I happened upon these auctions while doing a search of Cairo images on e-bay. Some of these houses look like a great deal for the price they are going at. Some are incredibly small but appear to be in good condition.
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...sort=3&rows=50
How can these be listed for so cheap with no reserve? I wonder what is wrong...
Finally, an opportunity to become the absentee landlord that I've always wanted to be.
Wow!
I could buy at least three of these houses - TODAY!
And a value meal from McD's probably costs more than the property taxes for these houses!!
I'm sorry. Is my bias showing?
What is "wrong" is that Cairo is a desperately poor river town that is fading away over time. Look at the rents. My God, that is 10% of the rents in even the outer Bay Area.
I honestly expected this to be an opportunity to buy property that features the lovely, ullulations of the imman's cries, crowds of veiled women, and the chance to live in a society where anti-Americanism is even more rampant than that on typical university campus. I was disappointed
Okay kiddies, can anybody here say Tax Shelter?
But even the structure alone you think would be worth more than the $3k that they are charging on some of them. Too bizarre...
whoo hoo, I can now sell my house, take the equity and buy a new home and have money left over. Can't say that very often.
Maybe buy, salvage(doors, windows, copper, wiring, etc) and walk away.
Is this some kind of weird trailer park? The buildings look that like they may be easily portable.
Too lazy to beat myself up for being to lazy to beat myself up for being too lazy to... well you get the point....
I say we borrow an idea from the Libertarians who are all supposed to move to New Hampshire and make it a "Free State" - whatever that is. All the members of Cyburbia should buy these cheap houses and move to Cairo, recreating the town as we see fit and creating our own planning utopia. Portland wouln't have nothing on us.
I nominate myself as the first Supreme Dicta... I mean Mayor of New Cairo.
This subject houses are in the far southern residential section of Cairo, about as far south as you can get. I suspect that the area was prone to flooding in it's early years and that still may be an issue today even with levee improvements.
Historically, Cairo has been a deeply segregated city and that certainly may play a role in the depressed housing values. Racial relations have improved (in part to the efforts of Doc Poston during the late 1980s as outlined in the book Far From Home) but whites are still leaving the city at unprecidented rates.
In 1990, Cairo had a population of 4,846 of which 2,176 (44.9%) of the population was white, and 2,614 residents (53.9%) were black. There were a total of 2,251 Housing units of which 12% were vacant.
By 2000, the total population had dropped by more than a quarter to 3,632 with 1,305 (35.9%) of these residents labelled as "white alone" and 2,241 residents (61.7%) listed as "black alone." (If combinations of two or more races are looked at, both numbers are less than a percentage point higher, indicating a low level of the mixing of the races). The total number of housing units is down to 1885 with 17% of those vacant.
The area around the houses for sale appears to be predominanty black but not as segregated as other sections of the city, as shown on the map below. (The subject block is bounded by 2nd, 3rd, U. S. 51 and Jefferson in the extreme southern part of the shaded area of the map. )
Despite the high rate of vacancy, it does appear that some rehabilitation is taking place throughout Cairo. A woman at the Chamber of Commerce told me that Cairo is experiencing a kind of renaissance of sorts as people are moving in from all over just to buy, renovate and live in the incredibly inexpensive housing.
Click here for legend
Last edited by Super Amputee Cat; 27 Oct 2003 at 2:12 PM.
You hit on my thought. Look closely at those buildings. They all seem a bit narrow and long. I have to wonder.Originally posted by donk
Is this some kind of weird trailer park? The buildings look that like they may be easily portable.
No they're just typical vernacular gable front and shotgun type dwellings. Probably built in the 1870s to 1900s, although the later aluminum siding and replacement windows makes it difficult to tell the era built with absolute certainty.
Heh. I'm reading Far From Home right now. It's a pretty good book.
I think we should start a Cyburbia Book Clube section perhaps, where we can list all of the books that come up in the forums.
