and building material shortages.

McKenzies story illustrates another reason: that even after all pre-clearance permits are issued, theres still lag time to receive the other necessary permits.

After pre-clearances, owners like McKenzie submit applications for their dwelling units building permit, which includes construction documents, geotechnical engineering report, along with any other required technical material.

McKenzies designers submitted those additional permits to 4Leaf, the countys permitting agency, on July 29.

But to her dismay and frustration, 4Leaf notified her that the Single Family Dwelling permit must be submitted separately from the Additional Dwelling Unit permit, a detail she says no one mentioned beforehand. Her designers are still separating the documents.

The whole permitting process was riddled with small (and not-so-small) setbacks like this one, according to McKenzie. 4Leaf has a processing timeline of 10 days, but McKenzie says the reality tends to be closer to a few weeks, and even sometimes a month.

McKenzies story is not unique, especially because the areas hit the hardest by the fires were in the more rural parts of Santa Cruz County. Bonny Doon, Ben Lomand and other areas of the Santa Cruz Mountains were home to the majority of the 911 houses that were burned during the fires.

Those communities have struggled the most to get up to code, according to Michael Renner, Executive Director of 4Leaf. Pre-clearances take into consideration fire access, environmental health-sewage disposal and potential geologic hazards. But the requirements to receive those permits have changed in the time that these more rural communities developed, and many people have lived in the areas homes for generations.

McKenzie just hopes that she can get all the permits soonas the rainier months loom, she knows getting the foundation done as soon as possible will be crucial, so that construction can continue throughout winter.

The day she does break ground, McKenzie plans on celebratingeven though it marks the start of another months-long journey,

Im gonna have a ceremony and a ribbon cutting, and Im gonna stand there with a shovel, she says.

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Two Years After CZU: Still Tangled in Red Tape | Good Times - Good Times

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Las Vegas mobile homes in high demand as property values, rent continue to soar - FOX5 Las Vegas

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) For the last few years, Franklin and VyTeshia Badger focused on inflatables.

Their Jump Jump Around Rentals business brought bounce houses to homes.

Then VyTeshias younger brother had a birthday party on a gaming trailer, and it turned into a game-changer for the couple.

Were like we can do this. So we put our heads together and started to search for the bus, VyTeshia said.

Six months later, they created the Level Up mobile arcade.

We wanted to make sure we cater toall ages, all types of gamer. So we got a large variety. We have a PS5, which is really like a hot commodity right now, Franklin said.,

COVID has made people more cautious and helped this business succeed.

It actually has been really good for us.People have wanted that safety that they know that the equipment is sanitized. A lot of trampoline parks, you dont know how often things are sanitized. But we sanitize right on site, Franklin said.

Inside the shuttle, you will find several televisions hooked up to gaming systems.

We have several games on the PS5 right now such as Madden, Mortal Kombat, Grand Theft Auto. We have PS4, Xbox, and some of the kids favorite is the Nintendo Switch. They love the Mario Kart and the Super Smash Brothers, Franklin said.

The gaming bus can hold 12 to 14 kids, and it comes with lighting and music.

Youll also find a classic Pac-Man machine onboard and other options for adults to get in on the fun.

We have four TVs in there, so you can actually play just regular cable TV on our TVs. You can watch several games that are going on Sunday night and Monday night, and you and your guys can come on our bus and watch the game and keep up with your fantasy league, Franklin said.

This new level of business will keep the Badgers business rolling all year. But before their game is over, they have next-level plans.

We want to become a household name. We want everyone to know Jump Jump Around and Level Up Arcade, VyTeshia said.

The couple prides themselves on being a one-stop-shop.

You could pretty much call us, and we could handle your entire birthday party.All you have to do is show up and invite your guest, and well show up and bring the party to you, Franklin said. So I think just being able to provide all these necessities for any type of it makes us different makes us stand out.

You can book the arcade bus or get an inflatable at jumpjumparoundrentals.com, or you can call (336) 486-8793.

