Entry 85 of 1039
By Think! Christiansburg On April 23, 2008 at 5:35 PM
Commodification – Transforming a unique product into an undifferentiated product. For example, Kleenex, Band-Aids and Q-Tips were all unique products when introduced. After competitive products hit the shelves, things changed: more products, more supply, heightened competition, lower prices overall. Now those three names are used to describe facial tissues, adhesive bandages and cotton swabs in general. Each has become a commodity.

A similar transformation has occurred in the Christiansburg housing market. Some years back, a developer built some lovely town homes, and sold them. The developer probably thought "This is great! I’m building more of these!" And he did, and they sold, too.



Many others jumped on the building bandwagon – easy to do because Christiansburg approves nearly any development presented to the Planning Commission and Town Council. This fury of rubber-stamp approval was fueled by increased housing prices in the NRV area, which were fueled by lower interest rates and other economic forces.

MORE builders wanted in on the action. But, the increased supply of housing pushed prices downward. But the builders said, "No problem," and built more houses and more condos. (No concurrent additions to the police force, fire department, school expansions or other community services, but that’s another story.)

Now, housing in Christiansburg has become a commodity. The new developments look the same, with houses close together and rows of rooflines repeating off into the distance. (No sidewalks, bikeways or parks though, but that’s another story.)

Add in the credit crunch and the mortgage market debacle to the commodity housing here, and you get a sorry situation. Apparently, once approved, there is little oversight to ensure amenities are built as marketed or when construction work is completed.  Wasn't anyone paying attention? Acres of scraped clay and piles of rocks have been left bare to wait for better days.

Developments all over town - no big differences, no real choice. As Pete Seeger sang, "…and they’re all made out of ticky-tacky, and they all look just the same."