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Living in a parking lot in Santa Barbara

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Re: Living in a parking lot in Santa Barbara

#131

Post by cletus »

rcpt wrote: post #68
cletus wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s worse than that: they’re not even payin* their fair share of property taxes either. For example: - 157 West 57th St #77, asking $49m, paying $4,200 in monthly taxes [1] - 301 West 53rd St #3E, asking $1.85m, paying $1,681 in monthly taxes [2] Why is an apartment asking 25 Times as much only paying 2.5x the property taxes? You can largely blame Bloomberg and Andrew Cuomo for this. [1] https://www.elliman.com/new-…

Those property taxes sound high! I pay over $3500 to rent a house in Santa Cruz while my landlord only pays $2700 per year in property tax. The place is worth $1-2M depending on what website I'm checking.

They are high. Apartment buildings in NYS are taxed so ARV (assessed rental value) so a $3M brownstone in Park Slope might only pay $700/month. A $3m condo might pay 3-4x that.

NYC can’t fix this and the state won’t because it’s beholden to SFH owners upstate who (now) don’t pay their fair share and don’t want to start now.

Additionally NYS doesn’t have Prop 13 but it has lots of things that look like it. Reduced increases, caps on rates, etc that greatly benefit incumbents.

Same as in California people raise the specter of evicting or bankrupting the elderly from their ancestral home if this was changed. It’s a false dilemma. You could easily relieve taxes because of hardship (or simply being over 65 for a principal residence) on a case by case basis.

Re: Living in a parking lot in Santa Barbara

#132

Post by rukittenme »

rxhernandez wrote: post #120
downandout wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up in California. It's a beautiful place. But I fail to understand the point of living or doing business there in 2017. High state taxes, high crime rates (that will only get higher as more people are driven to homelessness), impossible housing market, etc. I now live in Nevada. I can easily drive or fly to California for vacation if I want, housing is relatively reasonable, and there are no state taxes. If yo…

> high crime rates (that will only get higher as more people are driven to homelessness), impossible housing market, etc. I now live in Nevada What on earth are you talking about? You live in the state that is in the top 5 for violent crime rates. California doesn't even break the top 15.

This is why statistics never tell the full story. In California, ten people could be murdered outside your home every night versus one per week in Wyoming and Wyoming would still have the worse crime-rate.

Statistically sound, factually accurate, but still Wyoming would feel safer.

You also need to factor in the type of crime. If the only people getting shot are gang members then the crime-rate won't feel as close to home.

Re: Living in a parking lot in Santa Barbara

#133

Post by chii »

lsc wrote: post #118
totalZero wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> take 30 days vacation a year I know people who earn seven figures who don't, and honestly can't, do this. Vacation is also a function of workplace culture, not just discretionary income and allotted vacation days.

so, there's what, 11 standard paid holidays, so 30 days off would be 'four weeks of vacation' - The set of people who make more than a million dollars a year who can't negotiate four weeks of vacation... I think is small. There's this persistent myth of the driven executive... I mean, I guess it's possible that other fields of endeavor are different? but everywhere I've worked? the more they pay you, the better they…

> the less you are expected to actually work.

if you're talking about actual time spent working, may be. But the output for an expensive person needs to be high. Granted, how does one measure the output of a typical multi-million dollar CEO on bottom line performance (vs just good general economic conditions)?

Re: Living in a parking lot in Santa Barbara

#134

Post by chii »

twobyfour wrote: post #38
solotronics wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

by your measure most people in the USA are poor I would guess about 80%+

Perhaps that's indicative not of a problem with the measure but rather of a) a disconnect between our society's self-perception and its reality and/or b) a problem with our economic system, the opportunities available in it, and the saving/spending norms it propagates?

this video tells what the average american thinks of the wealth distribution, vs reality (vs ideal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM

it's very enlightening.

