[bearishgurl]

[quote=FlyerInHi]BG, your disparaging of the Clinton marriage is so not consrvative or traditional. Did you hear of the concept of til death do us part?[/quote]Bill’s (short and long-term) “dalliances” (heavily publicized after the fact) occurred at a time prior to the internet, when people couldn’t just join a site to meet prospective affair partners. As such, the current “affair rate” of 70% for men and 50-60% for women (as scaredy posted here) wasn’t true in the ’70’s thru the ’90’s. Most of Bill’s affairs occurred when he served as the AG and Governor (2 terms which were split) for the state of AR. They were are all terribly embarrassing for Hillary and in spite of being repeatedly publicly humiliated, she chose each and every time to stand by her man and even “hire” PI’s and other taxpayer-funded personnel available to Bill’s public office (“investigator types” and other lackeys) to follow some of these women who came forward and attempt to intimidate them at their homes and jobs in (mostly thwarted) efforts to silence them. Bill was even later sued for sexual harassment in the line of duty while occupying a public office in AR! Most of his affairs which became public occurred when there were no laws in place to prohibit sexual harassment at work! I feel sorry for what these women had to go through in order to keep their jobs to feed their families. I have no respect for people who can’t see who their spouse really is and choose to blame everyone else but him/her for their behavior because they don’t have the courage to just walk away. Not only does Hillary NOT have the courage to do what it takes to run the US properly, she does not have the physical and mental stamina necessary for the difficult and strenuous job of POTUS, IMO. She did at one time in her life (’90’s) but not today. I know quite a few people in Hill’s age group (+/- 3 years) and they are ALL in much better physical shape than Hill is. I feel Hill was smart, beautiful and successful in her own right and would have been in much better physical and mental shape than she is today had she not prostrated herself at Bill’s feet in order to remain a Clinton. All her years of “looking the other way” undoubtedly took their toll on her. This is the main reason why she is NOT a good role model for girls and women.

FIH, my opinion on Hill’s fitness for POTUS has nothing to do with “’til death do us part” or even whether Bill and Hill had an agreement to have an open marriage from day one. I don’t even care about that. It’s based upon all the public humiliation over decades that she CHOSE to repeatedly suffer at the hands of Bill and the adverse effect it had on her in every way, shape and form. Her “contemporaries” have lo-o-o-ong memories. Especially Arkansans :=0

And for the record, I’m not a “conservative.” Nor have I ever watched “conservative” channels or listened to “conservative” radio stations. I don’t even have TV.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=Dukehorn] . . . (a) I can’t support a woman who sticks in a marriage with a serial philanderer, but I can support a serial philanderer on this 3rd marriage. Nice, victim-blaming there…..[/quote]
I want to address this statement separately. For the record, Bill Clinton had over a dozen affairs (just the ones which became public) PRIOR to being sworn in as POTUS. He could have had as many as two dozen affairs but the other parties never spoke about them. One of Bill’s affairs lasted longer than the Donald’s second marriage.

Donald Trump’s first marriage broke up because his spouse voted with her feet after learning of his ongoing affair. They divorced and his first wife got a huge settlement because she worked her a$$ off over the years making the Trump organization what it was at the time of their split. Donald married his affair partner and it only lasted just over 4 years. The reason Maples left him was because he was a consummate workaholic, NOT a “philanderer.” Donald didn’t meet his 3rd spouse until at least seven years after he and Maples split up.

One can’t be a serial philanderer unless they are actually married at the time of “philandering.” I don’t care if one’s “spouse” lives 3000 miles away or in a different country! (And this doesn’t apply to anyone we’re discussing here, but “living together” doesn’t count. “Living together” and “marriage” are two completely different animals. In my mind, “living together” doesn’t mean anything.)

Bill Clinton was/is a classic “serial philanderer” and those types never change. If Hill gets in the White House, I predict he’ll be back to his creepy ways with the female millennial intern set in no time … alas, even in his old age!

[bearishgurl]

Um, Dukehorn? Did you actually read and comprehend my most recent post here? In response to Rich’s assertion, I stated, “Trump is not my `buddy.'”