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Greensboro couple creates mobile gaming bus to bring the party to you - WGHP FOX8 Greensboro

Connecticut homeowners insurance overview

There's more to finding the best homeowners insurance in Connecticut than identifying the lowest premium. Here are some other factors worth considering when shopping for a policy in Connecticut:

There are six types of policies designed to cover traditional (non-mobile) homes, from basic policies to coverage with all the bells and whistles. The best homeowners insurance companies offer them all. It pays to look for the level of coverage that best fits whatever would need to be repaired or replaced following damage. For example, a homeowner with a recording studio in the basement may want extra coverage to protect expensive recording equipment.

A cheap policy may be inexpensive only because it provides so little coverage. If a homeowner sleeps better at night knowing they have plenty of coverage, it may be worth paying a slightly higher premium.

A deductible is an amount a homeowner is responsible for paying toward a claim. Let's say a basement leaks, and the total cost of the repair is $7,000. If the policy includes a $1,000 deductible, the homeowner pays the contractors $1,000, and the insurance company covers the remaining $6,000.

One way to land cheap homeowners insurance in Connecticut is to look into all possible policy discounts. Until a homeowner has factored in all available discounts, it's nearly impossible to compare one policy to another. Almost all insurance companies offer home insurance discounts. They include things as basic as the insured being a non-smoker to the house having a newer roof.

Every region is known for a different set of natural disasters. For example, Arkansas has tornadoes, and South Carolina has hurricanes. But natural disasters are not the only reason a Connecticut homeowner might file a claim. Here are some of the top Connecticut home insurance claims:

The only places on the planet that are thunderstorm-free are in the Arctic Ocean near the north pole and in the interior of Antarctica. That means all homeowners in the U.S. must concern themselves with what happens if a thunderstorm damages their home. Wind and hail can wreak havoc on roofs, gutters, siding, and outbuildings.

Whether lightning causes a fire or a fire begins some other way, the fact that fire and lightning are among the top insurance claims underscores the importance of having a policy that fully covers the homeowner's financial investment.

Given that Connecticut is so far north, it's no surprise that one of the most common claims is for water damage. Something as simple as ice piling up on a roof and then melting can cause roof damage and leaks into the interior of a home. In addition, homeowners make claims when appliances leak, pipes burst, and basements take on water.

Most homeowners adore their pups, and can't imagine the family pet biting a visitor. But dogs are animals, and whether it's due to an overprotective or an anxious dog, bites are one of the most common claims made by Connecticut homeowners.

A simple slip and fall can lead to something as easy to fix as a skinned knee. On the other hand, it can lead to serious injury and result in a huge hospital bill. Given that slips and falls are not at all rare, it's important to carry a homeowners insurance policy with enough coverage to deal with the outcome of a slip and fall -- whatever it may be.

The best homeowners insurance in Connecticut provides a high enough level of coverage to take care of whatever peril may befall a home. Looking for homeowners insurance is a matter of comparing coverage options and potential discounts. Here's a bit more about coverage and discount options:

Homeowners with a non-mobile home have a choice of six categories of coverage. These categories are referred to as HO-1 through HO-8. Of the eight, one type covers renters, and another covers mobile homes only. The six remaining policy types range from basic coverage to comprehensive protection. A homeowner can pick up coverage, for instance, for jewelry, precious coins, and artwork. The trick is to match a policy to the needs of a specific homeowner.

Locating cheap homeowners insurance in Connecticut depends, in part, on taking advantage of as many discounts as possible. Each insurer offers a different set of homeowners insurance discounts. Here are some of the most common:

There are any number of reasons a home may be more (or less) expensive to insure. For example, insurance companies look at the crime rate in a city, how near (or far) a house is from a fire station, and the value of other homes in the area. Here are the five cheapest cities in Connecticut for homeowners insurance:

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2022 Best Cheap Homeowners Insurance in Connecticut - Motley Fool

National Weather Service forecasters confirmed over the weekend that a sixth tornado touched down in Southwest Florida the morning of Jan. 16.

An EF-0 tornado touched down in Cape Coral between Trafalgar Parkway and Pine Island Road, causing no reported injuries and only minimal damage.