That was my thought exactly: "shotgun" vernacular style. The square footage is tiny and some of the materials crappy, but the door frames and stuff look like they must be older homes that had better construction than your typical trailer -- at least, at one time.Originally posted by Super Amputee Cat
No they're just typical vernacular gable front and shotgun type dwellings.
Here are some more population stats I dug up
Census Year: 1900
Total Population: 12,566
White Population: 7,550* (60.0%)
Black Population: 5,000 (39.8%)
Census Year: 1910
Total Population: 14,548
White Population: 9,108 (62.6%)
Black Population: 5,434 (37.4%)
Census Year: 1920
Total Population: 15,203
White Population: 15180* (67.0%)
Black Population: 5,000 (32.9%)
Census Year: 1930
Total Population: 13,532
White Population: 8,743 (64.6%)
Black Population: 5,494 (33.8%)
Census Year: 1940
Total Population: 14,407
White Population: 8,758 (60.8%)
Black Population: 5,494 (38.1%)
Census Year: 1950
Total Population: 12,123
White Population: 7,722 (63.6%)
Black Population: 4,383 (36..2%)
Census Year: 1960
Total Population: 9,348
White Population: 5,821 (62.3%)
Black Population: 3,511 (37.6%)
Census Year: 1970
Total Population: 6,277
White Population: 3,905 (62.2%)
Black Population: 2,351 (37.5%)
Census Year: 1980
Total Population: 5,931
White Population: 3,130 (52.8%)
Black Population: 2,740 (46.2%)
Census Year: 1990
Total Population: 4,846
White Population: 2,176 (44.9%)
Black Population: 2,614 (53.9%)
Census Year: 2000
Total Population: 3,632
White Alone Population 1,305 (35.9%)
Black Alone Population 2,241 (61.7%)
*Approx.
Despite population hemorrhaging, it looks like the race ratio remained fairly steady all the way until 1970. 1980 is the first year the black population actually increased
Last edited by Super Amputee Cat; 29 Oct 2003 at 1:15 PM.
I picked up a copy of Far From Home in the markdown racks a few years ago; the idea of the book intrigued me and I wasn't let down...a good read for anyone who's interested in what happens to a town when the social fabric is ripped to shreds by racial turmoil....
I don't have time to dig down through and find a specific website, but try here:Originally posted by Super Amputee Cat
But it would be helpful to know what the demographic were during the early 1900s. I'll try and gets some earlier stats and add them here. If anyone knows where I can get old census stats on the web, please let me know.
Galileo
I got my copies that way too. The cover looked intriguing and it was only $3.98 or something like that, so I snatched up two of them. This was about 1994 or '95.Originally posted by Miles Ignatius
I picked up a copy of Far From Home in the markdown racks a few years ago; the idea of the book intrigued me and I wasn't let down...a good read for anyone who's interested in what happens to a town when the social fabric is ripped to shreds by racial turmoil....
I ended up being really glad I did. It was one of the most enlightning, yet depressing books I have ever read. The subject material was not only fascinating, but the author's writing style itself made it that much more of a great read.
After reading the book, I had always wanted to visit Cairo to see first hand all that had been written about it. I finally got that chance in May, and I reread the Cairo chapters upon my return from visiting there.
The author should do a follow up - maybe not a full length book but perhaps a column in a planning magazine or daily newspaper. After all, it was over 15 years ago that he first set foot in Cairo to meet Doc Poston. I have my doubts that Poston is still alive. Wasn't he already pushing 80 when he got involved in trying to empower the citizens of Cairo back in 1987?
I know Bill Wolters is dead, so maybe the riverfront is now in control of a more suitable steward.
So, SAC, what was your impression of the place when you visited in May? And, I'm sure, too, that the good Dr. Poston has passed on....Originally posted by Super Amputee Cat
I finally got that chance in May, and I reread the Cairo chapters upon my return from visiting there.
Here's another great deal from Cairo. This one looks really nice!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ory=12605&rd=1
A million-dollar house in the Bay Area.
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