@Tom, I agree 1000%. Also, sellers here in Tiverton and surrounding bordering towns should make sure that their realtor is listing their home in RI MLS. If you have an out of state buyer looking in a border town like Tiverton why would any realtor look on MA MLS?

That's right, good economic news does not fit in with the right wing, union basher political narrative so let's ignore it or try to discredit it.

Do you have data (other than friends) to back up that assumption? It doesn't necessarily surprise me, though. I think the second-home market may be picking up. At least I'm hoping so since I just bought one :)

Looks as though only MA has experienced a decrease in the number of days on the market. I don't think MA was hit as hard as the other NE states because the economy is a little stronger in comparison. And the longer days on market are probably more a reflection of homeowners becoming more realistic in their asking prices and lowering them after spending significant time on the market.

The market was overinflated as a result of realtors and lenders hyping it up, even when there was a good amount of evidence to suggest the run was not going to last, and indeed headed for a decline. Unfortunately, the less calculating and experienced consumer went along with the hype, while homeowners were in denial about what their homes were really worth.

Using the 2000 and 2010 US Census data for RI reveals that there has seemingly been a flight from RI for those people of the age most likely to buy a home. While the overall population for RI has remained essentially the same (2000 pop. = 1.048 million and the 2010 pop. = 1.053 million), the numbers of people in the prime first time home-buying age of 20 thru 44 has decreased from 382K in 2000 to 346K in 2010. If my math is correct that is about a 10% drop in population of people in this age group.

No argument there. Was looking more into data to support the flight of professionals. We know the population is declining within certain age groups, but is there data to validate that white collar workers are leaving the state disproportionately more than blue collar workers? Would have to dig deeper into the census data, I guess.

Also looking for data to support that most recent home sales are to teachers and state government employees as mark suggests. Not sure if there's any data to support that claim, but maybe there is.

I've posted this from time to time in various responses. I'm retired military. I have three kids who have have moved out of RI with their families to various states (one to Massachusetts believe it or not) because it was more cost efficient. They're all happy. As I await my wife's job offer response from a tax friendlier state, I am also currently working out of state yet still own a house in RI as my legal residence (I lease in the other state). So when we leave, that will will be a total of 4 families that I'm aware of..not just 4 people. I can't speak for the statistics of everywhere else.

PS.. my wife andall of the kids, their spouses etc have attended a state college and paid for with earned money (theirs, ours without a handout) I graduated Roger Wms under the GI bill.

The article was comparing home sales statistics from August 2012 compared to August 2011. This may be an indicator that the trend of leaving RI is slowing or reversing. Leave RI, I also worked my way through a state university, but I'm curious about what you consider a handout.

I guess I went to a private university on a handout -- actually a few -- scholarship from the school, a Pell Grant and a work-study job. Also worked 20-25 hours a week (almost full-time during the Summer) at a drug store or a bank throughout my four years in school. And despite partying my butt off while doing all that, I was able to maintain a respectable GPA and graduate at 21. I still appreciate that handout, and hope I've made up for it by becoming a productive member of society who pays tens of thousands of dollars each year in taxes with few benefits and the constant fear that my civil rights will be taken away.

I actually still WANT to pay for these handouts to ensure younger versions of me -- kids with little opportunity and even less money -- get to turn those handouts into something that benefits the individual AND society.

I don't think the intent of this article was political. However, I'm sensing some political undertones in the comments and I was challenging the assumptions by asking for supporting data. As a result, I couldn't help myself and went there too.

@ mark henricks - who is pictured in your avatar?

@ mark henricks - that looks a great deal like Klaus Barbie, the butcher of Lyon.

Why are you associating yourself, and these pages with a known torturer?
http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/Holocaust/barbie.html

http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ba-Be/Barbie-Klaus.html

You're dancing on the graves of innocents, there.

not a usual scroll up guy on the threads, however, ..if they're from NY and CT they're just as tax challenged as far as cost of living property and income taxes..don't think they skipped a beat for that specific reason..check if you must..it's been a few since I have but think the tax situation is pretty equal...OK close enough on subject for me.

I consider public subsidy of education the human investment equivalent of a mutual fund: you can't pick every winner, so you invest in lots of likely prospects.

The judgement that some programs are "unworthy" because they're given is
splitting hairs. Dismantling social services as an unpalatable medicine required to
save the body politic disguises the implicit euthanasia of the patient.

Taxes are the price of civilization, and a bargain.

@Tiverton Dad
Not grants or scholarships..things like the "student loan forgiveness"...people who take workers money for school then can't pay it back so it's" forgiven" on the backs of the workers..there was a form of this known as the student loan forgiveness act of 2012..That's what that meant. Not traditional loan and repayment (FAFSA stuff)

Perhaps you would consider convergent approaches to prevent this sort of debt balloon from inflating, again.

Proposal one: Make it harder to get into college. Too many entrance exams consist of taking the applicants pulse, and applying pen to paper.

Proposal two: Consider "student loan forgiveness" a retroactive grant.

I'm right down the middle on this; too many of my classmates (longer ago than I care to remember) were in school for lack of any other plan. University was more like a holding pattern than a take off zone, at the time.

My kids will know how to plunge a toilet, change an electrical outlet and shut off the water when there's a leaky pipe before they leave secondary school.

Hopefully they'll show an interest in emergent technologies, unlike most of the current crop of kids congealing in Rhode Island schools.

FYI - Any form of subsidy is "on the backs of the workers".

If we want property values to rise, having a productive work force may help.
If they're already broke - that will require community (same root as communist)
effort. Not all will succeed. If no attempt is made to help, all of us will fail.

That can't be good for property values, can it?

As much as it pains me to agree with Naome, at least partially, she does have a point with proposal one. Going to college has become almost an extension of high school. So many people go just because they are expected too. I would add one thing though, business needs to change also. There are far to many jobs out there that require a bachelors degree when one isn't needed. People are literally going to college and spending 4 years of their life in order to get a piece of paper. They would be far better served being employed those 4 years.

disclaimer: onyung ha sey oh is a "hooked on phonics" version of hello/good bye in Korean..I only know the head start and menu reading version of Korean.

Sea Shai in Middletown, near the landscapers.

Excellent Bi Bimbab and pickles.
Just sayin'

line three road

Manifold Inhale - thanks. Now back to petticoat junction for you.

@Renee, I don't know this for a fact, but I would imagine STOP is fundraising so they can fund an advertising and PR effort. When a political action group has more money, their message can be spread more effectively.

Thank you both!