Re: Living in a parking lot in Santa Barbara

#135

Post by lsc »

chii wrote: post #133
lsc wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so, there's what, 11 standard paid holidays, so 30 days off would be 'four weeks of vacation' - The set of people who make more than a million dollars a year who can't negotiate four weeks of vacation... I think is small. There's this persistent myth of the driven executive... I mean, I guess it's possible that other fields of endeavor are different? but everywhere I've worked? the more they pay you, the better they…

> the less you are expected to actually work. if you're talking about actual time spent working, may be. But the output for an expensive person needs to be high. Granted, how does one measure the output of a typical multi-million dollar CEO on bottom line performance (vs just good general economic conditions)?

Yes, time spent working is exactly what I meant.

Re: Living in a parking lot in Santa Barbara

#136

Post by chii »

gozur88 wrote: post #124
StanislavPetrov wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>We conclude that the real question is not why unhealthy food is so cheap but why people consume unhealthy food despite it being more expensive. The answer, we suggest, is that taste and convenience often play a larger role in people’s food choices than price or nutritional quality. I suggest you consider the fact that many people in the US, especially in poor, urban areas live in "food deserts" where there are no su…

>Lee also notes in her study that, on closer inspection, food deserts don’t actually exist in the U.S., at least not as a national problem—on average, poor neighborhoods have more grocery stores than wealthier neighborhoods. http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2014/02/food_deserts...

It's more likely that unhealthy food is the one source of pleasure that a poor person can afford, and with all the troubles of their lives, they may find solice in eating the delicious junk. Healthy food either takes a bunch of effort, or don't taste very good (unless you couple it with some expensive condiments/spices).

Re: Living in a parking lot in Santa Barbara

#137

Post by llamataboot »

tempz wrote: post #12

There is a linguistic problem here - extending the term 'middle class' to hide prevailing poverty in the US. You are not middle class if: - you will lose home, car if you are out of job for 6-10 months; - you don't take 30 days vacation a year; - you cannot afford health services without going to debt; - you cannot send your kids to university; - your diet is mostly junk food because you can't afford fresh stuff. If…

Yes, and by that criteria, most Americans are poor.

Re: Living in a parking lot in Santa Barbara

#138

Post by lsc »

p1esk wrote: post #129
Thlom wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just checked. Scandinavian countries, Australia and Luxembourg have higher median household income than the U.S.

This summer I worked at a startup in Luxembourg. I overheard a job interview my boss conducted, where an Australian with a PhD in machine learning asked for EUR60k as a salary. My boss decided to offer him EUR50k. Costs of living in Luxembourg are about the same as in Santa Barbara (where I currently live). I think median salaries in Luxembourg might be skewed by the presence of a large financial market (it's kind of…

My impression is that it's the other way around; working in the computer industry carries a higher pay premium (vs. working in some other field) in Silicon Valley than it does anywhere else. So while a chef might be better off in Luxembourg, the software engineer is better off in silicon valley.

Re: Living in a parking lot in Santa Barbara

#139

Post by s0rce »

notyourwork wrote: post #128
aphextron wrote: post #34

I'll be facing this soon as well, at least they've got RV's. After getting back from my third open house for the week, with double digit atendees, I think the bay area just isn't for me. A perfect credit score and a job making double the median wage is not enough to land a 1 bedroom apartment apparently. I'll probably end up sleeping on someones couch for a few months to finish my work contract, and get out of this h…

I’m confused - what trouble are you having? I moved here 5 months ago and had no problem getting an apartment.

Same here, moved to the East Bay 18 months ago, have a great 1bdrm apartment.

Re: Living in a parking lot in Santa Barbara

#140

Post by s0rce »

downandout wrote: post #110
aphextron wrote: post #34

I'll be facing this soon as well, at least they've got RV's. After getting back from my third open house for the week, with double digit atendees, I think the bay area just isn't for me. A perfect credit score and a job making double the median wage is not enough to land a 1 bedroom apartment apparently. I'll probably end up sleeping on someones couch for a few months to finish my work contract, and get out of this h…

I grew up in California. It's a beautiful place. But I fail to understand the point of living or doing business there in 2017. High state taxes, high crime rates (that will only get higher as more people are driven to homelessness), impossible housing market, etc. I now live in Nevada. I can easily drive or fly to California for vacation if I want, housing is relatively reasonable, and there are no state taxes. If yo…

Some of us can't work remote, some people will pay extra for good weather, some people like the ocean a lot. Everyone is different.
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