[carli]

[quote=no_such_reality][quote=FlyerInHi]
Academic competition is like competing for sports. You get grades and degrees, like trophies or sports stats. Bragging rights and glory. Why not, if you can? BTW, sports is also a lot more competitive than in the past.
[/quote]

For 99.99%, they’ll be just as fine with a regular college degree. They’ll get in. Sports highlights my point. The kids are starting to have to commit like they’re going to train for the Olympics to just play highschool sports.

Texas A&M has just as many Fortune 100 CEOs as Harvard. It also has any average GPA 3.5, SAT scores of 1800 and a 71% admission rate.

The branding mantra of fighting to get into Ivy or ‘top tier’ is the big lie, just like the lie of sports.[/quote]

I completely agree with this. For many kids these days, high school is rigorous and competitive enough without striving for admission to a top tier school. Unless admission comes as a natural byproduct of the kid’s skills and accomplishments (even then, it’s like winning the lottery), why add unrealistic pressure to get there? Kids should know that their future success is not dependent on a degree from one of these schools. Not only is it not dependent, their future success will be unaffected by their choice of a top tier vs. middle tier school. It is affected by many other factors, such as drive and career track record, but not where the degree comes from.

FIH, if you’re still unconvinced, try reading Frank Bruni’s book, “Where You Go is Not Who You’ll Be” about this very topic.

[carli]

I didn’t mean to sound smug about my kid graduating from UCLA. I know firsthand it is surely no guarantee for success, nor is a degree from any other institution. After changing majors twice, he is graduating with a degree in Sociology, which will obviously not be a ticket to financial success, and he does not have a job lined up, but hopes to enter the Peace Corps or work for an NGO overseas.

Thankfully, he will not be coming home (I say thankfully because although we love each other dearly, it wouldn’t be fun for either of us…I’m counting on us becoming “friends” later but for now, my husband and I are in tough love mode w/him as he needs a little kick in the pants).

He went to UCLA because he got an amazing scholarship (not needs-based) and frankly, they made it almost impossible to say no, but was it the “perfect fit” for him? No. He would have preferred (and probably belonged at) a smaller, east coast liberal arts college, and he got accepted at several great ones, but we could not justify the $200,000+ cost differential for a 4-yr degree there vs. UCLA.

And don’t get me wrong – we’re hugely appreciative to UCLA (and CA taxpayers) for the scholarship and feel they provide an outstanding education and amazing resources, especially for the student who is willing/motivated to seek out ways to take advantage of all they offer and to carve out a niche for themselves, socially and academically. But it is a HUGE place, and it’s easy for undergrads to get lost and stay lost. The 200+ student lecture halls and massive student body (many of whom seemed to already have a purpose and a drive for a certain career when they arrived) were not what our son envisioned for his college experience. We hoped he would take more initiative, but he never seemed to gain a lot of traction. But he did fine, he is graduating, and I believe he’ll look back fondly on his years there.

He will find his way, even (and maybe especially) without our future financial support. Sure, we’ll help him out a little bit, but he’s got a couple thousand dollars saved up from summer jobs, is graduating debt-free, and has a place in LA rented with a few friends and will take it from here. As my husband likes to say, “he’s off the payroll.” He’ll work at an on-campus job for the next few months while applying to other jobs and then figure it out. It will all be fine, and I’m confident he will become a self-supporting, content member of society as he grows into adulthood.

One more thought – this “find your passion” BS that we hear so often spouted around graduation time to high school and college graduates makes me crazy. This message needs to be balanced with encouragement to be realistic, understand that there will always be bills to pay and you need to know that life can get awfully stressful if you can’t pay them. The way that graduation speakers leave out the part about being realistic about your financial needs always annoys me because it’s like you’re tricking the kids into thinking all they should focus on is following their sweet passion and everything else will fall into place. So. Not. True. First of all, most kids don’t have a singular “passion” and secondly, even if they do, it may not pay the bills so if they follow it, they’re stuck feeling like they’ve been duped or did something wrong and should have gotten that accounting degree even though they hate math; also not the answer. Instead, I think the message should be that moving forward into the future for most of us is a balancing act and involves a lot of trial and error – sure, don’t pursue something you despise doing (duh!), but also be realistic, kids – you’ll have to pay some dues en route to finding your passion, and sometimes that means taking a job for awhile that feels like drudgery but will lead to something else. Have a good attitude, give it your best shot, shaping/molding your own future as you go and it will work out, leading you to better things, maybe even finding your passion.

