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bearishgurl
Participant[quote=spdrun]Story to tell — this crap doesn’t only happen in AZ:
I was driving from AZ to CA, and I took the scenic route to San Diego about 2 years ago. I’m pretty much straight-up white, but I was pulled over by Border Pigs twice.Once on I-8 about 15 min after the CA border. The second time on Rt. 94 at the Dulzurra(?) checkpoint. The swine at the second stop didn’t stop at asking my citizenship, checking ID/passport, and asking if I was carrying anyone else in the car.
They asked me: how long was I planning to be in CA? Where was I staying in CA? What was my business in CA?
None of which I was prepared to answer, since as an American citizen, I have the RIGHT to travel in my own damn country without being harassed and interrogated. So I answered that I was an American citizen traveling in my own country, and that anything else was none of their business. They tired of the game after about 5-10 minutes, checked the trunk and waved me to go. All was recorded by me, of course.
Frankly, thinking back on this treatment *still* enrages me. Granted, I was driving a dusty rental with Zonie plates, but this still disgusted me. Interestingly, I’ve never been harassed in this way since, mostly in vehicles with CA plates. Could this have been a bit of quid-pro-quo – maybe the checkpoint officer’s cousin was harassed by some AZ cops?[/quote]
NO! I have CA plates and what you describe has happened to me multiple times on that route (as well as I-10) in both CA and AZ. See both pages of:
http://piggington.com/why_is_a_doper_snorting_bath_salts_my_problem
The Southwest border of the US has been a “police state” since shortly after 9/11/01.
Participant[quote=SD Squatter]Maybe so, but “what-if” I had to file in the future an insurance claim against a loss on the property (fire, earthquake, flood, etc.) Obviously the insurance company has its own appraised value on the house (~300k), but it may change once there is a loss and they send in their lawyer squad to minimize “claim loss”. Should I worry at all?[/quote]
The county “assessment” has no bearing on what the replacement cost of a particular dwelling is or will be. Hopefully, you have a “replacement value” policy which means the insurance co will replace what was there in case of fire or other calamity, no matter how much it costs.
Earthquake coverage is separate from your homeowner’s policy. If you don’t have a separate policy through the CA Earthquake Authority, your property is not covered for earthquake damage.
Participant[quote=spdrun]Pffffffft. My (only) car is almost 30 years old with 230k miles. Making it either a classic, or a piece of junque, depending on what day it is.[/quote]
Good for YOU, spdrun! That’s low mileage for that age of car. Would you drive it cross-country?
The smart money is paying low insurance premiums and registration fees, IMO.
Participant[quote=desmond]bg-
La Fonda is in the old section of Flagstaff and it is near the train tracks.Not sure where the dinosaur are but the
Meteor Crater is located off I-40 at exit 233, then 6 miles south on the paved road. 35 miles east of Flagstaff, 20 miles west of Winslow, in Arizona, USAAnother place to stop, not sure if the kids would like it, is the Petrified Forest:
http://www.arizona-leisure.com/petrified-forest.html%5B/quote%5D
I HAVE eaten at La Fonda last summer then. It was REALLY crowded and the food was good.
Oh, I see now, the dino fast-food truck stop is between Winslow and the Petrified Forest (near Holbrook), probably 30-50 mi EAST of Winslow.
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM7HRW_Truckstop_Dinosaurs_Sun_Valley_Arizona
[img_assist|nid=16375|title=Truck Stop Tyrannosaurus Rex|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=400|height=300]
I’ll have to take the time to see the Petrified Forest sometime! I’m usually in a hurry for a “late check-in” at my ABQ hotel when I’m traveling that route :=]
btw, the Conoco dinosaurs serve an assortment of good fast food!
Participant…Since 2009, Stockton has cut $90 million from its budget, she said. The city has reduced its police force by 25%, its fire department by 30% and other city jobs by 40% but has not been able to get itself financially stable. And then, said Johnston, there was the housing bust…
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/27/business/california-stockton-bankruptcy/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
The $64M question here is, “How much (needless) hiring did the City have to do (both sworn and non-sworn) SINCE its “1990’s era” contracts with its unions were hammered out for wages and benefits, pensions and retiree health subsidies?”
The $128M question here is, “Why did the City feel they had to do that much hiring??”
(Don’t ask the questions if you don’t already know the answer ;=))
Stockton’s ills are simply a repeat of Chula Vista’s, who now has roughly the same population. Chula Vista grew by about 60,000 new housing units during the millenium boom in the exact same way that Stockton did but has already massively laid off over two years ago. HOWEVER, Chula Vista is coastal, 4-9 miles from the int’l border and the western portion is 10-13 miles from dtn SD, one of CA’s major cities and job centers.
Stockton is an inland agricultural city and doesn’t have the same (more versatile) characteristics of Chula Vista. When a young “transplanted” Stockton family’s main breadwinner loses their employment (which was already likely 60+ miles away), they’re toast and have to relocate. In Chula Vista, this is NOT so. Most have established family nearby, some with family on both sides of the border and a much larger, closer and more diverse job market to choose from.
