PLANYC 2030

 

In an acknowledgment that the foreclosure crisis is far from over, the Obama administration on Wednesday pumped $3 billion into programs intended to stop the unemployed from losing their homes.

The housing market, which usually helps lead the country out of a recession, is this time helping hold the recovery back. Interest rates are at record lows, but too few can afford to buy or refinance. Unemployed homeowners who live in communities where values have fallen sharply are often unable to sell. Their foreclosures weaken neighborhoods and create a vicious circle by further undermining the market.

To try to break this pattern, the Treasury Department said it was adding $2 billion to its Hardest Hit Fund, roughly doubling its size. The fund, first announced by President Obama in February and expanded in March, goes to housing finance agencies in various states to create local aid programs.

Most of the state programs from the first two rounds are barely under way, but Treasury officials said it was clear that more funds were needed.

“In this very deep recession, people have tended to be out of work a little longer,” Herbert M. Allison Jr., assistant secretary for financial stability, said. “That’s why we think this additional relief for people searching for a job is so important.”

The second program, announced by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will draw on $1 billion authorized by the new financial overhaul law.

The agency said it would work with local aid groups to offer bridge loans of up to $50,000 to eligible borrowers to help them pay their mortgage principal, interest, insurance and taxes for up to 24 months. The loans will be interest-free.

Until now, the Hardest Hit Fund had been projected to help about 140,000 borrowers. Treasury officials said that number would grow with the new infusion of money, but offered no estimate. HUD also did not say how many homeowners would be eligible for its program.

If the new money is spent in the same way as the previous money, both programs would eventually aid about 400,000 borrowers — a large number, but not when set against the 14.6 million unemployed or three million contemplating foreclosure.

Over the last two years, the government has deployed many programs to help housing. It pushed interest rates down, offered tax credits and set up an ambitious mortgage modification program. Yet housing remains feeble and seems poised after a brief respite this year to become weaker again.

“I think all these government programs are helpful, but I wouldn’t look for them to cure the recession or even what ails housing,” said the economist Karl E. Case. “At best, they’re preventing things from getting much worse.”

The Hardest Hit Fund will draw on the $45.6 billion set aside for housing in the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the rescue measure begun at the height of the financial crisis in the fall of 2008. Initially, the fund gave $1.5 billion to five hard-hit states: Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada. The second round in March of $600 million went to North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island and South Carolina.

The expanded list of states eligible for the latest funding includes Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi and New Jersey, as well as the District of Columbia. Each state’s share of the money is based on its population.

Many of the programs involve direct assistance. Ohio, for instance, said it would use its $172 million to aid 15,356 homeowners by helping bring delinquent mortgages current for owners experiencing hardship because of a loss of income. The assistance will last up to 12 months.

The other housing money in the Troubled Asset Relief Program is earmarked for the modification programs ($30.6 billion) and a Federal Housing Administration refinancing program ($11 billion). The administration can shift money between the programs only until Oct. 3, the two-year anniversary of the program.

HUD said it was in the process of determining which communities would receive its money and how exactly the process would work. “We’re still in the design phase,” said Bill Apgar, HUD senior adviser for mortgage finance.

 

When Mike Nugent flies, nothing annoys him more than settling into his seat, the plane taking off, and the passenger in front reclining into his lap. So he’s come up with a solution.

“I put my knee right in the middle of the back of the seat,” Nugent, 66, says. “They think it’s broken. They try (to recline) two or three times, then they give it up.”

Nugent, a hospital laundry consultant who’s on the road most days of the year, has another way to sidestep the irritation that can accompany flying. “I’ve started to drive as often as I can,” he says.

Long gone are the days when air travel was an elegant experience. Many road warriors say that courtesy, at the airport or on the plane, is becoming about as rare as a free, hot in-flight meal. They grouse that inconsiderate, or downright rude, behavior is more common and that it’s spurred by an increasing discomfort with all aspects of flying, from security rules to bare-bones service, that put travelers on edge.

And behavior is unlikely to get better, some involved in the travel industry say, because irritants such as extra airline fees and more crowded planes aren’t going away soon.

“The flying experience is terrible,” says Anne Banas, executive editor of SmarterTravel.com. “You’re getting less legroom. People fight over things like capacity in overhead bins. Airlines are charging bag fees. … Airlines are doing things that are making it more difficult and uncomfortable for the passenger, and the customer service isn’t getting that much better. You compound those factors, and you have a lot of frustration in the air.”

Frustration can lead to bad manners.

“So much of etiquette is based on knowing what to expect from someone else,” says Lizzie Post, spokeswoman for the Emily Post Institute, which was founded by manners maven Emily Post and is dedicated to the promotion of etiquette.

Passengers, she says, “don’t know how long that security line is going to be. They don’t know if they have anything in their bag that will meet regulations in this airport but not that airport. The nerves get up, and that’s when we lose our awareness of the other people around us.”

