"Free Parking" is a vague concept difficult discuss in these situations with any reasonable prospect of agreement. Think about what each of the words
individually and combined mean to each interested party. Free to whom?
Parking or amenity? Bundled cost or subsidy or business investment?
Tax dodge? Cost of doing business? Then we get to the current
subspecies; education. Boston College or UMass Boston? Different?
Holy Cross? Is on street parking a violation of Church and State?
Look; parking is paid for. It cannot remain "free" for long to the
users or payers no matter who is paying or using.
There's no such thing as free parking (with one exception noted below).
Adequate bundled transportation infrastructure. I'm not just picking
nits with the phrase. Free parking is inaccurate on many levels. As
I've tried to say in other posts there's a case for what some are
calling free parking to actually be called non-parker parasitism. We
don't need perfect reasoning because the accidental market arrives at
the same result through brute force methods that produce local maximums.
If we were able to inhibit political meddling global maximums would
equally result. I am astounded by people who deny the obvious evidence.
The giant parking lot at the Costco is why gin is 50% cheaper inside.
Without the parking, the cachement area for potential customers shrinks
faster than overhead. No more Beefeaters 1.75l gin in pallet quantities
and next thing you know its' back to the corner package store (aka
bottle shop) and higher prices. For the readers with more respect for
their livers feel free to substitute the commodity item of preference.
Anyone who makes the claim of free parking is only identifying
themselves as being unfamiliar with the subject. And the exception?
Transit park-n-rides. Ample free parking is an absolutely necessary
bundled cost of modern efficient economic activities. Think Vegas,
Ontario Mills, Disneyland. This is the fatal flaw of NURB. Pleasant
places that conform to their dogmas and with a vital economic base are
mutually exclusive goals. Exactly, free parking exists only in one
place; Transit. Amazing that the only truly free parking is also the
one that transit advocates support. It seems to me that "free parking"
is is the new version of pickled eggs and sandwiches at the saloon in
order to sell beer. Imagine how much more "revitalized" "downtown" Los
Angeles would be if the money poured into the big red hole had gone
towards parking subsidies instead. This is directly applicable to my
situation. Having just received my season tickets for the Hollywood
Bowl I look forward to riding the LAMTA's only profitable service. Bus
#653 from Chatsworth Station to the Bowl and back; $5. Cheap, fast,
convienient and wickedly efficient by every measure. Just don't tell
the BRU that it has the most non-hispanic non-black ridership in the
county. Probably the fastest regular bus service in the nation as well.
I've seen 85 on the speedo. Point being that Chatsworth parking is free
and despite the highest fares in the LAMTA system it is still a bargain
because of this.
I would like to make the case for the financial -benefits- of free
parking. The interesting thing I find is the inside out economics of
Walmart and big box or megamall skeptics. Their model is to increase
cachement areas in order to keep prices lower. That means that
traditional mom & pop walkup customers are only getting lower prices
BECAUSE of the parking lot not IN SPITE OF the parking lot. Of course
SoCal is the original large cachement model so it was a big suprise to
Sam Walton and the Smith Bros (grocery) when their big boxes weren't
dominant. Luckily for them (but not for the General area) both went to
Oxanrd and got city deals so generous that their poor performance
wasn't detrimental to their corporate bottom lines.
Then there's the "Snout House" aka attached two car garage controversy.
This is nothing more than a failure of planning. Some of us like baths,
some like showers, some like both. The mega-bathroom retreat/spa is
more evidence of cocooning. One factor driving this trend is an ongoing
shift to owning luxury rather than communal sharing. And some of that
is the increasing barriers to mobility. Who wants to fight traffic and
then find a parking space just to go to the gym? The same money can pay
for a well equipped home gym. Provided you have the space. Thus homes
are getting larger. Making cocooning easier. All that "stuff" needs an
SUV to take home from the Walcostdepot but congestion makes it
impractical for daily travel, so two vehicles and a correspondingly
bigger driveway. Bad transportation decisions result in snout houses.
I thought the connections were obvious.
Ample employee parking increases corporate efficiency and attracts
better employees from a larger potential pool of candidates. There's
even an argument that inadequate parking is anti-family and
anti-social. And just in case you might begin to broach the subject
that employees are unaware of the "benefit" they are earning try to
imagine if the Employee of the Month had his regular parking revoked in
appreciation. The fact that a special parking place is considered a
reward indicates employees are more aware of their own internal
economic self interest than the misguided authors of the "eliminate
subsidized parking" proposals. Free indeed.