If I took the time to create a “Reasons I cannot vote for HRC thread”. . . SURE, I could come up with a litany of her snafus, recent faux pauxs (is that a word?), sordid backroom deals while in public office, her piles upon piles of dirty laundry, her episodes of ill health, the hilarious guests at her recent convention, her numerous failed attempts at cleaning up her “esteemed partner’s” dirty messes, the Clintons’ shady real estate shenanigans, her two-timing paid speaking engagements, the Clinton’s “laundering” of their foundation donations (and campaign donations) originating from overt “enemies” of the US, her defense of her partner’s impeachment by publicly calling it a “right-wing conspiracy,” blah, blah, blah . . .

And that’s just scratching the surface. The material from just the late ’70’s thru late ’90’s alone of HRC’s history (before she even served in any public office herself) has enough useful material in it to keep a late night talk-show host occupied for 1-2 complete seasons!

Just like Trump, Hill has spent 3-4 decades in the public eye and there is plenty of fodder out there with which to vet her “character” with. Ummm, voters aren’t stupid. The older voting bloc also knows that a person’s inner core doesn’t change much between age 25 and age 65.

But why would I spend an hour (yes one hour at 80+ wpm) typing all that sh!t when the MSM is doing a fine job of informing the public of Hill’s (and Trump’s) long histories for me? One doesn’t even need TV to have all this stuff drop in our laps when we open our e-mail accounts in the morning. Wherever you click, Hill and Trump’s “stories” are all over the internet!

You must know that people “get married” for all sorts of reasons. The reason why Bill and Hill hitched their wagons to one another (as well as the reason why they are still “together” to this day) is now inexplicably clear for all the world to see.

If you want to vote for HRC, that’s your prerogative. If you don’t like Trump as a person, that’s your prerogative, as it is MY prerogative not to like (or respect) HRC as a person. I’m not (by far) the most “political poster” here. Not by a long shot. That dubious honor goes to FlyerInHI/brian. And that’s okay. His posts don’t bother me. Often they’re rather entertaining on a “slow” day or evening :=0

[bearishgurl]

[quote=sdgrrl]It may not be the popular thing to say, but BG nailed the issues with the home we are buying via an outside picture.

She caught the cracks in the driveway which were pretty noticeable. She also caught there were no storm drains and we will be (fingers crossed) on a hill and a few other things the inspector did bring it up.

I was in the drama game for awhile on here. Not going to get into that again (fingers crossed). It gets hot quickly on these threads.

Not really sure what she has been up to where people are so riled, but it has been this way for 8-10 years. Nothing seems to have changed.

I think a majority of members on Rick’s site think they are more intelligent than most of the population, sophisticated with money and knowledgeable about political and global issues.

This often creates a clash of egos, and alpha personalities start coming out.

Good show.[/quote]Just saw this, sdgrrl. You’re welcome and I try to help whenever I see the post requesting help in a timely manner am able to (if I’m familiar with the particular micro-area of the county, its residents, its housing stock and sometimes, its politics). And Pigg ucodegen added more useful info about your property to consider in your inspection.

A few Piggs around here who routinely let their egos run amok (you know who you are) don’t realize that many of the very same posters who I’m publicly chastised on this board for giving “wrong advice” to invariably end up hours or days later requesting more of that “bad advice” from me in pm, lol. Of course, we all can’t be privy to what goes on in the “back room.” I feel if I am occasionally able to provide enough info for someone to keep from getting burned, then that is “reward” enough … although there is no substitute for having a qualified and competent real estate salesperson or broker representing oneself. The sad part is, many, many current licensees are neither and it is often hard for a first-time buyer/seller to tell the difference.

If someone has worked as an agent and/or broker for years, even decades in an era where the internet did not exist, that knowledge and experience cannot be taken away from them! Today, a “newbie” agent or even a recently licensed broker can sit in their armchair at home and see dozens of photos and even videos of a listing and feel they “know” what they are looking at. But the reality is that they have no freaking clue what they are seeing if they have never resided in or done any business in the area themselves. There is no substitute for “boots-on-the-ground” experience (CAR, those are YOUR words) :=]