Frustrations add up

Complaints abound. Road warriors fret about parents who won’t quiet screeching toddlers, the guy who had garlic for lunch and won’t stop talking, and supersized seatmates who intrude on their space. They speak of dirty planes, testy flight attendants and loud passengers who won’t turn off their cellphones.

There’s the lady trying to stuff a steamer trunk into an overhead bin in the front of the cabin when her seat is in the back, and the passengers who give you whiplash dragging your seat down to pull themselves up.

And there can be a healthy dose of aggravation before you even board the plane, frequent fliers say, such as security screening rules that vary depending on the airport and flights canceled at the last minute with little explanation.

“I don’t care whether it’s a Big Mac or a Subway sandwich, the food smells gross in a confined place,” Margaret Bowles, a lawyer in Tampa, complained in an e-mail. “If you are going to eat a sandwich, get one that isn’t cooked and doesn’t have onions or peppers.”

“There needs to be a flying etiquette pamphlet handed out to anyone who takes less than three trips per year,” writes frequent flier Faith Varwig.

Sometimes, behavior goes from merely discourteous to disruptive, and flights are diverted.

On July 10, a Southwest flight heading to Islip, N.Y., from Orlando was diverted to Raleigh, N.C., when a passenger began using foul language and became verbally abusive to the flight crew, says Paul Flaningan, a Southwest spokesman. In another incident this month, a Southwest flight from Chicago to Salt Lake City was diverted to Denver when a passenger began to act erratically and refused to sit down.

Travelers aren’t just finding fault with the behavior of fellow passengers. A national Consumer Reports survey released in May found airline passengers were most annoyed by ubiquitous fees airlines charge to check a bag. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most vexing, bag charges scored an 8.4. Other fees, for such items as blankets, scored 8.1, while unhelpful airline workers got a 7.7.

More stressful flying

A decline in manners can be tied in part to a flying experience that’s more stressful as security has intensified after the terror attacks of Sept. 11. And many airlines have cut service and added fees to make ends meet, some industry observers say.

Flying may get more stressful as people who’d put travel on hold during the economic downturn return to the air and find smaller planes and fewer available flights.

“Planes are flying more passengers,” says Corey Caldwell, spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants. “There’s less available seats … in a stressful environment and a very close environment. A lot of times there are disruptions that do occur.”

Unruly behavior on the part of passengers “has heightened since 9/11, and we often see spikes when there’s a new implementation of a rule or policy or procedure,” Caldwell says. “(It’s) really because these passengers are being exposed to more and more stressors.”

Attendants are under more pressure, she says.

“Flight attendants are having to be vigilant on a lot more fronts than they have before, and so after a 14- or 16-hour day, I think anyone is a little more stressed,” she says.

Paul DeStefano, who travels two or three times a week, has a couple of peeves. One is flatulence.

“It is something that just infuriates me,” says DeStefano, 43, of Bridgewater, N.J. “We’re all human, but you’re stuck in a tube with somebody for four hours and they have the audacity to think it’s OK to let it loose.”

DeStefano, who runs the sales force of a consumer products business, says he’s also bothered by the sight of men who won’t help elderly women or mothers who are struggling with their bags.

“You should fly as though your mother’s with you,” he says. “Would she expect you to pass gas? No. Would she expect you to get the bag? Yes.”

Larry Stocker, a frequent flier, has a list of retorts at the ready.

For the fellow passenger who hasn’t bathed, “I’ll just say. ‘Do you use a deodorant?’ ” For the guy yelling into a cellphone, “I say, ‘This is a really interesting conversation. Could you tone it down because I’m trying to take a nap.’ “

Stocker, 58, who is president of his own company, says he wasn’t always so forward. But boorish behavior by fellow passengers is “so much more prevalent today … you can almost feel like you’re forced to take some action on your own behalf.”

New nuisances

Some irritants, such as the kid constantly kicking the back of your seat, have long been traveling pitfalls. But the digital age has ushered in new nuisances.

Peter Juhren, 52, who travels 175,000 miles a year for his job, says he’s had to ask passengers to more gently tap the console on the back of his seat. “Sometimes you get somebody behind you, especially when they’re playing a game … and they’re just pounding away,” says Juhren, a corporate service manager for a construction equipment business, who lives in Salem, Ore.

Pauline Weaver says she once had to admonish a fellow flier who kept texting long after passengers were told to stop.

“I tapped her on the shoulder, and I said, ‘You’ve got to turn it off or I’m going to tell the flight attendant,’ ” says Weaver, 61, a lawyer based in Hayward, Calif. “I don’t know from a hill of beans whether (the portable device) would have impacted the plane, but I don’t really care. You’re just not supposed to do it. … If you want to fly, you have to follow the rules. If you don’t want to, take a train.”

Industry observers and etiquette experts say there are some behaviors that you just have to make your peace with when you’re sharing a cramped, public space.

But there are ways to deal.

“People ask us all the time how do you combat the rudeness,” Lizzie Post says. “I go out there, and I’m one less rude person. You consider things. I’m not going to bring my really smelly fish leftovers on the plane. I’m going to bring a turkey sandwich.”