The sad legacy that we are left with in both cities (as well as many more in CA) is LESS employees to serve many THOUSANDS MORE residents.
Mello-Roos Bonds do NOT pay the wages, benefits and retirements of the city/county workers who are obliged by law to serve the residents of CFD’s who pay them. The bonds can ONLY be used for infrastructure and to fund schools.
The councils of BOTH these cities were VERY short-sighted when they made these backroom deals with developers to form the CFDs. They had stars in their eyes and all they could see was the teeter-fund residuals from new property tax coffers. It is now patently obvious that they gave no thought to HOW MANY MORE EMPLOYEES it would take to service their city if it grew by 100%+ over 5-8 years! In addition, did anyone in power in Stockton have ANY IDEA where all these new homeowners would WORK?? Did they think they would be able to pay their PITI and annual MR cleaning feedlots? Or even supervising the cleaning of feedlots?? LOL …
Gas is nearly $5 gal in SF and the peninsula and a little less than that in the east bay. Even a Lawrence Livermore Lab worker (35-40 mi one-way) living in Stockton would have to fill up 2-4 times per week in order to live in “cheap” Stockton and work in Livermore.
What were they thinking??? The answer is, they weren’t :=0
Participant[quote= (from the OP) flu]…Yeah, folks saying things won’t be rewritten and changed. Yes it will..When a city can’t pay, no choice. Game over to those benefits…. But look on the bright side… The entire state isn’t there (yet)….[/quote]
You’re “jumping the gun” here, flu.
If you’re referring to the huge patchwork of laws regarding collective bargaining of state, county and local public employees in CA, then I’ve always maintained “things” will have to be “rewritten” or “changed” by the CA Legislature and ONLY them. Game is NOT over yet. Stockton’s BK “trustee” likely hasn’t even been appointed yet and there has been no BK hearing on a possible “discharge” of contractual debts (pensions owed) to retired city workers.
Yes, the “low hanging fruit” is the retiree health-benefit subsidy. Not sure why the city has decided to take a year to phase them out. They were likely never contracted for in the first place.
It will be very interesting to see if the City’s lawyers even ATTEMPT to discharge debts incurred thru contractual obligations to their workers’ unions.
This “fat lady” hasn’t even begun to practice her scales yet :=0
Participant[quote=SD Squatter]Ok, here are some rough rounded-off numbers:
Old assessment (late 2011, after a foreclosure by the bank):
land: 180k, improvements: 280k total: 460kNew assessment (spring 2012, after a purchase from the bank):
land: 300k, improvements: 150k total: 450kNo changes to the property between assessments (ok, maybe bank did vacuum the dirty carpet that it didn’t even bother to replace).
Some volatile market we’ve got here…[/quote]
Even if they reversed it, so what. Let the mistake lie and don’t sweat the small stuff. Your tax bill is the same.
Actually, if you decide to remodel in the future and obtain a permit to increase the footprint, I would think the assessor would add LESS assessment to the finished remodel from your NEW first full tax bill as opposed to the old one (prev owner’s bill?) as they are starting from a lower assessment of the “improvements :-]
Participant[quote=Allan from Fallbrook]Well, it’s official: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/27/business/california-stockton-bankruptcy/index.html?hpt=hp_t2%5B/quote%5D
I’m really sorry to see this. As a child, the grain elevator view of Stockton and smell of feedlots there represented to me the Capitol of a vast agricultural foodbasket for the entire nation. It was a proud city.
I think before pointing the finger at public employees and unions, one would do well to actually examine their list of creditors. As soon as it is available on PACER, I will do so.
Participant[quote=sdrealtor]Why is it ok for the government to manipulate things to the benefit of the public sector workers but not the housing market? Let’s rip off the bandage and let the bleeding begin so we can make some meaningful headway in controlling run away government spending. Some big cities need to fail so we can create a better more sustainable system. If its ok to let housing values crash it’s ok to let public pensions crash also. You can’t have it both ways[/quote]
You must admit that housing was never allowed to truly “crash.” The GOV has and is propping it up with numerous “machinations” that favor debtors over savers and the irresponsible and stupid over the wise owners and renters who plugged along for the duration of the “bubble” and kept their heads down.
Thus, the housing bandaid was never really “ripped off” and the housing market was never allowed to properly heal.
I think the “price upholding” today that you are seeing is the result of a dearth of available inventory, stemming from the “head-down” owner-types not wanting to market their properties in competition with the ignorant and debtors (or both in the same pkg, lol) who were/are able to “short sell” their way out of their debt.
And rightly so. There is a HUGE difference between a seller who will satisfy all trust deeds they signed and one who will not (or an institutional seller). When the “head-down” types (with integrity) finally decide to sell, they won’t be asking for “debt forgiveness” for past financial transgressions (caused from living beyond one’s means).