77 comments:
FIRST!!!
And with that, I am off to attend class because that's just the kind of looser I am!
Yup T....I like it with you on top!
... and let's not forget the opposite side of the Monopoly™ board, which is more appropriate for you-know-who: "Go Directly To Jail! Do not pass Go, Do not collect $200!"
... or a new Community Chest card for someone else: "You Have Written an Award-Winning Blog. Collect $2,759". :-)
I got nothing else. heh.
Um. So I live in a quasi-rural area (farms to the east and north, big box to the west and south - but about 20 minutes driving away).
Which we get to by driving one of the cars in our two car garage.
And then I go to Walmart or Costco and I buy candles and bubble bath.
And then I go soak in my jacuzzi tub. :)
Did I mention I also get free parking at work? So long as I get there early enough, that is :)
And SUVs are my guilty pleasure? :)
Oh and the gazelle and free weights in the extra bedroom? :)
You can fit cars in your garage?!?
Oh, did you read the part where your bubble bath is cheaper because of all that parking you pay for with your purchases? Strange but true.
Rob Dawg,
Maybe it’s just the Northern vs. Southern California divide, by you really lose me on the transportation issues. For example, how about neither driving to a gym or building a home gym, but just riding one’s bike and/or walking to work for exercise? That would also eliminates the need for parking spaces.
Akubi,
I understand but imagine poor Nigel stumbling over all the big words.
Parking is one of those "everybody has an opinion but very few have the facts" issues. I agree that both home gyms and driving to the gym are strange "end of days" type signs but that's for a different topic. Parking is infrastructure just like sprinklers and toilets. There are rules for all of them but for some strange reason planners and developers have taken it upon themselves to bend the rules for parking.
Not only can we fit cars, but a server rack as well :) And a set of summer tires, a cooler, various boxes yet to be unpacked, car stuff (jumpter cables, washer fluid), the trash can, a trolley that holds the empties until we're ready to return them, the walls to the server rack, the ab-thing and a fugly chandelier that hang from hooks in the ceiling.
He drives a Civic, I drive a Fit but the previous car of mine was a Cavalier and it still fit.
And screw the bubble bath. Its about the jacuzzi, candles and wine. Except for the leaky shower stall that leaked into the powder room downstairs, I have it pretty good.
And bubble bath, shampoo, soap, toothpaste - those are things I can't tolerate buying except for once every two or three months. I stay away from their essential oils and groceries though (except for bread, which I buy in bulk and store in the freezer - which is in the kitchen because it won't fit in the garage :))
And quite honestly, the public transportation infrastructure here? Sucks, by and large. Into the downtown core its fine, but getting to a point where you can get there efficiently is bad. Out where I live now, its not so bad (train for 45 minutes, two block walk and a 5-10 minute bus ride to get to work, which isn't quite downtown).
Where I used to live, it took me about a half an hour to drive in (and that included picking up my carpool).
I also lived quite close to a rapid transit station (skytrain). If I took the skytrain, it was a 20 minute ride, followed by a 10 minute bus ride.
BUT there was a half hour to 45 minute wait for a bus at the station I had to transfer at, simply because there weren't enough buses for all the people whose original lines ended there.
Oh, and there's a university at the end of that line as well. And the university students get a subsidized bus pass added onto their tuition.
Go figure why there was such a wait.
I hate walking through those huge parking lots in snow and rain so I shop the corner drugstore and a "regular" grocery store. I know it's unfashionable and unamerican to purchase toilet paper in less than 6 months supply but I got tired of freezing my ass of and standing in lines. All Hail to the mom and pop stores!
Hi Rob Dawg,
Is Nigel still hanging around here? He’s soooo tiresome.
Anyway, I think a properly designed public transportation system (something sorrily lacking in most of the U.S.) encourages community and cars do the exact opposite. Gee, I can’t imagine why this country seems to have done so little to encourage streamlined public transit. Couldn’t possibly have anything to do with some of my all time favorite corporations and the politicians and “planners” they fund…
Exactly, LOL.