Travel experts say that you can ask the person behind you if it’s OK to recline your seat, recline only halfway or for part of the flight.

Bring along headphones to block out noise, and it’s fine to politely inform a seatmate that you’re not in the mood to chat.

Airlines, on the other hand, should look at courtesy and customer service as a matter of dollars and cents, says Stuart Greif, vice president and general manager for global travel and hospitality for J.D. Power and Associates.

A J.D. Power survey released last month found that passenger satisfaction with North American airlines was up but still below the levels that existed before the widespread implementation of fees. And Greif says satisfaction continues to lag behind other industries, such as autos or insurance.

“Ultimately, those that make their customers happy and feel valued … are the ones that are going to earn more revenue and be here in the long term,” Greif says of airlines.

Despite all the frustrations that can crop up, frequent flier DeStefano says he still manages to see the bright side.

“I still get a little kick in the pants every time the airplane gets off the runway,” he says. “You’re taking a plane full of … people at 500-plus miles an hour, going a time zone away.

“The fact that it works as well as it does is amazing.”

It’s a gamble taken all too frequently by Wisconsin residents: Getting behind the wheel of car while drunk.

To combat the problem, the state has raised the ante with the most ambitious package of drunken-driving reforms in decades. One of the primary aims of the law, which takes effect Thursday, is to persuade impaired motorists to stay off the roads.

But there is considerable debate about whether the target audience will get the message.

“Many people simply think that they won’t get caught,” Neenah Police Chief Kevin Wilkinson said. “Until we can intrude in the psychology of that, that portion won’t change.”Many police officials, lawmakers, researchers and safety advocates are taking a wait-and-see approach on whether the stiffer drinking-and-driving penalties will make a significant impact.

Even with the changes, Wisconsin’s law is not among the nation’s toughest.

Still, state Rep. Tom Nelson, D-Kaukauna, said, the law marks the first major upgrade in how Wisconsin treats drunken driving in 20 years. It incorporates ideas that were subject to debate for years before Gov. Jim Doyle signed the law in December.

In striving for meaningful reform, lawmakers worked to incorporate provisions on punishment, prevention and treatment, Nelson said.

“It’s not just a criminal justice issue or a prevention issue,” he said. “We chose to take a different approach: Let’s bring everything to the table. Let’s bring all these approaches into this law.”

Bad habit

Meanwhile, police and experts say Wisconsin’s alcohol-driven culture puts it in a uniquely difficult position when it comes to improving roadway safety.

Nina Emerson, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Resource Center on Impaired Driving, said drunken driving carries a certain degree of social acceptance in the Badger State.

A 2008 federal survey placed Wisconsin highest in the nation for driving while intoxicated. More than 26 percent of those questioned acknowledged having done so in the previous year.

Emerson said potential consequences don’t often sway drunken drivers when the party winds down or the bartender makes the last call.

“They’re not thinking, and they’re definitely not thinking they’re impaired,” Emerson said. “Time after time, they’ll say, ‘I didn’t think I was that bad.’ They’ve also done it so many times without repercussions that it reinforces that behavior. That behavior becomes more entrenched.”

Beginning Thursday, a fourth-offense drunken-driving conviction will be a felony if it occurs within five years of the previous offense. Currently, drunken drivers are treated as felons after a fifth conviction.

A first offense will be a misdemeanor if someone younger than 16 is in the car. Today, it’s a traffic ticket.

Repeat offenders and first-timers with high blood-alcohol concentrations will have to get ignition interlocks on all vehicles they drive.

In addition, judges will have the power to place more drunken drivers on probation.

State Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, said he is confident Wisconsin drivers will take notice once they start encountering others who have been stung by the tougher penalties.

“It was a compromise and we’ve taken another step forward,” said Kaufert, who owns a bar. “In some people’s eyes we didn’t go far enough, and in other people’s eyes, we went too far. The bottom line is that we coalesced on something that could pass.”

More felonies

History provides a sense of the new law’s potential impact on prosecutors’ caseloads.

Last year, Outagamie County registered 57 convictions for fourth-offense drunken driving and 26 convictions for fifth or subsequent offenses, which were felonies. Another 16 felony drunken-driving cases from 2009 remain open.

In Winnebago County, 73 drivers were convicted on a fourth offense and 44 were convicted for fifth or subsequent offenses. Six cases from 2009 cases remain open.

Bottom line: More felony cases would mean more time spent per case.

Felonies require a preliminary hearing, to determine if there is sufficient cause to send the case to trial, which misdemeanors don’t carry. And defendants are more apt to fight a felony charge because they stand to lose more, including the potential of going to prison and the right to own firearms.

Despite possibly larger caseloads and related expenses, adopting the tougher threshold made sense particularly when comparing Wisconsin to other states, UW’s Emerson said. In 21 states, a third offense is considered a felony. In Indiana and New York, drunken driving is a felony on the second offense if it occurs within five years of the previous conviction. Oklahoma considers a second offense a felony if it occurs within 10 years of a previous conviction.

Only seven states have laws weaker than Wisconsin’s fourth-offense standard.

