Buying near a Starbucks has benefits beyond easy access to your
double-tall, non-fat, bone-dry cappuccino.
Between 1997 and 2014, homes within a quarter-mile of a Starbucks increased in value by 96 percent, on average, compared with 65 percent for all U.S. homes, based on a comparison of Zillow Home Value Index data with a database of Starbucks locations.
Some areas brew even frothier returns, as Julie Lerch can attest.
A little over a year after she moved in, a Starbucks opened less than two blocks from her Chicago condo. Three years later, she sold the 2-bedroom unit for $100,000 — or 53 percent — more than she paid for it.
“Everybody was all excited, because our property values did go up,” she said. “It was a sign that the neighborhood was changing, and people who normally wouldn’t have chanced that neighborhood said, ‘Oh, that’s a Starbucks.'”
Lest you think all java purveyors have the same effect, the data showed that homes near Dunkin’ Donuts locations appreciated 80 percent, on average, during the same 17-year period.
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. -Albert Einstein"I frankly struggle in this area Mike. Especially in the areas of petition and intercession. I agree with what you write but wonder if prayer is simply a word we use to describe our relationship with God? Perhaps praying without ceasing is a way to describe our walk with God? I am not saying that we should not intercede or offer petitions but wonder if those are just small facets of what it means to pray?"
"The Bible repeatedly repels the idea that all suffering is based on what we deserve."
As I wrote a few years ago (read here), I have never received ashes on Ash Wednesday. That said, I do understand that it is a meaningful observance for others as they begin Lent.