Parking eh? What bends me is when business bitch that there is no parking for their customers. A classic example is NW 23rd ave in Portland OR. Yuppie Sockfuckers complain that they get parking tickets because the city has the parking gig/tax sown up. Local business complains that the city is scaring away business with it's gestapo parking tax AND they have the balls to DEMAND that the city pay to build parking for said Yuppie Sockfuckers. Makes me so glad I have a Van Dessel Single-Speed. Pay for parking? That's for loosers...
I've missed TWO chances for First!...
Oh well, I gotta logoff every once in a while. If I loose out, I'm glad it was to T. We all know she's FIRST anyway.....
I've written "loose" so many freaking times I'm starting to question myself as to the proper spelling. Thanks Snowflake, your influence knows no bounds.
BTW, rather off topic, but as I posted in an earlier thread I was impressed with this guy's post: http://www.iamfacingforeclosure.com/53/commenting-on-facing-foreclosure/#comment-38097
It's even longer than a typical Tim MBA, but worth reading. His closing paragraph:
I think you are a prime example of how a whole generation (not age group - but a generation of people living in USA the last 20 years or so) that has been given a false tale that to be rich is everything and it will make you happy. I have to use a favorite phrase of an old relative who wouldn’t curse in front of children to sum up my feelings about using house flipping to become rich: “It’s bovine excrement!!”
As a former retailer, parking is a sore subject; especially when you are paying over $18/sq ft for the dirt....no improvements. If 75% of the lot is parking, that's pretty spendy asphalt slots. You gotta sell a LOT of Big Macs to cover the cost.
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRICO...........SWAUBAY
I'm with Akubai. Maybe this is a SoCal mindset thing ... but I just don't get why parking is so sacred.
Personally, I hate driving and cannot wait until I can move back to NYC and only use a car on special occasions.
How about free range ostrich? Although I feel sad about what they did to Gaylord, the ostrich, I think what he did to piss those guys off so much was funny as hell:
...
Porter pleaded no contest in February to felony animal abuse for killing the ostrich, named Gaylord, and for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Porter and his friend Timothy McKevitt, 19, got in trouble after they took some women to an ostrich ranch after party last Halloween, authorities said.
"Apparently the young ladies expressed an interest in seeing the ostriches," Porter's attorney, James McNair Thompson, said after today's hearing in San Mateo County Superior Court. "That all sounded like a good idea until the ostrich physically attacked (McKevitt and Porter), and apparently he got the better of them."
McKevitt was kicked in the ribs and knocked to the ground, according to a police report. Porter suffered scrapes and bruises when the ostrich kicked him, the report said.
"And at that point, the crucial thing happened," Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. "Apparently the girls started laughing."
Porter and McKevitt drove away with the women, then allegedly armed themselves with a rifle and shotgun.
"We knew what had to be done," Porter told sheriff's investigators, according to the police report.
The two returned to the ostrich farm and opened fire on Gaylord, firing at least seven shots, according to the report.
"This whole thing is about male pride," Wagstaffe said. "The ostrich knocked them both on their butts."
The problem is that the way we've bundled parking as an amenity we don't understand its contribution to the economy and vitality of urban areas. It isn't so much sacred as it is necessary for so many things that we develop a blind spot. Anybody have a nice bicycle? Did it come from a store with train tracks backing up to the loading dock?
Parking is what can define a person.
For example:
Around the corner from my Looser Apartment™ is a BesyBuy. A very popular one, parking spots are a premium during peak hours.
People will circle the lot for 10-20 minutes, to save walking 20 extra feet.
The defining reality: there is street parking, outside of the lot, that are almost as close to the door as the choice spots. They rarely get parked in.
People's parking choices say a lot.
I walk, myself.
I also live a few blocks from my office, and I walk to work when it's nice. Now there is a commute.
Gas prices are up? Really? I can't even remember what it cost 5 weeks ago when i filled up.
PS - T is a New Yorker. Don't fuck with her. She could be mobbed up.
I'm down with parking anywhere, as long as it's not on the dancefloor. Because then I might be forced to give you a ticket. SO GET WITH IT.
We've got ostriches and alpacas around here. But then we have condors and all manner of critters around here.
I think T did a Gaylord the ostrich during the podcast and that's what pisses off Nigel (who apparently still hasn't uncovered all of those bondage photos) and the like.