“I don’t think it’s by any stretch unreasonable,” Emerson said of Wisconsin’s new law.

Focus on treatment

Some police wonder whether any degree of punishment is enough to break the behavior of those who’ve reached or exceeded the felony threshold.

“I think punishment has very little to do with it, frankly,” Outagamie County Sheriff Brad Gehring said. “At that stage, they’ve demonstrated they have incredibly strong addictions.”

That’s where another portion of the law shows promise, he said.

“Legislatively, I understand the need to get tough, but with more alcohol addiction treatment we’re hoping to have more positive results.”

The new law offers counties the option to use a treatment-based program now available only in Winnebago County. Outagamie County will open its version of the Safe Streets Treatment Options Program to drunken drivers arrested after the law takes effect.

The program is available to those charged with second and third offenses. Participants who complete the Wisconsin alcohol rehab program receive less jail time than they would have under traditional sentencing. They would be placed on probation with alcohol treatment and community service among the conditions.

Annie Levknecht, alternative treatment coordinator for Outagamie County, said the initial benefit of the program is urgency.

Offenders don’t have time to consider whether they’re ready or willing to undergo treatment because they have just three days to get an alcohol assessment.

Those who complete the program similar to alcoholics anonymous will have two-thirds of their sentence stayed.

“There’s incentive,” Levknecht said. “Another key benefit is they get to stay with their families.”

Winnebago County Judge Scott Woldt, who instituted the program with Judge Barbara Key in 2006, said it has benefited taxpayers by saving on jail costs and it is giving offenders the tools they need to avoid further offenses.

Winnebago’s program has produced 266 graduates. Of them, 26 have re-offended.

Woldt said measuring success goes beyond facts and figures.

“I get letters from time to time saying, ‘I didn’t want to get into it, my lawyer talked me into it, but it was the best thing I ever did,’” Woldt said. “I don’t typically get letters from people I’ve sentenced to prison. People are turning their lives around.”

Woldt said he’s given about a half-dozen presentations on the program since it was included in the state’s new drunken-driving law. In addition to Outagamie, Waukesha County plans to incorporate the program into its alcohol treatment court, he said.

“It’s going to be a slow process, but it’ll slowly build,” Woldt said.

Counties that decline to use Safe Streets still have better opportunities to keep closer watch on offenders.

The new law will make probation an option for those convicted of second and third offenses. Currently, probation is only available to judges for four-time offenders.

Winnebago County Dist. Atty. Christian Gossett said allowing probation earlier in the process is a laudable step, because it’s vital to reach drunken drivers early and address the behavior before it worsens.

However, Wisconsin’s probation agents are already overburdened, and it’s likely drunken drivers wouldn’t get the attention that would make it worthwhile, Gossett said, due to any given agent’s higher-priority clientele.

“Make it a meaningful probation,” he said. “If you can’t, it’s feel-good legislation only.”

Mandatory interlocks

If stricter penalties can’t stop drunken drivers from repeat offenses, there’s hope that technology will.

Judges now have the discretion to order use of ignition interlock devices for repeat offenders. Beginning Thursday, the devices will be mandatory for repeat drunken drivers and for first-timers arrested with a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 percent or higher. The state’s legal limit is 0.08 percent.

The interlock devices require drivers to take a breath test before they can start their vehicles.

Kaufert was among the lead Assembly proponents for toughening the interlock requirement. He said it was crafted to better assure that those ordered to use the devices follow through.

“People are always going to try to find a way to circumvent it,” he said, “but I think it’s a pretty good law.”

Currently, the clock starts when a judge orders a driver to have the device in place for a certain length of time. The offender can ignore the order and drive illegally until the time expires, then get a new license.

Under the new law, a driver won’t be able to get a license without proof that the interlock was installed. The clock on an order won’t start ticking until an offender applies for a license and officials see the paperwork.

Wisconsin’s interlock provision places it in the top half of the country in terms of the strength of the law.

Judges in 12 states are required to order interlock use for any drunken driving offense. Wisconsin will join eight states that require the devices with a 0.15 percent blood-alcohol content. Another six states have mandatory interlocks only for repeat offenses.

New Mexico has had success with provisions to assure drivers follow through with the interlock orders, Kaufert said.

“The compliance is way up, and the recidivism has gone way down,” he said.

The nation’s minority population is steadily rising and now makes up 35 percent of the United States, advancing an unmistakable trend that could make minorities the new American majority by midcentury.

As white baby boomers age past their childbearing years, younger Hispanic parents are having children — and driving U.S. population growth.

“The aging of baby boomers beyond young middle age will have profound impacts on our labor force, housing market, schools and generational divisions on issues such as Social Security and Medicare,” said William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution. “The engine of growth for the younger population in most states will be new minorities.”

New Census estimates show minorities added more than 2 percent in 2009 to 107.2 million people, boosted by a surge in Hispanic births and more people who described themselves as multiracial. During this time, the white population remained flat, making up roughly 199.9 million, or 65 percent, of the country.