That same morning an EF-2 tornado with 118 mph winds touched down in the Iona region of South Fort Myers off John Morris Road causing four reported injuries, and damage to more than one hundred mobile homes, including 30 that were destroyed. Other structures were damaged in the Gulf Harbour Yacht and Country Club, Kelly Greens, and McGregor Woods neighborhoods for a total of more than $1 million in estimated damages according to Lee County officials.

Other tornadoes touched down that same morning in Collier and Charlotte Counties as a storm front moved through the region including a tornado that flipped a semi tractor-trailer on its side, temporarily blocking westbound traffic on I-75.

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National Weather Service confirms 6th tornado in SW Florida on January 16 - WGCU News

The Hoover City Council on Feb. 21 plans to vote on whether to rezone 15.7 acres along U.S. 280 to make way for 120 townhomes and three commercial buildings totaling about 25,000 square feet.

The property is at 5352 U.S. 280, directly across from the Walmart Supercenter. It currently is zoned as a general business district in unincorporated Shelby County and includes a pawn shop, which would be torn down to make way for two restaurants and a 12,600-square-foot commercial building, said Signature Homes President Jonathan Belcher, who is working with Terra Equities on the proposal.

Just south of the 4.5 acres of commercial space to be developed by Terra Equities, a little further away from U.S. 280, would be the 11 acres for the 120 townhomes, according to plans submitted to the city of Hoover.

To the west is an AT&T building and self-storage facility, and to the east are several homes, including mobile homes, along Lyndon Drive.

Signature Homes and Terra Equities also are asking for the land to be annexed into Hoover if their rezoning request is granted by the council. The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 10 recommended the City Council approve the rezoning request.

Belcher said the residential portion of the development is expected to be a $40 million project.

He is proposing two-bedroom or three-bedroom townhomes with roughly 1,600 square feet of space each and likely priced in the high $200,000s. He plans to pattern the development after the Edenton Lofts that Signature Homes developed in 2010 off Cahaba Beach Road.

None of the townhomes would have garages, but there would be 225 parking spaces for residents, Belcher said. That is a higher ratio of parking spaces per townhome than Signature Homes has in Edenton Lofts, and there have been no issues with inadequate parking there.

Based on past experience, Belcher said he would expect one out of every 10 townhomes to include a child for the Hoover school system. The Hoover school system has greater capacity for handling more children on the east side of the city.

The commercial portion of the development, to be handled by Terra Equities, is expected to be a $10.3 million project and include 190 parking spaces for the two restaurants and third commercial building, Belcher said.

The commercial property should generate an estimated total revenues of $16 million to $17 million a year, Belcher said. That would mean $560,000 to $595,000 in annual sales taxes for the city of Hoover, $640,000 to $680,000 in annual sales taxes for the state, $80,000 to $85,000 in annual sales taxes for Shelby County and $80,000 to $85,000 in annual sales taxes to schools in Shelby County.

It should also generate $44,000 to $45,000 a year in property taxes, while the residential property should generate about $66,000 a year in property taxes for the school system, Belcher said.

Hoover Councilman Mike Shaw, when this project first was presented to the zoning board in November, said he knows there are a lot of technology jobs in the nearby Meadow Brook Corporate Park, and he would like to see places for those workers to live close by, so this type of housing in that location is appealing to him.

The property that Signature Homes and Terra Equities want to buy is now owned by Sams Real Estate Investment Trust and Sharit Real Estate Holdings.

The City Council also on Feb. 21 is expected to consider several amendments to the citys zoning ordinance, including amendments that would:

Create a specific zoning district for senior living/retirement communities, separate from independent and assisted living centers, that is designed to accommodate multi-family communities designed for people ages 55 and older and less like institutional senior living facilities.

Create a specific zoning district for gymnasiums and fitness/exercise centers.

Permit taller buildings in commercial zones with conditional use approval.

Reclassify gasoline stations as conditional uses in planned commercial districts.

Provide for additional off-street parking areas for townhome developments.

The zoning board recommended approval of those and several other amendments.

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Council to consider 120 townhomes along US 280 - Hoover Sun

An extra mobile home is to be added to a gypsy and traveller site on the edge of a Banbury area village after councillors gave plans the green light at their meeting this week.

