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FormerOwner
ParticipantThis is a major pet peeve for my wife and me. At one resturant we go to once in a while, there’s a bus boy that seems fixated on keeping as many plates as possible in the kitchen. It’s almost like he’s getting a commission based on the average number of plates (clean or dirty) back in the kitchen during the course of a day. Maybe they do an hourly count. At times (and this next part is no joke), I’ve felt like if I turned away to look out the window for a minute, my food might be gone – poof! One other time, I felt like asking him if he wanted to fight me for the food; he kept circling the area and I knew good and well what he was after – and I wasn’t about to let him have it! Arrrgh!
The issue of the waiter/waitress that keeps re-filling your drink is weird too. I don’t like wasting stuff and at some places it seems like if your glass is at less than 1/2 they just HAVE to fill it up. What do they want us to do – keep drinking until we bust a gut? How much iced tea/soda/whatever do they think one person can drink anyway? I like it when they ask “Would you like a re-fill?” but to just keep re-filling it…I feel like I’m under pressure to keep drinking.
One other pet peeve about restaurants – they’re all over you during the first few minutes asking if you want this or that and is everything OK but then, when you’re done and ready for the bill, the wait staff is nowhere to be found. Is it a test to see how many people will bolt without paying the bill? Many times we’re just sitting there with our arms folded, obviously ready to go, and no one seems to notice. Where the !*%$ did they go?
In general, customer service in this country is not what it used to be, restaurants included. But, I NEVER complain about anything, at least until my food is on the table, and I NEVER send food back to the kitchen for any reason. As Bush Sr. would say, “it wouldn’t be prudent”.
ParticipantOne other thing I might add is that during the last few years a lot of retail businesses seem to have opened using either very optimistic cash flow projections/wishful thinking or very naive owners (or both). My wife and I go into some of these new stores and restuarants and leave saying “it was nice but how are they going to stay in business?” Well, it turns out a lot of them are not staying in business. I think it’s another syptom of easy credit and low interest rates. I don’t know how some of these businesses can even cover the rent. I suspect a lot of them stay open until their borrowed money runs out then it’s lights out!
ParticipantI’ve been noticing that quite a few restuarants have gone under up here in Temecula during the last 6-12 months. Here’s the latest example. The 2 restuarants that went under had great food and were farily busy. The pizza place did seem to rely on discount coupons a lot though; I don’t think I ever bought a pizza without a coupon. I am sad to see them close since I really liked their food. The fact that the owners’ house also went into foreclosure is something that I’ve also seen happening quite a bit up here. People used home equity to help get businesses going – now both the businesses and the R/E values are tanking. This is only the tip of the iceberg IMHO.
Restaurateurs leave trail of debts; Employees return Friday to find empty buildings
ParticipantI’ve noticed that a lot of retired folks are moving out to remote areas to retire; they get a nicer house on a larger lot at a lower price than they would in an area with more jobs and city culture.
The only problem is that in these far out areas the ONLY way to get around is by DRIVING. Has anyone noticed that older folks are not the best drivers? Maybe they can pull it off when they’re in their 60’s and 70’s but what happens after that? Are they all going to die in car wrecks driving to doctor’s appointments or to visit their families? How does this make sense? Shouldn’t older folks live in communities with public transportation so than can be independent but not be a danger to themselves and others behind the wheel of a car? What are the nation’s rural roads going to be like in 10-20 years? Better make sure you are driving a safe car eh?
ParticipantIt may be that SD residents are more tech savvy and are more aware of using Craigslist than Phoenix residents.
ParticipantI think home ownership is a core American value. The government supports this by subsidizing housing via tax writeoffs and low mortgage interest rates. It’s also reinforced by TV shows, advertising, etc.
Our country had so much open space that it was relatively easy to build houses further and further out from established cities. Until our domestic oilfields hit peak oil about 30 years ago, we had plenty of cheap oil to allow us to use our cars to cover the vast distances that our suburban lifestyle forced us to traverse every day.
Much of this has changed and I think the suburban way of life is really starting to break down, but it’s hard to go against your core values. Most people still say rent is “throwing money away”. It is, but buying is throwing away two or three times that amount. Nothing is free.
I also think that people view their house (rather than their community) as the center of their lives. Maybe that’s a symptom of our communities breaking down (in some places).