It’s not a level playing field.
Participant[quote=SD Realtor]Once again…
Why should we have a citizenship law that is not enforced?
Why even HAVE the law then?
This is not an Obama problem, it did not start with him. However the portion of the law that SCOTUS upheld was upheld because the feds argued that it PREVENTED them from enforcement of proper processing of illegal aliens… but they didn’t enforce the law from the beginning. Even SCOTUS could not believe that argument from the feds and thus upheld that portion of the AZ argument.
It really is comical…[/quote]
SDR, I drive straight thru AZ (or up to I-40 and then thru it) one or more times annually RT. The Feds ARE enforcing the “law” on the I-8/I-10 portion that lies near the int’l border. At all times, they have 2-3 “checkpoints” set up along this route in which all east/west motorists are stopped and asked about their “citizenship.” If it is dark, they shine a flashlight throughout the vehicles. Many, many drivers are engaged in conversation and a percentage of them are pulled over to “makeshift `secondary’ trailers” for further questioning, so the motorists can search for their documents, or because something about the vehicle makes them want to search it. Day and night, K-9 units are at the ready to circle around vehicles once or twice. The whole procedure could take 45 seconds to two hours, depending on many factors.
Note that “east-west” traffic is cross-country interstate traffic. These checkpoints are NOT set up on roads coming to/from the int’l border. This “procedure” has been going on since 9/11.
Participant[quote=sdduuuude][quote=sdrealtor]The Grand Canyon is my favorite national park and something everyone in America should see. Pictures do not begin to do it justice.[/quote]
No words, photos, pictures, audio or video can give anyone appropriate expectations for the Grand Canyon.
I have found two things in the world that you cannot prepare someone for. One is the Grand Canyon. The other is a top fuel drag race.
Regarding things to do in AZ:
To summarize, the things you can do in Arizona are touristy things that involve experiencing nature. CDMA Eng is right about the diversity. Desert in the south. Pine trees and canyons in the north.
We spent our Winter vacation camping outside of Tucson a couple years ago so I was a tourist in my home town and we had a great time.
Karchner caverns are spectacular – spectacular cave with a spectacular story. Kitt Peak National Observatory – go for the night visit, a little boring for the kids. Saguaro National Park (not too exciting). Sonoran Desert Museum. Titan Missles. Biosphere (pretty lame, but it is something to see). Hiking in Sabino Canyon. Hiking galore. I know of an abandoned marble quarry on private property that is amazing near Bode.
That’s just Tucson. There’s the Grand Canyon. Painted Desert. Petrified Forest. Meteor Crater. Walnut Canyon. Four Corners (so lame, it’s worth seeing how lame it is). Salt River rafting. Off-roading in all sorts of terrain. Lots of Mines. Canyon De Chelly. Boating on the Colorado river. Everyone should see the town of Jerome, built on the side of a hill. Don’t forget the world-class gem and mineral show every Feb. There’s a water park in Phoenix. Frank Lloyd-Wright buildings. High-end resorts in Scottsdale. Golfing, of course.
Arizona is a great place to visit and a great place to be from. I realize now that it is very unique place. Nearly everyone who visits finds it fascinating as long as they go in the Winter.[/quote]
Yes, sdduuuude, I’ve been all thru AZ dozens of times but only on the road. I went thru the four corners last summer and it really IS lame, lol. I haven’t seen any of the places you mention here but thinking about spending the night in Tucson on my way back home later this summer/early fall. There might be time to do something the next morning before hitting the road to SD (6 hrs??).
Definitely, my favorite areas are Flagstaff and Sedona. I’d like to try the tram in Sedona when I have the opportunity and also get a mud bath. I’ve been thru Flagstaff in the winter a few times as well and luv the snow piled up high on the sides of the road. Also luv the blue/green look of the pine trees in a (summer) windy rainstorm 🙂 I think Flagstaff would be a really nice place to retire. Unfortunately, a lot of other boomers and beyond from CA and the west thought so, too, because it isn’t cheap anymore to buy a decent house there, even a smallish one :=0
Participant[quote=sdrealtor]…Thanx for the well wishes. The Grand Canyon is my favorite national park and something everyone in America should see. Pictures do not begin to do it justice.[/quote]
Hopefully, you will be able to ride camels . . . I mean, mules. Just don’t look down :=0
Participant[quote=SK in CV][quote=deadzone] You are assuming the [AZ]policeman are either intentially out to abuse “brown skin people” or simply have no common sense. [/quote]
There is overwhelming evidence that the former is true. In parts of the state it is all but agency policy.[/quote]
Somehow I can believe this but given the sheer amount of Native American Indians residing in the state, I just have a really hard time with it. I guess these cops think they can tell the difference and proceed accordingly :=0
ParticipantI’m sure all those AriDzona hotels/motels must be pretty cheap about now.
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