[carli]

BG, when you wrote, “I can clearly see here you’re looking for a ‘scapegoat’ because you all fear your own kids might not be admitted to UC one day,” it made me chuckle. Too late for scapegoats and fear. I’ve already got one kid there. He’s at UCLA, but not for long. He’ll graduate June 10th after making it through in 4 years (woot woot).

And I don’t have fear that my other kids won’t go to UCs. I have a fair degree of confidence each kid will find his/her way regardless of which school they graduate from (or maybe don’t graduate from)!

You are parroting a tired old stereotype of the uber-driven tiger mom who is pushing her kids in to a UC or the most competitive college they can get into. Sure, they’re out there, but most parents I know these days are doing their best to avoid (or at least minimize) the stress fest that is the college admissions process.

[carli]

BG, you seem to be unaware that although UC eliminated the two essay prompts, they replaced them w/eight short answer questions, of which applicants pick four to answer. The previous essay prompts had a maximum word count of 1,000 for both, but the new short answer prompts provide for a maximum word count of 1,400 for all. So a UC applicant is now showcasing his/her English writing skills in 1400 words instead of 1000.

How does this support your oft-repeated statement that UC’s intention is to go easy on non-native English speakers by eliminating the essay?

BG, as usual, you’re making stuff up. Please stop. And I wholeheartedly agree with others here that these made-up statements are offensive and racist, besides being comically inaccurate.

I agree with flu’s hunch that you and other Trump supporters have become less shy about stating your thinly veiled racist views, as you can do so under the guise of being straight talkers unconcerned with political correctness. But what really happens is, oops, your racism is showing, which is very helpful and informative for the rest of us (Caucasians and non-Caucasians alike) to see. Thanks, good to know. To me, it’s the only part of your commentary worth noting.

[carli]

[quote=FlyerInHi]Carli, did you ever try IP telephone like Vonage?
Smart phones now have wifi calling ability.
Try the Magicjack app for free and see if you like the quality.

I drive a lot and I’m always on the phone. I always use an original corded headset. Not Bluetooth.[/quote]

FlyerInHi, I’ve often considered a VoIP phone but last year, we got an incredible bundled deal from Time Warner when we left ATT Uverse. We only pay $103 (including all taxes/fees) for TV, internet and landline. When I asked what it would cost to take out the phone part of the package, Time Warner told me the a la carte price for TV and internet alone would be higher.

We have a very basic TV plan, but don’t want anything more, and we get great internet speed (I just did a speed test and got 43 mbps download speed on my laptop and my husband usually gets over 70 on his iPad). I don’t need the line for a fax as I’ve never had an issue just scanning/emailing, but will keep my landline as long as I have this deal.

Time Warner has been great – much better than AT&T was, and they just went through an upgrade in our area, which significantly increased our internet speed. It’s made a huge difference, especially with several people using it, including teens/college kids streaming stuff all the time.

But it’s one of those things that I’m continually re-assessing, as I know our Time Warner deal won’t last forever, so thanks for the info. I’ll check out Vonage, Magicjack, Ooma, etc again next time around.

[carli]

I wish I could give up my landline but there’s no way. I especially can’t conduct business or talk to elderly relatives on my cell connection because the call inevitably gets dropped at some point during the conversation. We live near a canyon where the coverage is spotty. I guess I could buy one of those signal boosters, but my neighbor has one and he says his calls still get dropped. Having two numbers (and two bills) is a bummer, but I don’t see another way.

[carli]

Best solution to this problem is a new free service called Nomorobo. We have lousy cell service near our home so we’ve held on to our land line and were getting TONS of telemarketing calls daily. I read about Nomorobo in Consumer Reports magazine, where it was highly recommended and set it up a couple months ago. Works like a charm! Love it. Check it out: https://www.nomorobo.com/signup

EDIT: Nomorobo somehow knows to let some robocallers, such as my kids’ schools, through. Details in video here: https://www.nomorobo.com/

[carli]

BG, you stated, “If you have no experience being a customer on Covered CA and live in CA, then you cannot possibly know what we go thru on a monthly (and even weekly) basis.”