By comparison, whites comprised 69 percent of the total population in 2000, and minorities 31 percent.

Currently four states — Hawaii, New Mexico, California and Texas — as well as the District of Columbia have minority populations that exceeded 50 percent. That’s one state more than in 2000, when Texas was not on the list.

About 311 of the 3,143 counties — one in 10 — have minority populations of 50 percent or greater. That’s up from around 250 counties in 2000.

The Census estimates released Thursday documented a widening age and race divide. They are the last government numbers before completion later this year of the 2010 census, which could change the balance of political power when legislative districts are redrawn based on population and racial diversity.

A key factor in the demographic transformation is aging baby boomers, a predominantly white group now shepherding college kids instead of starting young families. Since 2000, the number of whites under age 45 decreased by 8.4 million, while the number of whites over that age rose by 12.6 million.

The result is that the number of white younger adults and children fell in 42 states. Fifteen states, led by California, New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan, have lost more than 10 percent of their younger white population since 2000.

Locally, the changing race dynamics were widespread.

Seven U.S. counties last year saw their minority populations become the majority: Gwinnett County, Ga.; Titus and Victoria counties in Texas; Finney County, Kan.; Saguache County, Colo.; Contra Costa County, Calif.; and Yakima County, Wash.

The rise in the minority population is due to recent sharp increases in minority births, especially among Hispanics, who accounted for more than half of total U.S. population gains last year. There are now roughly 9 births for every 1 death among Latinos, compared to a roughly one-to-one ratio for whites.

Based on current rates, data from the 2010 census could show a new “tipping point” in which babies born to minorities outnumber that of babies born to whites. About 1 in 4 counties now have more minority children than white children or are nearing that point.

“Fertility is playing a critical role in reshaping the racial and ethnic structure of the country,” said Kenneth Johnson, a sociology professor at the University of New Hampshire.

Multiracial Americans, the fastest growing U.S. demographic group, are also adding to minority gains. About 5.3 million last year were identified as being of multiple race or ethnicity, up 3.2 percent from the previous year.

Among racial and ethnic groups, Hispanics grew by 3.1 percent to 48.4 million and Asians increased 2.5 percent to 13.7 million. They now represent about 15.8 percent and 4.5 percent of the U.S. population, respectively.

Blacks, who make up about 12.3 percent of the population, increased less than 1 percent last year to 37.7 million.

Other findings:

_The median age for Hispanics and Asians edged lower — to 27.4 and 35.3 respectively — compared to 36.8 for the total population. The median age for blacks was unchanged at 31.3, while whites rose slightly to 41.2, due mostly to an aging boomer population.

_Utah had the youngest residents, with 1 in 10 people who were younger than five. Florida was the oldest, with nearly 1 in 5 residents who were 65 or older.

_Charlotte County, Fla., was the nation’s “oldest” county, with 34 percent of its population age 65 or older, due to retirees seeking warm winters, golf courses and the county’s lower costs. It was followed by La Paz County, Ariz.; Highlands County, Fla., and Lancaster County, Va.

The 2009 Census estimates used local records of births and deaths, tax records of people moving within the U.S., and government statistics on immigrants. The figures for “white” refer to those whites who are not of Hispanic ethnicity.

Results from the official 2010 head count will be published beginning in late December.

YOSEMITE, Calif. — After toiling for three decades in finance, it wouldn’t be surprising if 65-year-old Patrick Althizer kicked back and lived off his savings and Social Security.

But with a spirit not ready for sedentary retirement — as well as college costs for two daughters — he veered off to a new career path: leading shutterbugs through the stunning waterfall areas of Yosemite National Park.

Althizer has embraced his new vocation with enthusiasm. He plastered decals that promote his firm, Photo Safari Yosemite, on the windows of his white Jeep Cherokee, networked with the folks who run local tourist attractions, and at his daughters’ behest, joined Facebook to promote his firm, which takes tourists to the best photo-taking spots in the national park.

“I was a Navy photographer when I was younger — when I was in my twenties — (then) I got diverted into a finance career for about 30 years,” he says. “When I was 64, I got out of the finance business and tried to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up.”

His answer: start his own business by pairing two of his passions — photography and exploring.

He joins millions of other Americans in ramping up a business at an age when many slow down. Folks 55 to 64 represented the second-largest jump in entrepreneurial activity by age (just behind 35- to 44-year-olds) from 2008 to 2009, according to an Index of Entrepreneurial Activity released last week by entrepreneur-focused group Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Other studies, such as a recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report, as well as data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), also show an uptick in older folks becoming their own bosses.

The number of self-employed Americans rose to 8.9 million in December 2009, up from 8.7 million a year earlier, according to BLS data provided by outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas. Self-employment among those 55 to 64 hit nearly 2 million, a 5% rise from the prior year. Self-employment for those 65 and older hit 939,000 — a 29% increase.

The rise has been fueled by factors such as the tidal wave of Baby Boomers who don’t want to stop working, economic necessity triggered by the recession, and the rise in longevity, says Dane Stangler, a research manager at Kauffman.