If he doesn't already have one Gaylord deserves his own goddamned blog:).
i am happiest when i drive my car about once a week. parking is a cost of driving. wtf's with lunking a massive human-transpo-box around anyway? there's just one of me! so i ride a bike or a scooter and i don't have to pay the parking cost. i hate the universality of driving and parking. i hate dating lazy women who want to drive to town and spend ten minutes parking so we can go to a restaurant. i'm not so clear what the alternative is but something in me just says STOP. i value my time very highly... too highly for a traffic jam or parking saga. if we can pour thousands into our cars, why not pour hundreds into bicycle assist and various flavors of scooter? i do it, and it's SWEET.
Lived in L.A. as a really little kid and am old enough to have seen Star Wars at Grauman’s Chinese when it first came out, but recall feeling highly disturbed by all of the Hari Krishna’s shaking their weird dried gourds when we left. (Perhaps they had an issue with Yoda?) At that ripe old age of 5 or 6, I divided most of my time between the La Brea Tar Pits and The Self Realization Fellowship in Pasadena. Can’t imagine why I ended up such a cynical bitch. Regarding the general Tar Pit area, that’s where a number of my SoCal relatives once lived with only one left now – when I was a kid we walked to the (now-neutered) Farmer’s Market or wherever else. When I visit these days, they think I’m crazy to want to walk a few blocks to get to Manni’s. Weird.
John,
I was busy thinking about Gaylord the Ostrich, buy I completely agree. The distance between work and home is far more important to me than salary. So many folks waste so much time, energy, money so they can say they make an impressive amount of $ without seeming to think through the overall cost of their commute, car payments, gas, tolls, etc. What is the net result of the BS?
For whatever bizarre reason, when Repo Man came out, I really identified with the non-driving weird older guy who was beamed up in the end. That was “SWEET”, but of course, I saw it in middle school so my friends who thought Emilio Estevez was the highlight of the film felt there was something extremely wrong with me for not thinking he was the most impressive character. (Hell, in my opinion would be repeating the stupidity of middle school and high school for eternity.)
Dawg,
I live in NYC. No comprende. Parking is the ultimate commodity. 1.5 million people jammed into a space of 33.8 Square miles of which 32% is covered by water. It's not something that retailers rely on or pay for (parking). Foot-traffic-land baby. It's something you pay $10 a half hour for. If you're lucky enough (or rather unlucky enough) to find a parking meter, it's $.50 for 15 minutes. Anyone who has a car and uses it for pleasure (Sprezz??) pays through the nose. Yesterday a woman tried to sell me her Mercedes S550 because she was tired of paying for parking for a car she put less than 5,000 miles on. I had a feeling everyone she came into contact with was offered the opportunity. Hey if you got the dough, God-Bless. I live outside on Manhattan though, but still in the boroughs. I have a car, too. It STILL costs me an arm and a leg to park. There is a Costco near me that has...some parking. Not a lot. But it's not a huge costco either. Well OK it's huge. But they get a lot of walk in traffic with people with their own shopping carts. People come in and get out. Lots of immigrants in big vehicles too. That's just the nature of the traffic. The nearest Target to me has a huge parking lot. And it costs $5 an hour to park there. People just come to expect, if you want to drive here, parking is gonna cost you. BTW, the better suburbs in New York i.e. in Westchester and the North Shore of Long Island have some of the longest waiting lists for PAID PARKING at their public transit stations. Go figure.
TK,
Like DC, NYC has far better public transport than California (other than Berkeley), why own a f-ing car?
I have never been to Walmart in my entire life and hope to keep it that way.
As far as public transit the EU and Japan is way ahead of us.
Akubi, I used to live in the Bay Area. Joke of a transit system if ever there was one. MUNI? SCOFF! BART? Puh-LEEZE! In ealrier days I did rely on BART to commute to a job in Berzerkeley but found it to be the most inefficient retarded, limited system in the universe except for LA's subway system. (takes on Howard Dean Tone) Yaaaaar!
The parking/car/transportation topic really gets me going so I shall continue my conversation with myself. Also, Monopoly, Candy Land and Battleship Down were some of my favorite games as a kid.
Check this out if you haven’t already: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/03/28/150/
http://www.campaignexxonmobil.org/
TK,
Yes, Bay Area transit sucks, but not nearly as much as Southern Cal. I've always liked Bart, actually, and thought it should run 24/7.
Muni really sucks though.
What do you think of Gaylord the ostrich?
Stanley said...
I've missed TWO chances for First!...
I've been waiting patiently to steal your thunder. Next time, pack a lunch. :)
Anonymous said...