Most of today’s agents and brokers working with buyers are conducting their “practices” from their armchairs or living room couch instead of their cars and rarely venture out unless they have already made an appt with a client. If their buyer-client is also not familiar with the area they wish to shop in, it’s frequently a nonsensical case of the blind leading the blind. I have to wonder if any of today’s licensees (of the last ~15 years) are getting any “mentoring” from longtime agents/brokers in their offices. But I think likely not, because many of today’s tiny RE offices of 300 sf or less are now licensing up to 150 agents under one broker’s license and the vast majority of them have probably never set foot in the office, let alone met many of their fellow agents. (OK, well maybe they came in once, to execute their contract and commission agreement with the broker they will work under, if they didn’t do this by e-mail and electronic signature :=0)

sdgrrl, as I recall, there was a whole lot more background re: your listing agent/broker and seller that I was able to dig up online in about 12.5 minutes from my armchair at the time but decided not to divulge it here because it was all irrelevant to whether your listing was a good buy TODAY … or not. I don’t do business with ANYONE whom I can’t at least do a preliminary “vetting” process on (even when shopping for rentals for my kid who is currently a college student). In your case, only your inspector and appraiser could have made the call on whether the listing you had an accepted offer on was the right property for YOU. This is because THEY have the expertise and had their “boots on the ground.”

Congrats on your recent home purchase, sdgrrl, and I wish you and your fiance happiness for years to come living in that “bucolic” setting!

[bearishgurl]

[quote=Rich Toscano]So please, spare me the accusations of “partisanship”…[/quote]Rich, I wasn’t accusing you, in particular, of “partisanship.” I know you don’t make a habit of commenting in the forums. There are a few frequent posters here who are “Dem-leaning” or “left-leaning” and that is okay. What is not okay is when a poster stated that they intended to vote for or voted for Trump (me in this case) in the primary and gets gored by one or more of these Pigg goons more than a few times by being called a “racist,” “bigot” and a “woman-hater,” among other things.

As a longtime Dem and former Dem boots-on-the-ground local activist, I GET the philosophy … I truly do. I explained the reason here on the forum in nauseating detail why I switched my party in 2016 (R candidates all stated they had plans for alternatives to the horribly failing Obamacare). When I switched in April, it was to vote for Cruz in the primary, who intended to set about repealing Obamacare on his first day in office.

Trump is not “my buddy.” I don’t personally know the man. However, the POTUS position is a down and dirty job, but somebody has to do it! Trump is the only candidate with the intestinal fortitude to do what needs to be done in this country, which has been going down the wrong path since before Pres. Obama took the helm (I voted for him TWICE, btw …). I don’t CARE about the MSM making hay of Trump’s rhetoric or how many of the Right Wing nutjobs in the GOP end up “disavowing” him. I don’t need my president to be “nice” and “likeable.” I honestly don’t think Trump is a true Republican. I think he felt he couldn’t win the election running as an Independent so he chose to run on the (crowded) Republican ticket.

HRC is NOT the right person to run this country, IMO. She didn’t even have enough courage to quietly walk away from her serial-philanderer of a spouse (after he left public office) … in SPITE of the fact that she was extremely well-educated and successful in her own right.

“Billy Bob” made a colossal fool of HRC in broad daylight for over two decades, and, like the Chump she is, she looked the other way. And one only has to look at her and listen to her now to realize that she has suffered tremendously in every way, shape and form over the years because of it. Although several years older than me, I actually consider HRC one of my “contemporaries.” In my mind, she doesn’t set a good example for girls and women. She doesn’t represent me and my values, nor does she represent the values of my close friends and relatives because she doesn’t live her truth but instead panders to what she thinks people want to hear … all for the possibility of obtaining the power of the position of the highest office in the land. Although perfectly “legal,” HRC and Billy Bob are card-carrying members of the “mutual user’s club.” They deserve each other until one of them is gone.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=svelte][quote=bearishgurl]
Ahem …. for the record, “Trump supporters” are neither “stupid,” “racist,” “bigoted,” “little Hitlers,” “uneducated” or “low-information voters.”

They are of every race, every age and every educational level. I know this to be a fact amongst people in my “sphere” here in SD County. That “sphere” includes people from “professionals” on down thru the ranks.
[/quote]

I’m not sure I trust the judgment of someone who misuses quotation in virtually every sentence and definitely every paragraph written. Why why WHY do you take extra time to quote things that aren’t quotes? What does it possibly buy you?

Italics and bold I get – I think you overuse them, but I get it. But the quotes? Come on!