Yes, I am a resident of CA and yes, I have experience being a Covered CA customer so I do know what “we” go through. I have had all types of coverage (employer-sponsored, COBRA, Covered CA, etc) and have been tasked with designing health plans, selling health plans, discontinuing health plans, rating health plans, etc, etc over my 20 plus years in the industry.

It’s a waste of time (and could be detrimental to others’ understanding of the ACA and Covered California) to encourage you to keep going with this discussion so I will not engage you further.

As SK in CV said, your statements don’t even qualify as opinions so I will just leave them as wild speculations and inaccuracies. Feel free to continue to make stuff up, but I’m not interested in taking part in that kind of charade, and more importantly, I hope other readers will disregard your statements as the complete inaccuracies that they are (never mind that they’re also obviously bigoted and biased).

[carli]

I have many years experience in executive positions for large health insurance companies, including those mentioned in this post (try not to hate on me because of it). I can tell you from direct experience working with senior actuaries and their very detailed claims data, being involved in many board room discussions where management is analyzing this data and debating whether or not to pull out of markets, that basically everything SK in CV is stating is accurate and most everything bearishgurl is stating is completely inaccurate, false and made up in her own mind with no apparent basis in fact whatsoever.

Bearishgurl, I guess if you like spending your time posting your random opinions and made-up speculations, you’re free to do so, but please either clarify that these are your opinions, not facts, or stop posting about the health care/insurance/CC topic because your statements couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s a huge disservice to readers who see your posts on this important topic, especially if they’re unfamiliar with the details of the subject (as most are, since it’s such a complex one) and may mistakenly view your speculations as facts. Please stop. Thank you.

[carli]

[quote=spdrun]I don’t know — it’s sort of a boring part of NY. Many buildings have storage for $25/mo or so. If I wanted good light in Manhattan for under $2500/mo, I’d rent something like the listings below. Charging $3000/mo for an apartment with a giant kitchen, bath, and no living space is frankly criminal. I’d sooner see most of them (a few are already subsidized) turned into subsidized housing for people who actually need that kind of setup, since it’s lacking in NYC.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/fee/4900188348.html (about 500 sf)
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/sub/4860869756.html (400 sf /w fireplace)
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/nfb/4900177539.html (450 sf)
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/nfb/4900157056.html (3 bedroom uptown)
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/sub/4895677496.html (small 1 bedroom)[/quote]

I’m with you, I usually go for charm and good design over newness, but I think we might be in the minority. It will be interesting to see how these places are received by the marketplace.

[carli]

[quote=AN]carli, here’s a good read about the opposition. http://timesofsandiego.com/opinion/2015/01/26/one-paseo-deserves-no-vote-february/

One Paseo currently zoned for 510,000 square feet of office and retail space and no residential. Kilroy is applying for 1,454,069-square-foot of office and retail and 608 residential units. So, if you disagree with this opponent, what would you suggest?[/quote]

AN, yep, that piece sums up all the reasons why One Paseo is a bad idea, in its current form. Dave Roberts is a good guy and has stepped up to push back on the developer and voice valid concern on behalf of his constituents. I’m not sure why some other elected officials have not, but I could probably guess.

To answer your question, it’s not really up to me or anyone else in the community (nor are most of us qualified) to respond with a better development design for that property. Theoretically, the community has already outlined what we feel is appropriate for that property by implementing zoning regulations, which the developer clearly knew before he bought the land. If a developer like Kilroy wants to apply to build beyond those regulations, especially to the tune of 3x, he needs to be able to justify why. And if he’s turned down, then he can redesign and if he’s still outside current zoning regulations, it’s incumbent on him to again explain the impacts to the community and city officials to find out what’s acceptable.

I would have no way of knowing, for example, what the traffic impacts would be if the design contained 300 housing units instead of the current 600+. Maybe that would be okay, but since 300 housing units are still outside of current zoning regs, it would be up to Kilroy to do the traffic study, explain the impact and make a case for it, and then the community would respond, not the other way around.

[carli]

[quote=spdrun]carli — the micro-apartment complex mentioned in the article is utter over-hyped shit. Anyone paying $2000-$3000 for a 260-360 square foot apartment should be given a free apartment in the Ward’s Island loony bin, considering that there are plenty of other buildings in safe, convenient areas where $3000/mo will get you 2-3x the apartment.