ParticipantIt’s in California but, for those that don’t have kids, don’t need a large living space, and don’t mind renting, I think San Francisco is a good place to live. I’m visting there this weekend and used to live there a while back. You can take the BART (light rail system) from the airport right into downtown SF and you can get most places without a car. Not having to deal with traffic is a MAJOR plus. You really don’t even need to own a car – you could use FlexCar or rent one for the occasional weekend trip. I think if I really got tired of So Cal, I might think about going back to SF. I am married but we don’t have kids. The house/condo prices up there (last I checked) are way out of line (too high) in relation to rents, just like So Cal, so I’d rent up there too, at least until the cost of owning comes close to the cost of renting. I like Temecula, but I do get tired of having to drive everywhere. Even if you lived in downtown SD, you’d still need a car. It’s not a self-contained central city in the same way that SF is. PerryChase’s idea of having a small place in SD and traveling 1/2 the year sounds great but I wonder if SF might be a better home base in some respects.
ParticipantSorry, I mean’t to type “how would you invest in them?” Is there a Swiss Franc CD or some other investment vehicle or do you just keep Swiss Francs in a coffee can under your bed?
ParticipantI’ll look into Swiss Francs. You would you invest in them?
ParticipantHispanic and some Asian families, from what I’ve seen, are increasingly packing more family members into each dwelling unit in order to make the rent. The flip side is that more people per unit means less units will be occupied overall. I observed the same thing when I rented an apartment in UTC in the 90’s, only it was college students that were packed into the apartments to make the rent. There are definite limits on housing costs/rents, no matter how you look at it. As powayseller and others have said, there aren’t that many people that can afford the house prices or rents without some sort of creative financing or living arrangement.
ParticipantWell, I think the low-interest rate environment of the last 5 years has created a national, even global, housing bubble. It’s hard to tell exactly what the effects of the bubble burst will be even in areas that never had a huge run-up in prices. So, I’d probably rent for the next few years, no matter where I lived and wait for some signals that things have bottomed out and stabilized. Plus, you’ll get to know the area that way, before buying. There’s no reason to rush right now, IMHO.
Here are some places that come to mind though, no matter how much $$ one had:
-Austin, TX
-Richmond, VA
(I like it there but don’t know much about the schools)
-Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, NC
-Charlotesville, VA (if you can find work – teaching?)
-Atlanta, GA (although it suffers from much of the same urban sprawl issues as So Cal)
-Portland, OR (if you don’t mind fog and rain)
-Montreal, Canada and maybe Toronto
(other than the cold, I think Canada has a lot to offer)All that being said, we intend to stick around and, maybe, buy a house in Temecula or, possibly, San Diego when prices drop to a reasonable level. In the meantime, there’s nothing wrong with renting. If prices don’t drop, I’ll never buy a house in California again. That wouldn’t really be a big deal either.
ParticipantI feel that the R/E values in the Temecula Valley will fall quite a bit also; I think a 50% drop from 2005 prices may be conservative, but that’s just my guess. However, like a couple of other people on here, I like the area and work locally.
I 100% agree that the CITY of Temecula is the best place to be. The traffic in French Valley is beyond ridiculous and there are very few amenities there. Murrieta is better than French Valley, but the Eastern side suffers from the same traffic gridlock issues. The city of Temecula is great as long as you don’t can work locally, at home, or have a travel job – once the prices get a haircut. I’ve noticed real estate ads for French Valley homes falsely stating that they’re in Temecula. Once you’ve lived around here for a while, you know that there’s a BIG difference in quality of life. Temecula seems to have pretty decent urban planning (for the Inland Empire). Most of the tracts have walking trails and parks. Winchester Road is a nightmare but that’s run by the State – nuff said. Rancho California Rd has a much better traffic flow and there are some older (by Temecula standards) neighborhoods with low tax rates there – plus good schools.
I would like it if Temecula was less car-centric and had some walking/bike bridges to cross over major roads. Overall, though, I like it here and will probably stick around.
ParticipantIf it weren’t for immigration (much of it illegal), our nation’s population growth would probably be flat or declining, like most other developed nations. I think there are probably too many people on the planet right now anyway. The only problem is, economically it’s problematic to have a declining population with a lot of older people and few working age people.
I’m wondering if the powers that be are allowing illegal immigrants to come into the country, knowing that they and their children, once given amnesty, will someday be the ones to keep the social security system going. Has anyone else thought this way? Will it work?
ParticipantI also agree that 1 story houses are preferable, especially inland, where that second story can get really expensive to keep cool. There are some 3 story homes up here in Temecula and I can’t imagine what they do with that third story when it’s 107 in the summer (a couple of weeks ago it actually got up to 117 degrees in Temecula – global warming, I guess).
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