When I think of how much extra time you take to bold, quote, and italics it boggles my mind.

[quote=bearishgurl]
I didn’t realize this forum was “partisan” but to the naked eye it has clearly appeared so as of late.
[/quote]

You are certainly quite partisan on here yourself, Miss Molly. Don’t go wagging that finger in anybody else’s face.[/quote]”Partisan” (in quotes) in this case, means the forum appears to have a definite Dem leaning. That doesn’t mean that there are more Piggs on it who are planning to vote Dem in November. What it means is that most of the Piggs who regularly post here are patting each other on the back for leaning Dem and some of them have been insulting posters who stated they planned to vote R.

The quoted material in the above paragraph are direct quotes from posters on this (and other threads) on this forum when describing R voters. Don’t let my italics (used for emphasis) and occasional bold (oft used to show the part of another post I’m replying to) bother you, svelte. I type plenty fast and it is no problem for me to use italics/bold. I’ve seen other posters here who often type their entire posts in italics and no one seems to be bothered by it.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=Rich Toscano][quote=bearishgurl]It would be more helpful to readers if posters would just stick to the important issues at stake in this presidential election and dump the “presidential personality contest.” [/quote]

Idunno, when a presidential candidate is an obviously deranged aspiring fascist who literally cannot even spell… I guess I see that as important.

BTW… me a few weeks ago in a comment to you:

[quote=Rich Toscano]And I’ll admit to some personal bias here, but it doesn’t help that so many of your novel-length comments these days are impassioned defenses of that goose-stepping canned ham who you inexplicably think would be a good president.[/quote]

And your reply:

[quote=bearishgurl]Well, Rich, I actually haven’t commented on why anyone would make a good president so I don’t know where you are seeing that.[/quote]

So is this you “not commenting” again on who would be a good president?[/quote]Rich, how are any of my posts here actually stating who would “make the best president?” Have I made such a post? Have you?

I think it is insulting to half the country to have a few posters on this forum who repeatedly call out Trump supporters as somehow dumb and deranged just to make themselves feel more “superior.”

My understanding was your forum was not partisan … and you have stated publicly here that don’t want any “left-right slapfests” (your words) carried out on it.

When a poster insults the intelligence of voters because they didn’t vote for his/her “preferred candidate,” that is the same thing in my mind.

They don’t even have to discuss the candidate themselves but instead overtly put down half the country’s electorate and it has a worse effect than attacking the candidate outright (which is to be expected).

Remember, I WAS a Dem for over 32 years when I recently re-registered as a Rep. I was a Dem activist in SD County for nearly nine years, working on several local campaigns. If anybody knows what the Dem electorate consists of (especially here in SD County), it’s me.

I can assure everyone here that Dems hail from ALL walks of life …. including and highly representative in the working class, the “2nd Amendment people,” the “welfare queens and kings” and the “uneducated,” etc.

I for one am tired of reading here that Trump supporters should all be pigeonholed all into neat little boxes which bear little resemblance to who they really are by know-nothings masquerading as Dems living their lives vicariously through their armchair amusements.

I’m certain that it’s caused several longtime posters to just abandon the forum …. or at the very least, stop posting because they can’t discuss the reasons why they will vote for Trump without being called a “bigot” or “racist.”

[bearishgurl]

This thread is ridiculous. Why doesn’t someone create a thread entitled, “Reasons I cannot vote for HRC?”

Ahem …. for the record, “Trump supporters” are neither “stupid,” “racist,” “bigoted,” “little Hitlers,” “uneducated” or “low-information voters.”

They are of every race, every age and every educational level. I know this to be a fact amongst people in my “sphere” here in SD County. That “sphere” includes people from “professionals” on down thru the ranks.

And they (OR myself, for that matter) have never been “afraid of competing” for jobs we are qualified for. However, no US resident can compete with the typical $2.20 hr manufacturing wage in MX (in US currency) or a $7-8K year manufacturing wage in China (for 52 – 50+ hr workweeks??). OR with job applicants living in MX and working in SD every day but commanding a lesser wage for the same work …. because they can survive on it and we can’t.

Everyone is free to believe all the crap that spews out of the MSM all day every day. It’s a free country. However, we all know that the “fat lady” still hasn’t even stepped onstage, yet.

