March 1st, 2010:
French Provincial style
French Provincial home
Balance and symmetry are the ruling characteristics of this formal style. Homes are often brick with detailing in copper or slate. Windows and chimneys are symmetrical and perfectly balanced, at least in original versions of the style. Defining features include a steep, high, hip roof; balcony and porch balustrades; rectangle doors set in arched openings; and double French windows with shutters. Second-story windows usually have a curved head that breaks through the cornice.
The design had its origins in the style of rural manor homes, or chateaus, built by the French nobles during the reign of Louis XIV in the mid-1600s. The French Provincial design was a popular Revival style in the 1920s and again in the 1960s.
single family residence
French Provincial revivals can be found in upscale neighborhoods throughout Northern Virginia.
Reduction of Mortgage Tax Breaks Unlikely
Cameron Station
So far, Congress is ignoring President Barack Obama’s budget proposal to reduce deductions for mortgage interest and real-estate taxes.
The president proposed that taxpayers would save 28 cents of tax liability for every $1 of mortgage interest or taxes, down from the current 35 cents.
Congressional representatives on both sides of the aisle have concerns about how the idea would impact the housing market, says Matthew Beck, a spokesman for the Democratic majority on the House Ways and Means Committee.
The Joint Committee on Taxation says the current mortgage-related tax deductions will reduce tax revenue by $104 billion this year, with 75 percent of the benefit going to people who earn more than $100,000 per year.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, James R. Hagerty (03/01/2010)
Move-Up Tax Credit Having Little Impact
A sample of the condos at Cameron Station
The $6,500 move-up tax credit isn’t significant enough to have much of an impact on the housing crisis, housing experts say.
The percentage of current home owners who are considering buying was unchanged from January, a traditional slow month, to February, when business is usually better, according to a poll of 1,500 real estate agents by Campbell Communications and Inside Mortgage Finance.
“You’ve got a really big problem that requires big guns, and the tax credit is just not big enough,” says Roberton Williams, senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center in Washington.
The credit “is hardly registering on the economic Richter scale,” says Patrick Newport, an economist with IHS Global Insight.
Source: Associated Press, Adrian Sainz (03/01/2010)
Guide to Falls Church
Falls Church, settled in 1699, is one of the oldest cities in Virginia. (In Virginia, a city is a jurisdictional component very similar to a county.)
Falls Church is a mix of urban high-rises and suburban style neighborhoods with easy access to Northern Virginia’s transportation network. Falls Church is comprised of the City of Falls Church and parts of Fairfax County with a Falls Church addess. From the condos of Skyline to the Falls Church Metro and everywhere in between, there are lots of lifestyle choices in Falls Church. Click Falls Church to search for homes in and near the City of Falls Church . In addition, here are a few neighborhoods in and near Falls Church.
The Theory of Progression and Regression
Old growth neighborhood
The economic theory of “Progression and Regression” states that building a home that is valued substantially above other properties in the same neighborhood will most likely cause the newly built home to value downward toward the other properties. This is sometimes called “overbuilding” because sometimes a homeowner will put additions or improvements on his home that are substantially better than his neighbors.
But the theory is called progression and regression because a home that is in a diminished condition in a better neighborhood will command a higher value. Additionally it is possible for a neighborhood to reach a tipping point. In other words, if enough of your neighbors “overbuild” your house could increase in value due to the increase in value of the neighborhood.
In Northern Virginia, we see this in many neighborhoods in and close to Alexandria and Arlington. For example, in Del Ray, older working-class homes have been replaced by or improved to become pricier and much more luxurious. Lyon Park and the area surrounding Belle Haven is not the same neighborhood that I remember as a child. Both of these areas have become much more exclusive.
Comma Odds & Ends: The (Optional?) Oxford Comma
What is the Oxford Comma?
One frequent application of the comma is placing it between items in a series (that is, a list of items). For example, consider the sentence below. Notice that the last comma of the series (the one just before “and”) is optional:
Future articles will cover colons, semicolons, and dashes. (final comma included)
I could just as easily write:
Future articles will cover colons, semicolons and dashes. (final comma omitted)
Both of the sentences above are perfectly clear and acceptable. That extra comma, optional in the case above, is called the “Oxford comma.” (Some refer to it as “the serial comma.”) Examples like the one above have sparked some controversy, even among the Punctuation Gods, over whether the inclusion of the Oxford comma should be standard.
While the Oxford comma is often optional, there are cases in which its presence is necessary to the sentence’s message. Consider the two sentences below, from an example sentence we examined in a previous article, “Comma Function: Commas Separate Things.” Notice that these two sentences differ only in comma placement:
1. I enjoy experiencing movies and writing.
2. I enjoy experiencing, movies, and writing.
What am I saying here? It depends on which sentence you read. In the first sentence, I am saying:
I enjoy experiencing movies and experiencing writing.
In the second sentence, I make an altogether different statement:
I enjoy the act of experiencing, the act of seeing movies, and the act of writing.
But what happens if, when trying to express the point that I enjoy these three activities, I place the first comma, but omit the Oxford comma before “and”? Let’s try it:
I enjoy experiencing, movies and writing.
This nonsensical sentence doesn’t really express anything. Speak it aloud, pausing at the comma. Here is how it sounds:
I enjoy experiencing [pause] movies and writing.
So, if I want to express the notion that I enjoy those three things—namely, (1) experiencing, (2) movies, and (3) writing—I must include that Oxford comma. In this case, it is not merely optional. If I never include the final comma in this series, and if I follow that rule in the sentence above, there is no way to know what this sentence states.