It will mean that four mobile homes along with a touring caravan and an amenity building will now be sited off Mollington Lane, Warmington, with all the residents being related.

Objections had been raised by the parish council and the local district councillor along with two members of the public and committee members were told others living in the village were opposed to the plans but were too scared to come forward.

Cllr Mark Burstall, chairman of Warmington and Arlescote Parish Council, said: There is already a great deal of tension between the settled community and the travellers.

"Many local people said they wanted to object to this application but felt unable to do so because of the perceived threat to them and their families.

"If you decide to grant this application then something must be done to resolve this issue.

The need for pitches should not be exaggerated - in nearby Farnborough there are insufficient travellers to take up the available pitches.

This is an attempt to increase the number of traveller pitches on the site by one.

"It may not sound very much but in reality it is a 33 per cent increase. Once again the applicant has seen fit to act first and then make a retrospective application once found out.

Ward member Cllr John Fielding (Con, Red Horse) added: I respect the needs of the travelling community and Im not against helping them find suitable sites - but this application is one of many that could be classified as creeping development.

Planning officer Erin Weatherstone explained that while there might be vacancies on pitches outside of the district, Stratford District Council had a shortfall of 59 and some of this could be met through the intensification of existing traveller sites.

In her report to councillors she added: In this case there are not considered to be any alternative sites and the personal circumstances of the applicant have been considered, including the personal links of the new occupiers with the applicant.

The plans were approved by a majority decision.

Cllr Bill Fleming (Con, Bidford West and Salford) added: We have refused them in the past and inspectors always overturn them.

"Stratford does have a shortage of sites so from that perspective it is always difficult to get these things stopped.

Continue reading here:
Extra mobile home to be added to traveller site on edge of Banbury area village despite councillors' objections - Banbury Guardian

Theres no doubt that were waist deep in a sector rotation (to be kind) or a slow moving correction (to be dour). Either way, there are still opportunities in the market and one more popular choice is becoming dividend stocks.

You have heard by now that interest rates, which in this case means mortgage rates, are rising. The first response to this is to avoid real estate. But thats not necessarily the lesson.

If real estate values are rising faster than rates, then its still a good net investment. And the fact that theres still more demand than supply suggests were still in a sweet spot.

Also, if youre a real estate investment trust (REIT), you can also raise rents or lease rates. And most of your debt has been acquired under low-rate loans, so your margins grow.

Thats why I wanted to share these dividend stocks with you now. They have rock-solid dividends and still have plenty of growth left up their sleeves.

Source: SERDTHONGCHAI / Shutterstock.com

If you heard about the recent kerfuffle regarding restrictions on certain airplanes landing at U.S. airports due to 5G signals, then you understand that 5G is a totally different animal than 4G.

And thats a good thing for this dividend stock. AMT is one of the leading telecom tower owners and operators in the world at this point.

I has been in the business since 1995, so it had a headstart on many competitors and has been able to consolidate its lead by acquisition or competition. And the good news for the company is 5G requires an entirely new set of antenna arrays, repeaters, etc.

The telecom tower industry has some pretty significant barriers to entry at this point. And given AMTs strategic properties it has built in the past few decades, it has a comfortable competitive moat.

AMT stock still has a 10% gain in the past 12 months, and a 2.3% dividend. Its trading at the midpoint of its 52-week range. This is a long-term buy as are all quality dividend stocks at current prices.

This stock has a B rating in my Dividend Grader.

Source: Ken Wolter / Shutterstock.com

Whenever theres economic disruption like a pandemic or the current supply chain issues, or sector booms like real estate, electric vehicles, etc., people rethink their living arrangements.

Some downsize. Others move to where the new opportunities lie. Some move to find new opportunities. Some start side gigs to supplement their income.

Whatever the reasons, storage units become strategically valuable. In good times and bad times, storage units do very well.

Last year, EXR was the second largest self-storage facility REITs in the U.S. It has over one million units and it also has a reinsurance business, which offers insurance to storage renters.

EXR stock has gained 65% in the past 12 months and trades in the upper end of its 52-week range. It has a solid 2.6% dividend. This is a quality long-term dividend stock.

This stock has an A rating in my Dividend Grader.