I am beyond disgusted seeing repeated posts here from Piggs commiserating with each other on how “dumb” and “crazy” 1/3 to 1/2 (or more) of the US electorate is for supporting Trump and simultaneously “patting each other on the back” for supporting HRC. It’s insulting and also shows their attempts at constantly seeking validation for their own beliefs (a bit of insecurity on their part, perhaps?)

FlyerInHI/brian, are you listening??

I didn’t realize this forum was “partisan” but to the naked eye it has clearly appeared so as of late.

It would be more helpful to readers if posters would just stick to the important issues at stake in this presidential election and dump the “presidential personality contest.” Hillary can’t win that one, either :=0

[bearishgurl]

[quote=flu]No BG. You see, your problem is that you think Chinese people stole your job and your career prospects.

That is a lie. The reason why your career is limited has nothing to do with the Chinese. It has everything to do with the FACT that you didn’t go to college AND you didn’t go back to college, despite remaining in the legal profession ,which in the 21st century is a requirement for you to be successful in your profession.

As us republicans would say.
Personal responsibility…Get some.[/quote]Um, flu, I don’t know what you’ve been smoking but “Chinese people” don’t do my job. I’m sure they exist … somewhere, but I’ve never met a Chinese person who is in my occupation. At least not in San Diego, where I work. A lot of stuff I do requires very strong English dictation, reading, writing and composition skills on frequently difficult material which has to be in a special format. Sorry to burst your bubble but people who immigrated here from China could not do it.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=flu]And before you change what your wrote.[/quote]Please … waste all the bandwidth you want. That’s your MO.

Unlike you (who deletes their post often after posting it) in a knee-jerk reaction, I don’t delete my posts.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=flu]You know what I’m thankful for? I am thankful that in America there are still lots of people who are white, who are not like BG.

For all of you piggs that are “white” who don’t stoop so low to blame someone that isn’t white on all of your financial problems and career limitations because you chose not to go to college and chose never to go back, I thank you for being the shred of decency left in this country.

I don’t know how what your financial situation is BG. But you certainly have no class. No amount of money can fix that.[/quote]This time I’m going to quote you, so you can’t have second thoughts and delete it. What makes you think I’m “white” or identify with “white?” Where the h@ll do you get the BS you post here? Why would you post that I blame “non-whites” for anything?

wtf does this post have to do with this thread? People just need to see with their own eyes the personal attacks you post here. It’s gotten ridiculous. You sound like you have some kind of chip on your shoulder.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=flu]… yet another (deleted) personal attack on BG[/quote]As usual, flu, you can’t stay on topic and choose to attack me personally, instead. This thread isn’t about me. It’s about the MILLIONS of manufacturing (and even call-center, customer service and help desk jobs) lost in the US over the past 20 years, beginning with Bill Clinton’s passage of NAFTA into law.

Oh, and btw, I’m just fine with 2 pensions plus my income from my work (sorry if you haven’t been able to earn a pension). As a matter of fact, I’ll be fine for the rest of my life. And for the record, I have 2 years of college (actually about 80 semester units). On top of that, I have a 500 level (Master’s level) one-year occupational certificate and 2 state licenses so you don’t have to worry about me.

Why don’t you endeavor to focus on your own issues as it relates to your participation in this forum (and they are many). And while you’re at it, why don’t you start polling other Piggs at random on their “educational attainment” and see how well that “experiment” goes over.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=Myriad]I don’t think this something either party necessarily could solve. With the end of the Cold War and opening of China, the world had to absorb 500M+ new workers into the global system. That created a gap in the high-wage countries where middle tier and low tier skilled work shifted to those countries.
Now that workforce has more or less been absorbed and the workforce has aged considerably. For example production in China is almost as expensive as the US now, accounting for shipping, energy, insurance, etc. Now with new technology and shift in consumer demand to more immediate needs, I think we’ll see a shift in middle tier skilled labor back to developed economies.[/quote]There you go again, Myriad. The “world” didn’t “have” to “absorb” 500M (Chinese) workers. The “world” doesn’t owe these workers a damn thing! In the case of the US, what actually happened was that our leaders actually gave away our jobs to the Chinese at our expense! Even the “high tier” executive and white-collar professional jobs disappeared along with the US manufacturer-employers who closed up shop in the US and moved to MX or overseas to take advantage of slave labor. It was our OWN esteemed leaders who sold American workers down the river by creating NAFTA and other trade agreements making it possible for our OWN manufacturers to get their goods made for pennies on the dollar in another country! US citizens didn’t really need all this cheap Chinese junk back then and we don’t need it now. America’s millions of displaced workers would rather have a selection of JOBS to choose from in their respective locales rather than regular freight trains loaded with double-stacked Chinese crates barreling through their towns at all hours of the day and night to unload at big box stores coast to coast. One used to be able to leave a job easily and have another one waiting to start in the same locale but this is now near impossible to do in most cities and towns.

