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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Dan ImmergluckThe housing rebound may have lifted home prices across much of the nation. But cities like Lithonia, Ga., are still waiting for the bounce. Along with other communities in the Atlanta area, the small working-class suburb saw prices run up during the housing boom a decade ago, followed by an epic bust. While nearby wealthier areas are now rising, or even fully recovered, poorer towns such as Lithonia are stuck with a housing crisis that drags on. A decade ago, Lithonia seemed like a city on the rise. A new shopping mall opened in 2001. In 2006, a home builder started construction on the first new subdivision in the town in years. An Atlanta-based developer proposed constructing an amusement park a short drive away. When home prices started to drop, however, most of those plans were canceled or put on hold. The homes that did get built, originally priced between $170,000 and $220,000, are now worth $150,000 at most, according to Zillow estimates. Construction on a hotel at the mall was stopped after the crash; now trees sprout through the base of the building’s shell. Many underwater homeowners have stopped investing in their homes, says Dan Immergluck, a Georgia Tech School of City & Regional Planning professor who has studied the issue. That has contributed to the cycle of falling home prices and deteriorating housing stock.