Source: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com

The digital economy is in full swing. And e-commerce truly became an entrenched consumer behavior during the pandemic. That means the U.S. market needs more warehouses to distribute all those goods.

It just so happens that DRE is one of the largest warehouse REITs in the business. And many of its best customers are e-commerce businesses. This bodes well for its future growth. It means its current properties are running on all cylinders and it has the wherewithal to build out more facilities to expand its distribution effectiveness.

Its been in business since 1972, so it has seen all there is to see in the REIT world. If youre looking for a conservative dividend stock that is hooked into one of the biggest long-term trends around, DRE has to be on that list.

DRE stock has grown 45% in the past 12 months yet has a current of just 24. While its dividend is just 1.9%, its rock solid.

This stock has an A rating in my Dividend Grader.

Source: Andriy Blokhin / Shutterstock.com

While everyone is transitioning to work from home and staring at computer screens once again, theres one sector that continues to exist, whether were looking or not outdoor advertising. Im talking about billboards, buses, airports, etc.

Lamar has been in the outdoor advertising business since 1902 and has hundreds of thousands of billboards and their property around the country. Its been a REIT for almost a decade now.

Granted, this isnt a hot growth industry. But LAMRs stable business model means its a solid dividend stock with reliable growth. Its a great foundational total return choice.

LAMR stock has gained nearly 30% in the past 12 months, and still has a 3.7% dividend. It also has a $10 billion market capitalization, so its not going to blow away in stiff economic winds.

This stock has a B rating in my Dividend Grader.

Source: Arina P Habich / Shutterstock.com

One of the big changes the pandemic has brought to the U.S., in particular, is a new way to think about work and life. Younger generations have taken to the road in massive numbers, as have younger families and retirees.

Because of this, motor home lifestyles have changed from the old days. Modern mobile homes and communities have more amenities and modern conveniences. Living out of a motor home or a recreational vehicle (RV) is a much different experience.

One company thats responsible for these changing expectations is ELS. It has more than 200 RV resorts and campsites, and 23 marinas with more than 6,000 slips in 33 states and British Columbia. Plus its a niche REIT in this sector.

Its not one of the sexiest dividend stocks on the list, with its current 1.9% distribution, but ELS has a nearly $15 billion market cap. It has plenty of cash to splash on new properties and upgrades to existing ones. ELS stock is up 19% in the past 12 months, and plenty of growth down the road (pun intended).

This stock has a B rating in my Dividend Grader.

Source: rafapress / Shutterstock.com

I have to assume that if you havent heard of the supply chain issues that have been rocking the U.S. economy you live off the grid somewhere and just arrived in civilization to check your email or fantasy football teams efforts.

PLD is one of the worlds largest REITs focused on logistics properties. And at this point, it has around 1 billion square feet of them spread across 19 countries. Its mission is to thrive in high-barrier, high-growth markets where it can create a competitive moat. And it has done a very good job of it.

Remember, as a REIT, it leases these properties to the companies that operate the facilities. Its not a cause of the supply chain crisis. And its products are in high demand, so it has pricing advantages right now and moving forward.

PLD stock has returned 55% in the past 12 months, but it has plenty of growth left ahead. That kind of growth reduces the dividend, so its one of the lower distributions of the dividend stocks here, at 1.6%. But whether its growth or income, PLD is worth a place in your portfolio.

This stock has a B rating in my Dividend Grader.

Source: travelview / Shutterstock.com

In 2015, Caesars Entertainment Corporation (owner of Caesars Palace Casino and other casinos and resorts) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In 2017, VICI was spun off as a REIT that now owns 29 casinos, hotels, and racetracks, as well as four golf courses around the U.S.

While the pandemic hurt Las Vegas and other business, its properties are coming back to life again. More than the other dividend stocks here, VICI is a comeback story. Also remember VICI has the Caesars name, so it has made a significant effort to offset lost foot traffic in its properties with a big push into online betting.

The good news for investors, especially those looking for big paying dividend stocks, is that VICI is a bargain here. The stock has a current price-earnings (P/E) ratio below 15 and has a 12-month return just below 3%. But its current dividend is almost 5.3%. VICI is set up for growth and solid dividends moving forward.