Since you couched what happened to millions of American jobs in language which appears to be making excuses here, I don’t mind discussing what really happened. Regardless if a so-called “global `system'” actually exists … or not, we Americans aren’t responsible for China’s population explosion OR their unemployment level.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=Myriad][quote=bearishgurl][quote=Myriad]
Scott’s quote said he “would like” to stay near family. No where does he say he expects or should.

I think Scott makes a valid point about SF. Just because no new housing is built doesn’t mean people don’t move in. Prices just go up for long time residents, locals, seniors, new residents, etc.
Then people want rent control which is entirely the wrong answer. The correct answer is to build more supply.
It probably won’t be SFR, but it makes sense to build more dense multi-family with good mass transit options. Just look at Asia, where many shopping areas, and restaurants, have residential mixed in.
The problem with not doing anything is that eventually prices become extremely expensive for both renters and owners, and traffic becomes terrible. So yeah, people that are still here have their homes, but the overall society is worse.[/quote]
…
Rent-controlled tenants have more stringent protections than do market-rate tenants under their municipal code.
…
There is no other place on earth just like it and certainly no other city compares to it in the US.
…
This time-consuming procedure of getting homeowner input and going through multiple public hearings to listen to community testimony could increase the permit time from 1.5 years to as much as 4 years for a typical 1-4 unit dwelling. Completing the permitting process for a high-rise residential project in SF could take up to 15 yrs, depending on the amount of surrounding neighbors, the district and what is proposed to be built.
…
Asia (China?) has many grossly OVERbuilt cities and its planning was virtually non-existent with horrific consequences … including fouling their own air to the point that city residents and workers wear face masks just to walk to/from work to the train and do their errands.
…
OTOH, San Franciscans, like longtime residents of many other CA coastal communities, don’t want more density in their districts.
…
The streets are too steep and the lots too narrow, in many cases, to build parking garages under the living units.
[/quote]

Well not surprisingly, BG provides a close-minded, negative, and unnecessarily verbose answer.

On rent control – Actually I have no idea where your response came from. I wasn’t saying that existing renters with rent-controlled apartments will get kicked out. But now that you brought it up, the problem of rent-controlled is that it artificially reduces supply (basic supply/demand economics) and is biased against new residents (also may impact individual economic mobility for existing rent-controlled residents).

On SF being unique in the world – That’s obvious, but also completely pointless. The same thing can be said about any tier 1 city (HK, London, Paris, NYC, etc).
SF permitting – I’ll take your word on the details. But the permit process is why housing is so expensive in SF.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-novel-move-to-expand-housing-in-san-francisco-1469578675
“Grappling with a housing shortage that has sent rents soaring 50% since the recession, city officials on Tuesday passed legislation allowing landlords to carve fresh apartments out of underutilized spaces, including storage areas and utility rooms.”

On Asia – I didn’t specify China. Have you actually traveled to any major Asian city in the last 5 years? Ever?
I’m not going to talk about the air/water/land quality in China. What the topic discussed was the integration of commerical/residential/mass transit. People don’t drive cars everywhere and are able to live peacefully though in a more dense population. Not every country is blessed with the wealth, space, and resources of the US. But, the urban planning is something that should be studied and the parts that work, we in the US should learn from.

The streets are too steep and the lots too narrow, in many cases, to build parking garages under the living units.
LOL, nothing in SF is too steep and narrow. Look at anything on Hong Kong Island.
BG, I encourage you to visit Hong Kong, Tokyo, Bangkok, and even Shanghai to gain some perspective.[/quote]Myriad, here is my reply to your verbose reply to my post.

