Times may be worse elsewhere, but still felt here

During the big housing boom a couple of years back, I can remember driving through the El Centro area and seeing all the new homes sprouting on once-vacant land. It was impressive, but I couldn't understand where all those new home buyers were coming from since El Centro is smaller in population than Yuma.

I was eventually told that buyers were being drawn to El Centro by the relatively low cost of housing there in comparison to other California cities.

Some of the new homes were being bought by people who - believe it or not - commuted to San Diego and other distant cities. They traded drive time for affordable housing - it was too expensive for them to own a home of their own where they worked.

Other buyers were simply speculators. They were grabbing up what they considered "cheap" homes on easy credit terms in the expectation they would quickly appreciate in the booming housing market and then they could sell them for a big profit or rent them out for income.

Some of that also occurred in Yuma, but to a lesser extent than El Centro - which is fortunate for us based on what is currently happening in our neighboring community 50 miles to the west.

You may have seen the article in Parade Magazine last Sunday in the Yuma Sun regarding the fate of El Centro after the housing boom went bust. The headline on the Parade article was "Surviving in America's Recession Capital."

One in 10 families faces home foreclosure there, and Mayor Ben Solomon thinks even worse is to come. In addition to the loss of homes, the article noted that El Centro has the highest unemployment rate of any metropolitan area in the nation at over 26 percent.

It is a double whammy that is staggering the El Centro area's economy and leaving shattered dreams for many homeowners and misery for many who are unemployed.

But there is certainly no reason for those of us here in Yuma to gloat.

While the latest unemployment figures reported here in the paper Friday show we are better off than El Centro - in May the jobless rate here was 19 percent, a decrease of 4 points from the previous month - there are still many people hurting here.

In fact, there is some question about how accurate that jobless number really is. It could be a seasonal employment issue or it may be that some people have simply "dropped out" of the system after giving up hope of getting a job.

The situation is similar in the housing market. There are signs that housing has stabilized here and that people are again able and willing to sell and buy homes. But many have also felt the sting of foreclosure, although not to the extent that has happened in El Centro.

The reality is that the fate of El Centro is representative to a greater or lesser extent of what is happening here and throughout the nation. While there are some hopeful signs of future recovery, we are still in the midst of harsh economic conditions that are deeply impacting individuals, families and businesses.

Today we are beginning a series of articles on page one and on our Web site detailing the "domino effect" that the housing bust and other factors have had on the Yuma area economy. We will also explore the crushing consequences being felt by members of our community. We have named the special report "Lives in Turmoil: A Look at the Economic Crisis in Yuma."

In some ways, our story is not as bad as for other communities, but for those who have lost their homes or jobs, it is of little comfort that people elsewhere are having a worse time.

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Terry Ross is director of the Yuma Sun's News and Information Center. E-mail him at tross@yumasun.com or phone him at 539-6870.