This stock has a B rating in my Dividend Grader.

On the date of publication, Louis Navellier has positions in AMT and EXR in this article. Louis Navellier did not have (either directly or indirectly) any other positions in the securities mentioned in this article.

The InvestorPlace Research Staff member primarily responsible for this articledid not hold(either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.

Louis Navellier, who has been called one of the most important money managers of our time, has broken the silence inthis shocking tell all video exposing one of the most shocking events in our countrys history andthe onemoveevery American needs to make today.

Read more:
7 Dividend Stocks to Profit off the Hot Real Estate Market - InvestorPlace

AUSTIN Over the last few years, in one of the fastest-growing cities in America, change has come at a feverish pace to the capital of Texas, with churches demolished, mobile home parks razed and neighborhood haunts replaced with trendy restaurants and luxury apartment complexes.

The transformation has perhaps been most acutely felt across East Austin and the neighborhood of Montopolis, a 2.5-square-mile patch southeast of downtown, where unobstructed views of the ever-expanding skyline have made the historically Black and Latino neighborhood a sought-after community.

And the momentum is nowhere near abating. These days, construction sites and cranes feel more like permanent fixtures across the neighborhood, where longtime residents have watched with growing anxiety as chic coffee shops, yoga studios and pricey bars have inched closer and closer.

We knew it was coming, said Francisco Nuez, who for nearly two decades lived at the Cactus Rose Mobile Home Park until it was sold to a developer to make way for amenity-rich apartments that now fetch more than double what he once paid in rent.

A decade ago, Austin, the capital of Texas often deemed a liberal oasis in a staunchly conservative state, was among the most affordable places to live. Now, according to a forecast prepared by Zillow, a real estate company that tracks affordability, the Austin metropolitan area is on track to become by years end the least affordable major metro region for homebuyers outside of California. It has already surpassed hot markets in Boston, Miami and New York City.

With an average of 180 new residents moving to the city every day in 2020, housing inventory is very low, realtors said. Multiple offers, bidding wars and blocks-long lines outside open houses are commonplace.

Home sale prices in the city of Austin skyrocketed to a record median of $536,000 in October, up from about $441,250 a year ago. And they have more than doubled since 2011, when the median sales price was $216,000, according to the Austin Board of REALTORS, a trade group. Rentals, too, have surged, with the average cost of an 864-square-foot apartment now $1,600.

Austin is the worst-kept secret, said Job Hammond, a secretary-treasurer with the board.

With the University of Texas flagship campus, gentle rolling hills and a vibrant music scene, Austin has long been an attractive place to call home. But surging prices have created a brewing housing crisis that is reshaping the city of nearly 1 million people, and pushing mostly low-income Black and Latino residents like Mr. Nuez away from cultural centers, transportation hubs, grocery stores and other amenities that come with urban living, activists said.

The lack of affordable homes has been underscored by the relentless sight of homeless encampments outside City Hall and under busy highways. (The city recently began efforts to clear them after voters approved a public camping ban this year.)

In 2018, while already experiencing explosive growth, at least 35 Austin neighborhoods were undergoing some stage of gentrification. Another 23 neighborhoods were at high risk of following suit, according to a study commissioned by the city and conducted by researchers with the University of Texas.

The numbers are likely higher today, said Heather K. Way, a law professor at the university and one of the studys authors.

You drive down a street one day and all of a sudden youre thinking, What happened to the apartment building that stood there last week? said Ms. Way, referring to the rapid demolition of older housing occurring in some Austin neighborhoods.

The displacement of low-income residents, in a city where about 13 percent live below the poverty line, has concerned Austin officials to such a degree that a grass-roots movement led them to hire the citys first displacement officer this year. Nefertitti Jackmon has been assigned the challenging task of preventing widespread gentrification even as cranes continue to dot the skyline and new structures climb ever higher.

Ms. Jackmon said that while plans remain in flux, her office will be allocated about $300 million over the next 13 years to be spent on addressing displacement, such as securing more affordable housing in affected neighborhoods. She doesnt mince words when describing the challenges that lie ahead.