“Americans are not only living longer but also living healthier longer, suggesting that those entrepreneurial 60-year-olds could be 2020′s entrepreneurial 70-year-olds,” he says.

Economic impetus

Slightly more than 2 million people 55 and older were looking for jobs in April — 52,000 more than in March, according to BLS data provided by the AARP Public Policy Institute. The unemployment rate for that age group, 7%, is lower than the 9.9% national average, but the demographic is often out of work for longer periods. (The duration of unemployment for older jobseekers rose from 38.4 weeks in March to 42.9 weeks in April.)

Nearly six in 10 older unemployed workers had been out of work for 27 or more weeks in April. At the start of the recession in December 2007, 23% of this group were out of work for that length of time.

A third of workers age 55 and older who were laid off in the past 12 months and did not find a job said they were considering starting their own business, according to a CareerBuilder.com survey taken in February and March. (CareerBuilder is jointly owned by Tribune, McClatchy, Microsoft and USA TODAY parent Gannett.)

Bryan Goodman, 53, decided to focus full time on his big-and-tall-man’s clothing business after he lost his job as a manager at a Boston car dealership.

“For many years, I had been selling things causally on eBay, but when I got laid off and couldn’t get another job, I decided that … I could do this as a business,” he says.

Economics also were a factor for 69-year-old Alan Friedman, to think big — very big — about his entrepreneurial route.

For decades, Friedman sold high-end antiques, but with the downturn, and some of his clients’ tastes changing to more contemporary furniture, he decided to start a new venture called Transitions in Design in West Palm Beach, Fla.

“It’s very difficult in the economy today, especially dealing in high-priced merchandise,” he says. “In the last few years, I lost a good portion of my customer base.”

He began to replicate iron furniture from the 1950s, which he was able to sell at more affordable prices. He also tapped into his own creativity and began to design large-scale bronze sculptures for individuals as well as municipalities.

Business hasn’t been brisk, but Friedman says he’s going to keep at it. “I need to make a living.”

Non-economic factors play roles, too

Businesses born from older folks come about for many reasons. Sometimes, it’s as simple as a major birthday lighting the entrepreneurial spark. Other times, it’s serial entrepreneurs who can’t squelch the urge to keep creating new firms.

“These milestones do hit people squarely over the head — it’s the workforce equivalent of a midlife crisis,” says Robert Litan, Kauffman vice president for research and policy. “They force you to ask the question ‘What am I going to do for the rest of my life?’ “

The idea of starting a new business can also come after a chance meeting with someone who has an interesting job or pastime.

A customer who bought a slew of dock lines from boating store West Marine inadvertently steered Thomas and Connie Betts toward a new profession. Thomas, an operations manager for the retailer, asked about the large purchase — and the customer said he was using the rope for his alpaca ranch.

“I said, ‘What’s an alpaca?’ ” recounts Brett.

But the more he learned about the mild-mannered animal, and the value of its soft fleece, the more interested he became.

He and Connie, ages 55 and 56 respectively, researched the animals and took classes on raising alpacas. They moved to the Hood River, Ore., area, where they had yearned to live, and started Cascade Alpacas of Oregon.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” says Connie. “We love our alpacas.”

Not always smooth sailing

The Bettses are enjoying their business — and making a profit — but it took extensive effort to get to that point. Tom and Connie continued to work at different jobs so they had funding as they got the ranch going, and Connie still holds down a separate full-time job so they have extra money coming in.

“It sounds really simple to say ‘I’m going to start my own business,’ ” says Deborah Russell, AARP director of workforce issues. “But it’s a huge undertaking, and it needs to be taken seriously.”

Russell says that making a vocation change at midlife comes with decision-making stress such as how to fund a venture without risking a retirement nest egg.

Entrepreneurs in their twenties and thirties have decades to make up lost money if a firm fails. But older owners simply have less time.

The Bettses said they mapped out several “worst-case scenario” situations when they decided to go ahead with the alpaca ranch. “With alpacas, it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. It can take years” to make a profit, says Connie. “We said, ‘What’s the worst that can happen, and can we live with that?’ “

EBay seller Goodman says the financing issue has also been top of mind. He’s dramatically cut back on living expenses to fund his venture, but is now thinking “Do I use my retirement money?”

The hurdles for older workers also go beyond the potential of losing retirement savings.

“Facility with technology is a big barrier for a lot of older people,” says Kauffman’s Litan.

Another obstacle for most older people is that they just don’t have the stamina that they once had, Litan says. “It’s true,” says the 60-year-old. “I know it myself.”

Some advantages exist

Yet, for all the pitfalls, signs indicate this is a good time for a more mature person to become a business owner.

Those seeking counseling can now choose from numerous online resources that target older entrepreneurs, such as the Small Business Administration’s “50+” page (sba.gov/50plusentrepreneur) and the “Start Your Own Business” section of RetiredBrains.com, a site started by 75-year-old Arthur Koff when he was 68.

A plethora of information exists that small-business owners can glean from their peers — often by logging onto social-networking sites.