Even in cases involving two items, an extra comma is sometimes needed to make a distinction. Think about this seemingly simple statement:
I like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
There are two ways to read this sentence. Am I saying here that (1) I like sandwiches that contain both peanut butter and jelly, or (2) I like jelly sandwiches and peanut butter? To avoid such ambiguity, I might add a clarifying comma, even if the usage is irregular:
I like peanut butter, and jelly sandwiches.
Still, my first choice in this case would be to invert the two direct objects by saying,
I like jelly sandwiches and peanut butter.
That last revision demonstrates how, in matters of grammar and punctuation, there’s often more than one way to skin a ca—ugh: I’ll avoid that rather disgusting metaphor. (I always wondered why the idea skinning some unfortunate cat has become a metaphor for finding a way to complete some task. Is that a daily life goal for some people? I can hear it now: A wife asks her husband,”What are you doing, honey?” His reply: “Oh, I’m just going to pick up the kids, rent a movie, skin a random cat, and buy some medicine—you know, the usual stuff. What are you doing today, Sweetplums?”)
The Argument Against the Oxford Comma
I should mention that there are cases in which the Oxford comma is not optional, in the opposite sense: sometimes, writers must omit it to express the message they intend. Consider the sentence below:
I offer this series of articles for my readers, my students, and anyone interested in language.
In the sentence above, the second comma could throw a syntactical monkey-wrench into my message if I am trying to express the notion that the group of people known as “my readers” consists of my students and anyone interested in language. If I want to express that notion, I should omit the Oxford comma:
I offer this series of articles for my readers, my students and anyone interested in language.
Citing examples like the sentence above, opponents of the Oxford comma argue that the default (omitting the comma) errs to the side of caution in avoiding the ambiguities that the additional comma sometimes creates. This too is a valid approach.
Note: Observant readers will notice that the pro-comma people could argue the opposite position: if the writer was trying to express the idea that the articles are for (1) readers, (2) students, and (3) anyone interested in language, the practice of omitting the comma prevents this. If both approaches leave room for ambiguity, which approach should we follow? (More on that, a couple paragraphs down.)
My Position: Conscious, Case-by-Case Writing
My personal position is that omitting the Oxford comma causes more trouble than it avoids. In my experience, most cases of ambiguity are caused, not by the presence of the additional comma, but by its absence. Still, this rule is not an absolute. When all is said and done, finding your position on the Oxford comma debate is a matter of conscious writing. If you decide to include the Oxford comma as a default practice, just be aware that there are cases where that final comma disrupts the notion you are trying to express, and that you should make exceptions in those cases. Likewise, if omitting the Oxford comma is your default, just remember that sometimes you will need its presence to express the notion you are trying to write. No matter your side on the Oxford comma debate, always be prepared to allow for the exception.
Also, regardless of your Oxford comma default, don’t get too caught up in the dogma of your position, as this may limit your perspective and blind you to other possibilities. Consider again the last sentence we explored. While some might argue over whether to include the Oxford comma, I might step out of that debate entirely by rewriting the sentence using a colon:
I offer this series of articles for my readers: my students and anyone interested in language.
Or, since writing is meant to be read, I might try avoiding the tautology of saying I offer my articles for readers (duh!) by writing the sentence this way:
I offer this series of articles for my students and for anyone interested in language.
And, if I want a pause for emphasis, I will try a stylistic comma (not the same as the Oxford comma):
I offer this series of articles for my students, and for anyone interested in language.
If I want that pause to lend more spontaneity to the sentence, I might try a dash instead:
I offer this series of articles for my students—and for anyone interested in language.
If a subtle, whispering tone is my aim, I might try a parenthetical phrase:
I offer this series of articles for my students (and for anyone interested in language).
Or, I might aim for something completely different:
This series of articles is not just for students; it’s for anyone interested in language.
All of those sentences are improvements over the original. There is no question as to the message they convey. These improvements demonstrate why developing a toolbox of punctuation is important. While the comma is an excellent clarifying tool, it is not the only tool at our disposal.
This relates to a truth I have found about writing: there is no rule of writing that takes the place of consciously considering the message you are trying to express in a given sentence. The best writers consider each idea and sentence they write on an individual, case-by-case basis, and then they write accordingly. Although they recognize rules as helpful general guidelines, such writers never lean lazily against any writing practice. With that thought in mind, feel free to practice a default, but do not sacrifice versatility and consciousness for tradition and dogma. Writing practices should serve your purposes; you should not serve theirs.
The next article covers ways that the comma interacts with forms of punctuation, like quotation marks or parentheses. If a parenthetical phrase occurs at the end of a clause that is set off by a comma, should the comma go before or after the parenthetical phrase? And what about quotation marks and commas: if a comma occurs at the end of a quote, does it go inside or outside the quotation marks? Why do some writers place the comma inside the quotes, while others place it outside?
I will answer these questions in the upcoming article, “Comma Odds & Ends: Using Commas with Other Forms of Punctuation.”
Here is the link to that article:
Christopher Altman, a community-college composition specialist, is passionate about bringing the art of effective writ
ing to average, everyday Americans. He has published work in the field of medieval literature, and has authored a book on advertising language entitled, Telling the Truth to Deceive: How Advertisers Manipulate the English Language. Mr. Altman is an assistant professor of English at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York.