PS - T is a New Yorker. Don't fuck with her. She could be mobbed up.
Tony Soprano ain't the only paisan on this blog.
No parking baby said...
I'm down with parking anywhere, as long as it's not on the dancefloor.
Actual LOL, you silly fucker.
And to answer your question as to "why own a car?" Because my daughter goes to school in an area that has poor public transit.
Have you read the book? It's brilliant, btw. The author says just what you are saying, Rob...TANSTAAFL. Or parking spot. Somebody pays for it one way or another, we might as well capture that and use it to serve desired purposes rather than suffer the perverse unintended consequences and bizarre behavior of people trying to score free parking.
I live half a block from a medical office building and hospital. I regularly watch people in absurdly large SUVs and pickup trucks attempt 16-point turns in the narrow street in front of my house, blocking traffic including ambulances, while they try to maneuver into an on-street parking spot and avoid paying 50 cents at the roomy, spacious and capacious parking lot adjacent to their destination. I fail to see how that is in anybody's best interest. I am frequently tempted to just hand them the 50 cents and point.
I wish I could collect from those idiots for all the sprinkler heads we have had to replace because they drive over them in their quest for "free" parking.
(p.s., the author is also highly critical of planners (and that's putting it nicely) for setting arbitrary minimum parking requirements and argues that the market should decide supply. Bet you would agree with that too.)
p.p.p.s. Gaylord aimed too high when he kicked Mr. McKevitt.
I feel bad for Gaylord. This shit happens in bars every day. That jerkoff shoulda got 15 to life! I love a good Ostrich-kicking-the-shit out of a bragadocious lowlife story. The giggling girls made the whole story for me though.
I live in Southern California. You can't do much out here without an automobile. I spend a good 1-2 hours a day sitting in traffic on the freeway. It sucks big time.
I think if every commuter owned this car, we'd have twice the lane capacity and twice the parking capacity. The only downside is that it's kinda ugly. Although it might be less ugly in black.
http://www.commutercars.com/
Check out the specs. It's a bad ass little beast. Top speed = 150mph. I want one.
Damn it! Just this second Nigel deleted the post with the pic of Nigel as a rat photoshopped on Casey's arm. That was priceless!!
Oops, my bad. It'll double lane capacity and QUADRUPLE parking capacity. Couple that with 0-60 mph in 4 seconds and an NHRA regulation roll cage and it don't get much better than this. Well, except for the fact that it's fug.
Oh YEAH!
http://img399.imageshack.us/img399/9548/caseynigelpetdu1.jpg
Here for all eternity.
T - That thing looks like a bit of a tipover hazzard! Come on...
My dearest TK,
You obviously did not read the information provided. Shame on you.
"The Tango, being so narrow, would look to the layman's eye to be unstable. But in fact, the Tango has stability that exceeds that of most sport cars."
BOOYAH!
That is one badass car.
T-
Unless that thing has lead wheels, I just can not, from a pure physical perspective, believe that that car will not roll over a million times whilst taking a hard turn!
Physical perspectives can be incredibly deceiving. I mean, look at Nigel. One would assume that being male he would possess a penis, right? However Casey told me he actually has but a nub that emits urine.
The Tango is sorta like that. But not.
Besides, it's got a freaken NHRA roll cage inside! So it's all good!
(excellent use of the word "whilst", btw)
That Nigel rat photo is really disturbing and not something I'd like to go to sleep thinking about. Isn't that Miguel's work?
T, just saw your post at IAFF with the link to Big Spender.
LOL at the first clip - now I need to go back and watch the rest. An outstanding idea for Casey as he seems to enjoy public humiliation.
Maybe Larry could use a sidekick like Gaylord.
Larry ain't no joke. That's one badass, frugal motherfucker right there. He will whip a brotha into shape with a swiftness.
(And who the hell is this Gaylord person anyway?)
Gaylord is a very special ostrich, T.
Why is he special?
Who is Gaylord? See Akubi 7:56 pm post.
Back on our other topic - I am proud to say that I lived in LA on two different stints (about 9 months total) without a car. It's definitely possible, even pleasant. Though I recommend doing it in Santa Monica rather than Manhattan Beach, which tended to shut down at night.
Gaylord the ostrich repeat:
Apparently the young ladies expressed an interest in seeing the ostriches," Porter's attorney, James McNair Thompson, said after today's hearing in San Mateo County Superior Court. "That all sounded like a good idea until the ostrich physically attacked (McKevitt and Porter), and apparently he got the better of them."