I’ve also seen the layouts. Fully 2/3 of the floor space is dedicated to bathroom and kitchen, because they decided to make ALL apartments in the building accessible rather than just some percentage. Furthermore, they designed the apartments with an entrance at the narrow side of the rectangle, which means they lose more space by having a “corridor” past the bath and kitchen.

Yuck![/quote]

Bummer about the bad design – weird, too, because they won the design competition. Probably Bloomberg’s rules for the design competition stated they had to all be accessible.

Will be interesting to see how they’re received by the marketplace of single renters. Maybe the advantages of being with a community of other singles and having some other nice pluses (storage space, common areas, good light) will be enough to outweigh the design/layout. For millenials, it might be kind of like moving back into their old college dorms, but in the city and with amenities.

They may prefer that to moving into a more demographically mixed, older building, even if it’s cheaper.

[carli]

AN, opponents are not generally against One Paseo because it’s a mixed use project. To the contrary, I think most of us feel the mixed use aspect makes it more attractive. A village center concept is extremely appealing…who doesn’t want more connectivity, walking paths, gathering places, cafes, etc? Especially if we can actually live and/or work in that village center. This is much more attractive than a strip mall.

The issue with One Paseo is not the design or the mixed use aspect, it’s the density and scale.

And I don’t have faith that the lack of public transit will change anytime soon. Yes, it should be easy to fix as there are two bus lines currently 2+ miles away from One Paseo, but locals have been working for years to bring either one of those bus lines up Del Mar Heights Rd, without any success. It would be great if One Paseo became the catalyst to make that happen, but if that was likely, why wouldn’t the developer and/or elected officials be saying so as part of their pitch? So far, the only offer the developer has suggested is that they might have a shuttle bus to the Coaster station. Nice, but not going to be useful to anyone who needs to get around the area, going to the beach, schools, library, other shopping areas, etc – and isn’t that the point of creating hubs/villages in the area?

By now, you must be tired of my restating these points so to change topics slightly, here’s a semi-related story I read in today’s NYTimes, about micro-apartments and the demand for them in NYC, as their single population has grown from 1/3 to 1/2 of the total population. Now don’t go telling me this would be good for Carmel Valley, lol, but micro apartments are a great concept in areas that are in demand by singles, and already have robust public transit systems and high density. 🙂

[carli]

No one I know is reminiscing about horses and open fields, wishing to go back to those days. Most of us look forward to having more housing, dining, entertainment and shopping options nearby, and again, no one I know is opposed to One Paseo being built in the right way. But it’s all about degrees and dealing with the situation as it is currently (also taking into account plans for near future), not how we wish it would be.

Reality now is that zero public transit is even being proposed for the area until 2035 and even that is unplanned/unsure/unbudgeted. The density of the currently proposed development just won’t work with that.

But still, bring on the housing, dining, retail and entertainment right now in the right density, and it will be a welcome improvement to the area. Most of us are trying to say just that, but that part gets drowned out with all the rhetoric and accusations of NIMBYism, etc. There is more common ground here than most realize.

[carli]

[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=flyer]

Don’t get me wrong, our family and friends are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening–but I don’t believe all will be lost–should the vote go against us.[/quote]

May the best win. I’m rooting for the developer.

If Kilroy wins, you will see property value go up even more. You may not like new traffic, but you will be wealthier. In 30 years, you won’t care anymore.

Are you one of the folks who were against Carmel Valley and the 56 to begin with?[/quote]

No reason this should be a win/lose proposition. There will be some sort of compromise. No one I know is completely anti-development for this piece of property nor talking about buying it back for land preservation, making it into a park, etc. One Paseo will be built in that spot in one form or another, as it should be. Both sides will fight hard for their needs, in the spirit of the public process, and neither will ultimately be completely satisfied – the definition of compromise. It’s an okay system if you ask me.

And I don’t know anyone who is actually delusional enough to think we can (or should even to want to) stop growth in any area around here. Most of us just want to weigh in on the impacts of that growth, especially when they affect us directly. And I am pretty sure most Piggs would feel the same way in this situation, even though it’s easier to refer to it as NIMBYism from afar.

And FlyerInHI, barring an earthquake or other disaster, my property values will go up plenty regardless of how One Paseo turns out. I can’t get excited about larger profits at the expense of environmental and quality of life impacts. But that might sum up the difference in our views in a nutshell.

[Author]

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