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This is the true story of Vinnee Tong.
Don’t worry; you’re not alone, I had no clue who she was either. In fact I’m not sure if Vinnee is a he or she; we’ll go with she for now. Anyway, I discovered who she was by searching the World Wide Web. What I found was this: Vinnee is an Associated Press business writer who apparently lives somewhere in California and is the only journalist in or around our fair city who reported the facts about the local real estate market. Shocking, but true.
Vinnee’s headline was this: “Charlotte Housing Prices Defy Trend.” The trend in question is the negative housing price trend throughout our nation and the fact that Charlotte’s housing prices aren’t going down. In fact, they increased at a rate of 1.8%. Massive growth it’s not, but compare that to the rest of nation and Charlotte looks like an optic yellow Lamborghini versus the rest of the nation’s 3-wheeled rusty Yugo.
Vinnee did not fabricate this moist and delicious factoid; I can tell because she quotes a source I had never heard of, thus making it true. She quoted the “widely watched Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index.”
I bring this to your attention not because our housing market is going up, but because NO ONE reported it. Not a single paper-based local media outlet reported it; not a one. They were all too busy pushing headlines like “Another Tower Delayed,” “Tower Sold due to Lack of Funding,” and other scary-as-shit headlines.
Honestly, it makes me sad and just a bit angry. Isn’t this economy bad enough as it is? Does it really make sense to squash the only ray of sunshine in our downtrodden market? Sure, the economy has seen better days, and people are losing their jobs. Heck, I lost my job at the bank three years ago, too. (My “downsizing” had nothing to do with the economy. But I digress.)
All I’m asking for is a little love, a little love and positive affirmation for the folks struggling through this downturn. Wouldn’t it be so nice just once not to read about the bad and one day read about only the good? It might even fill an entire issue one day, if we’re lucky. Otherwise I might have to take matters into my own hands and buy the subscription I’ve never had, just to cancel it.
But back to what brought us here: Vinnee Tong and wherever he or she might live. Vinnee, thank you for taking a stand against this tidal wave of negative press, thank you for supporting a city you may have never visited, thank you for not calling us ‘Charlotte, Carolina’ and Vinnee, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for supporting the Queen City.
~Todd Trimakas
Editor
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