In Austin, Black and brown neighborhoods have been marginalized and underinvested, Ms. Jackmon said. She also said she wants to expand participation of local residents in the early process of new developments. We are saying development can happen without displacement.

But not everyone is convinced a new displacement office will have a significant impact.

Its an aspirin for cancer, said Fred McGhee, a local historian and longtime resident of Montopolis, a neighborhood once home to formerly enslaved people and Mexican migrants who came to work in cotton fields.

On a recent day, Dr. McGhee walked out from his home and pointed in several directions, toward construction sites or newly built luxury buildings. Not long ago these used to be all wetlands, Mr. McGhee said. Now all you see are new developments or plans for one.

The East Vue Ranch is one of them. On the land that was once the Cactus Rose Mobile Home Park, the luxury complex has a sleek swimming pool, game room and enclosed dog park. Nearby, another apartment complex now sits on land once occupied by a historical Black church. Another Black church, built in the 1860s, was demolished to make way for a road to accommodate all the new traffic. And a neighborhood hair salon was replaced with a trendy South American bakery.

This has become the tale of two Austins, said Susana Almanza, a longtime activist. The rich keep building in our neighborhoods and the poor keep getting displaced. It doesnt end.

From March 2020 to February 2021, despite the pandemic, Austin nearly led the nation in new construction, with close to 42,000 new residences, according to a housing report by Rice Universitys Kinder Institute for Urban Research.

Much of the citys expansion has been attributed to the recent arrival of tech titans, including Apple, Amazon and AT&T and more recently Tesla, whose chief executive Elon Musk, already a resident with a rocket site in South Texas, said that the company would move its headquarters from Palo Alto, Calif., to Austin.

Those big moves joining other major tech companies, like Dell and IBM, already fixtures in the region have meant an infusion of a younger and more affluent population, giving rise to the citys new moniker of Silicon Hills.

The high-paying jobs have accelerated the areas economy. Over the last 10 years, jobs in high-tech, which tend to pay in the six figures, rose nearly 62 percent in the Austin metropolitan area, for a total of about 176,000 positions, accounting for 17 percent of all jobs and far surpassing the growth of all other industries, according to the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

And since 2010, the median household income has jumped from $55,744 to $80,954, according to the chamber.

Those high salaries have pushed up the price of housing, including rentals, the cost of which surged 38 percent over the last decade, more than other fast growing Texas cities like Dallas and San Antonio, according to a 2020 Root Policy Research housing market analysis.

The city, which saw an increase of nearly 160,000 people over the last 10 years, cant build homes fast enough, said Rob Gordon, manager and real estate agent with the realty company, JBGoodwin.

In the neighborhood of Northwest Hills, about 20 minutes northwest of downtown, where Mr. Gordon does a majority of his business, 18 of the 19 homes on the market this spring sold for more than the asking price, an average of a 113 percent spike, Mr. Gordon said. One home, listed at $975,000, was sold for $1,395,000 after a grueling bidding war.

Jon Kniss, a photographer from Nashville, took desperate measures to find a home when he moved to Austin last year. For months, he blanketed his new neighborhood with letters of cash offers.

Nine months and more than 200 letters later, the Kniss family moved into a three-bedroom house in an affluent community northwest of downtown. We wanted to see if we could get a little advantage, Mr. Kniss said. Great weather, quality of life, the schools. Everybody wants to move here.

That feels especially true in Montopolis.

For those who left the neighborhood, many wonder whether they will be forced to uproot from their new homes yet again, as new developments continue to be approved and built in even more remote pockets of the city.

Maria Garcia de la Luz, 68, a former Cactus Rose resident who now lives next door to Mr. Nuez, said she misses the proximity to shops and access to public transportation that she had in Montopolis. Not long ago, she hurt a knee in an accident and had no way to go get treatment after her husband, Magdaleno Garcia, 77, also fell ill and was unable to drive her.

It really affected me. I feel trapped here, Ms. de la Luz said. In the end, it is us, the poor people, who end up getting hurt. Whos to say they wont kick us out of here too?

Susan C. Beachy contributed research.

The rest is here:
How Austin Became One of the Least Affordable Cities in America - The New York Times