Many older entrepreneurs also have the advantage of having non-technology-related networks that were built up through years of face-to-face interactions, says Litan.

“Older people have a deeper social network than kids that just have 400 friends (online),” he says. “They have a real, live Facebook — these are people they can count on.”

In addition, maturity comes with another big advantage: experience.

Nearly all the company founders surveyed in a Kauffman study released last fall said prior work experience was an important success factor.

Patty Tobin, 56, says her work in the asbestos removal field, as well as her time as a marketing consultant, greatly helped her in her jewelry venture.

“I know how to deal with banks, how to read a lease, how to hire people and how to manage people,” she says.

She also says that a positive attitude — and a willingness to keep learning — have also been large factors in her entrepreneurial success.

Tobin says she “has no formal training in design or fashion,” but once the environmental contracting firm she co-owned closed a few years ago, she began to experiment with jewelry design.

She first sold her wares to a boutique in her local Albany, N.Y., area, and has slowly expanded her business. Last fall, she opened a boutique in Manhattan, and a few weeks ago, she introduced her merchandise to buyers in Canada.

“You can teach an old dog new tricks if they’re willing to learn, and I am,” she says.
Self-employment by age

CINCINNATI — Going green has become good business.

Just look at store shelves: Sales of “green” products, such as organic foods and natural personal care items, have jumped 15 percent since 2006, according to research firm Mintel International.

A wave of promotion is hitting consumers during this week’s 40th anniversary Earth Day observances: Hanes says it can put you in eco-friendly underwear, Frito-Lay offers Sun Chips from a bag you can toss in a compost pile, and Target stores invite you to use their recycling bins.

Some promotions sound more like image-buffing than Earth-saving, and big companies still have a long way to go to significantly reduce their impacts on air, water and other resources. But environmentalists say the drivers of American consumer culture are starting to make real strides.

“It’s a far cry from where we were,” said Elizabeth Sturcken, who manages corporate partnerships for the Environmental Defense Fund. “Companies are seeing the economic value of going green.”

It’s not just products. Cutting lighting and heating costs, using less packaging, streamlining transportation to save gas, recycling more instead of throwing away — those all help both the environment and the bottom line.

“It would be easy to say that companies really care about the environment only in the third week of April,” said Joel Makower, a consultant and executive editor of Greener World Media Inc. “But most big companies have been taking significant steps. … The fact is, they’re doing it for all the right business reasons.”

The behemoth that might drive even more serious improvements is retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. It’s urging its suppliers to reduce 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2015, on top of its own moves to build more energy-efficient stores, use more alternative fuels in its trucks, and reduce packaging.

Shopper Jim Farmer, 68, voiced his approval while looking through Earth Day-themed aisles recently at a West Chester, Ohio, Supercenter.

“I think Wal-Mart is trying to help, and that’s great,” Farmer said. “I have children and grandchildren, and we want to make the Earth a better place for them.”

While surveys show that many consumers want to buy environmentally friendly products, the Great Recession made them reluctant to pay more for them, dampening what had been rapid sales growth.

Mintel International says sales of natural and organic foods and beverages rose 24 percent in 2006-’08, then slowed to less than 2 percent last year; sales of green personal care products jumped 18 percent in ’06-’08, but only 1.2 percent last year.

Wal-Mart tells shoppers in promoting its environmental moves that the cost savings are passed on in low prices: “not just Earth-friendly, we’re also being wallet-friendly.” And P&G’s current “Future Friendly” campaign touts both the environmental and financial benefits of products such as Tide Cold Water detergent, which curtails the toll on utility bills of heating washer water. The consumer products giant also is giving coupons for its green products, and pledges to reach 50 million households with educational information.

That’s only part of a sustainability drive that P&G has made companywide. In one effort, it created a unit three years ago to find new uses for byproducts and leftovers that would otherwise go into incinerators and landfills.

So now, Clairol hair coloring ingredients help make tires shine, Duracell batteries help make bricks, and materials from Pampers diapers and Always maxi pads absorb industrial leaks and spills.

Scott Burns, who heads the unit, said the program has reduced waste disposal by 30 percent, saving money and increasing recycling revenue.

One area where product makers still need to improve, activists say, is in telling consumers in detail about ingredients so they can make their own decisions.

Chris Haack, a Mintel consumer market analyst, adds that many products that claim to be green, natural or organic might have only one ingredient or material that fits the bill. And there aren’t consistent standards for what qualifies as environmentally helpful.

“There is still a lot of what’s called greenwashing out there,” Haack said. “There are a million labels … consumers are befuddled. They just don’t know what to trust.”

With the explosion in green promotional claims, the Federal Trade Commission is reviewing its guidelines for environmental marketing. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart says it has been working with suppliers to develop a “Sustainable Product Index” to help guide consumers.

David Steinman, a consumer health advocate and author, urges consumers to push companies harder for full disclosure and to vote with their pocketbooks.

And Sturcken says the companies can do more than just add the occasional green product.