SF already has plenty of different kinds of public transportation. When I was riding it there 2 years ago, it cost only $2.50 per day to ride every type in any direction all day. Yes, SF traffic IS terrible (I’ve driven in it many times) but its residents don’t care. SF has the cheapest and most varied public transportation in the nation. Residents don’t need to own a vehicle. Street parking there can be a hassle and most residents don’t have garages. And public parking lots and parking garages are very expensive.

SF is earthquake prone. They will not allow the 40+ story high rises that exist in Asia. SF’s new code creating apartments out of unused space would likely be ground floor units created from remodeled 1 or 2 car (tandem) garages which a lot of LL’s seem to use for storage. Some of the bldgs with 8-12 units were also built with boiler rooms, either on the ground floor or partly underground on a sloping lot. If the HVAC in the bldg has been upgraded over the years, the former boiler room might be able to be converted into an apt.

Rent control in SF is not going away. Those who are lucky enough to have it don’t care about mobility. They will live there until they die and by the time they become frail, they will have moved in one or more relatives to assist them and have them put on the lease so that when they pass on, their relatives will have permanent rent control . . . which follows the UNIT in SF, not the tenant.

Whether SF has a population of 300K or 900K (about its max capacity), life will go on and it will be okay (barring a major earthquake). It doesn’t matter whether ANY CA coastal counties approve even one more subdivision or infill project. They will all be okay just like they are. Their economies won’t crater just because they stopped building due to reaching their capacity in population (to ensure a good quality for life for their existing residents and the cities/counties’ ability to properly service their populations). Coastal county dwellers will move out of their homes (just like they do today) and replacement people will move in to take their places. The replacement people might move in from out of county or from a dwelling just down the street but this won’t cause the population to change. SF doesn’t owe newcomers a particular kind of housing at an “affordable” price (whatever “affordable” means to each of them).

The CA coast and its natural resources should be preserved. There is only ONE in our country and it was never meant to house everyone who wants to live there but at present, newcomers still can find housing, even if every coastal county ceases to approve any more subdivision or infill permits today. Newcomers must take the available housing that is on offer and there will always be people moving, thereby creating vacant living units. We don’t owe them anything else.

Why do you think Americans should live as dense as Asians do in the cities you mentioned above? I don’t need any “perspective.” I’ve seen more than I cared to just from “armchair surfing.” I have no desire to see it (and breathe it) up close and personal. I don’t believe that level of density offers any kind of quality of life to its inhabitants. Witness Chinese workers wearing masks all or part of every workday they spend in the city … and every day if they live there. That environment can’t be good for anyone and US cities should NOT aspire to follow Asia’s lead in creating “density” as it wasn’t smart. It was stupid and short sighted and their citizens pay the price every single day.

The land mass of the US is only 1% larger than that of China’s yet they have 373 people per square mile and we have 90.6 people per square mile. Go figure. How is this America’s problem? The US preserved its National, state and county parkland into perpetuity. The fact that China grossly OVERbuilt their large cities and left entire streets of high rises and factories half built and unfinished, rusting in the elements and decimated their environments in their big cities by polluting the h@ll out of them is also not our problem. They had the open space but their leaders effed it up by overbuilding hundreds of behemoth unneeded structures. They obviously didn’t have any building codes and little, if any zoning laws, they didn’t plan properly and their cities with heavy industry turned into stinking h@llholes in just 15-20 years. Why do you think so many Chinese citizens want to come to the US and buy residential real estate?

And yes, I’ve been to the Philippines, Guam, the NMI and the Carolines but that was nearly 30 years ago. The islands I was on were for the most part more rural than any Pacific coast towns or cities I’ve been to in the US, including HI. Except for one small village on Guam (Tumon, which had a handful of low-rise hotels), they were bucolic, low density paradises because they DIDN’T build and ruin their environments.

As it should be.

All the Piggs who want to see “Asian-style” density in the US are welcome to move to the Asian city of their choice. I won’t try to stop you :=]

[bearishgurl]

PC, I see you have nothing better to do on a Friday afternoon (no motion hgs?) than to post pics of toddlers here (in an attempt to depict me?)

She’s awfully cute but looks nothing like me.

I’m sorry to see that your practice seems to be a bit slow. Maybe you can hire someone to scare up a few more clients for you.

[Author]

Posts