NPR – Hourly News – June 28, 2007 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
June 28, 2007 – A day where living on the Edge was starting to catch up to people. From news that most city streets were in a state of bad disrepair and, in some urban centers traffic jams were worse than ever, to news that most American cities, particularly on the east coast, experienced their biggest population drop in decades, with major Urban centers such as Detroit experiencing a drop of population by some 50%. The exodus was on, but where? Signs were pointing Southwest, with cities like Phoenix experiencing its biggest jump in growth not seen in decades. New York and Los Angeles were still #1 and #2 respectively, but even populations in those cities were falling precipitously, leading many to suspect something big and ominous was coming.
And all signs were pointing in the direction that, yes, something big and ominous was on the horizon. But economists were not all convinced. Even though a sharp rise in housing foreclosures, coupled with spiraling credit card debt and a stock market taking a nosedive should have been a sign – some thought it was a “correction” and all would be right, just as soon as “things shook out”.
But the fact of the matter was, things were not getting better – and coming up on an election year just around the corner, this was shaping up to being a turbulent time for anyone who had eyes on landing in the White House in 2008.
We were losing our delicate balance – spending habits were getting us in trouble – our mortgage crisis was only going to deepen – some cities were facing the prospects of becoming ghost towns, while others faced the possibilities of choking in congestion with 70% of interstate highways in the country in bad need of repair and with no money available for those repairs.
It was a day to look for the seat belts as it was bracing for a bumpy ride over the coming weeks. All that, and a lot more via CBS Radio News On The Hour, for June 28, 2007.