“Ideally, I certainly would like to see that every product these companies offer is green,” she said. “So there are no trade-offs with effectiveness and pricing and being environmentally friendly.”

Pittsburgh threatened to tax college tuition. Providence sought to tax out-of-state students. And Philadelphia is pressing its colleges and universities to resume voluntary payments in lieu of taxes.

As Boston seeks new revenue, cities around the country are grappling with how to squeeze more money from the colleges and other tax-exempt institutions, as recession and lower property tax revenues prompt municipalities to seek alternate ways to pay their bills.

Efforts to impose greater obligations on nonprofits have increased tension and strained town-gown relations in some college-rich cities.

City officials argue that colleges rely on municipal services and should pay their fair share, especially in difficult financial times.

Colleges defend their tax-exempt status by citing the social and economic benefits they bring to their communities.

“Economic constraints have required cities and towns to look more aggressively for additional funds,’’ said Daniel Egan, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Island.

“But quite frankly, when you put a figure on something, then the tax exemption is gone. If it looks like a tax and sounds like a tax, it’s a tax.’’

With its large number of tax-exempt universities and hospitals, Boston appears to be ahead of most cities in seeking to toughen its voluntary payment program for nonprofits. A city panel is finalizing a plan to ask nonprofits to gradually increase their voluntary annual payments to 25 percent of what they would owe in taxes.

The proposal, which many colleges and universities oppose, would raise the total amount of payments to Boston to $20.9 million a year.

Currently, 13 Boston colleges and universities pay the city $8.4 million a year, ranging from $4.9 million from Boston University to $13,125 from the New England School of Law.

In addition, several of the schools pay $5.7 million in taxes on property that would otherwise be considered tax-exempt. At least nine colleges pay nothing in lieu of taxes.

In Philadelphia, meanwhile, hardly any colleges make payments in lieu of taxes, although that could change.

University presidents there met with city officials last week to begin discussing how to quantify their current contributions to the city. Philadelphia is assembling a task force similar to the one in Boston to assess how a new system might work, whether through in-kind services or voluntary payments.

In 1995, the city received $6.78 million in voluntary payments from nonprofits, with the University of Pennsylvania contributing nearly $2 million.

But the payments slowed to a trickle after a 1997 state law calmed fears that the city might try to strip them of their tax-exempt status if they did not pay up.

Now, the city receives less than $1 million a year from nonprofits, mostly from outside higher education, said Lori Shorr, Philadelphia’s chief education officer.

Many Philadelphia schools, however, donate services and operate community programs, Shorr said.

Penn, for example, contributes $700,000 a year to a public elementary and middle school that it started in 2001 to attract families to a West Philadelphia neighborhood.

In January, a Chronicle of Higher Education survey found that only a third of 30 top research universities with large endowments made regular voluntary payments in lieu of taxes.

The largest single voluntary payment of any university to its host municipality comes from Yale University. Yale recently bumped its contributions to New Haven to $7.5 million a year, up from $5 million, because of the recession’s effects on the city, a university official said.

By comparison, Harvard voluntarily pays $2 million annually to Boston and $2.2 million to Cambridge, while MIT pays Cambridge $1.8 million. (Both universities also pay millions in taxes on property that is not used for academic purposes and run a wide range of community programs.)

On top of Yale’s contributions, New Haven receives $43 million from the state of Connecticut, which awards cities grants about 77 percent of the amount of taxes that would have been paid if college and hospital properties were not exempt from taxation, a rare model that some private education advocates in Massachusetts would like the state to consider.

While cities have to make do with whatever voluntary payments they manage to get out of local colleges, some mayors have resorted to more drastic measures to help close budget gaps.

The issue has spurred debate and tension in Providence.

Although four private colleges agreed in 2003 to pay the city nearly $50 million over 20 years, Mayor David Cicilline proposed last spring that the colleges also pay a $300-a-year tax on each out-of-state student. He said it would generate about $8 million a year.

But the plan failed amid opposition from students angered by the additional burden at already pricey schools. and Michigan colleges. Universities worried that the tax would hurt recruiting.

“I thought it was important that our large tax-exempt institutions that own a lot of real estate contribute more to the health and well-being of the city,’’ Cicilline said in an interview yesterday.

He said the city is continuing discussions with the colleges on how they can contribute, such as helping Providence create a streetcar system and increasing their involvement in the city’s schools.

Pittsburgh put together a plan last year to establish the nation’s first tax on college tuition to raise revenue for city retirees’ pensions.

But the mayor withdrew the proposal for the 1 percent tax in December after Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh agreed to step up voluntary payments to the city.

Pittsburgh takes in about $784,000 in voluntary payments from its nonprofits. City officials would not disclose how much more the two universities have agreed to pay.

Higher-education representatives hope that the unsuccessful tax proposals in Pittsburgh and Providence send a signal to mayors in other cities.

“That will probably tamp down enthusiasm to go in this direction, but probably only for a year or two,’’ said Don Francis, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania.

“We will see more of these kinds of proposals if we don’t find other solutions.’’