McKevitt was kicked in the ribs and knocked to the ground, according to a police report. Porter suffered scrapes and bruises when the ostrich kicked him, the report said.
"And at that point, the crucial thing happened," Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. "Apparently the girls started laughing."
Porter and McKevitt drove away with the women, then allegedly armed themselves with a rifle and shotgun.
"We knew what had to be done," Porter told sheriff's investigators, according to the police report.
The two returned to the ostrich farm and opened fire on Gaylord, firing at least seven shots, according to the report.
"This whole thing is about male pride," Wagstaffe said. "The ostrich knocked them both on their butts."
K,
Any L.A. folks familiar with Mani's, my once favorite Kosher bakery?
YouSoSpecial,
I find not driving quite do-able in the La Brea tar pits/Fairfax area. One has the added value of being the only pedestrian which makes it much easier to get from point A to point B.
It's all good
It's all good
It's all good
It's all good
I don't drink, I enjoy a beer once in awhile
It's all good
It's all good
It's all good
Fix n Flip
Fix n Flip
It's all good
Man that must be a bitch of a deadline Nigel is working on because here it is morning already and I wa certain he'd have come out with his manifesto on outing haters by now.
And here I was thinking the only people with deadlines were those with repectable jobs.
Personally, I think he's buying time. He's done this before like when John took him to the mat, a mysterious "deadline" materialized and forced him out (except of course he was deleting comments within seconds of their publishing) for a day or so. Well, at least we know his strategy is working. Or that he has a strategy. Because personally if I was working for a company that did $400,000 in sales last year, I would consider myself of one hugemotherfucking deadline - to find another gig.
As for his partnership with Casey, I wonder if Nigel isn't watching the disinterest and even marked lack of hate with which everyone, Casey included, is watching his last houses slip through his fingers. It's not a good sign for anyone hoping to Monetize. It's like those coal miners who averted disaster looking for a book deal today.
T-
That Larry dude would make Casey cry for sure. I would shell out for a pay-per-view to see that guy rip into Casey. Sad thing is, these people are lightweights compared to Casey. He may not be able to get through to him (although I love him yelling at that woman that she feels entitled to things more than the rest of her family).
RE: Gaylord the Ostrich story..
What a bunch of fucking slackers..they had to go home to get their guns?? Dumbasses. I'd a pulled out "Elizabeth" and had me some tasty Ostrich steak right then and there....Only time I go to Wal-Mart is because they have cheap ammo but lately they seem to be cutting back on that....
That photo of Snowflake and Ratboy gives me the willies...funny.
One tip to parking downtown in most big cities: Get yourself a Nordstrom card and go and buy yourself a pair of socks. I always needs socks and there is always this smokin' hottie at the counter who validates. Plus all the little cuties at the MAC counter...Back in the day, I used to pull a lot of tail out of the PDX Nordstrom while getting parking validated. Wife keeps me on a SHORT leash now whenever we go in there, lol.......
Poor Snowflake...houses all gone, living at his sisters house, broke...man, that has got to suck..
@Tony
It's gotta suck, but he's RELIEVED. WTF?
One more to go before the final act begins. It's pretty old right now though.
Stickiness is fading fast.
@ TK
That's the scary thing. He feels that once they are all gone, he's free to move on. Problem is, Snowflake doesn't realize the piano hanging over his head. Once the houses are gone and the banks can put a number on the loss, the knife starts sawing on the rope. He doesn't see it coming because he's convinced that if he just puts his head in the sand, it will just go away because those pesky bills are "unfair". A prime example of this is the Countrywide promisary note. And to top it off, IAFF is rapidly losing steam. With no more houses to lose, it will be "I faced foreclosure and fucked sock while watching it happen". I agree that in the not too distant past there might have been some value in the domain name but of course Snowflake fucked that up as well..Nope, the real pain is just beginning to start and I for one hope it's real hard pain starting with Yulina coming home to an empty house. I feel no sympathy for her at all because she willingly sheltered him while he pulled this scam. Casey my friend, it sucks to be you right about now. Only thing left is to start taking action on the date he becomes aware of the trap and trys to run. It's a long hot summer in Sac with no airconditioning.
I never realized costco sold beefeaters. here in VA you have to get your liquor at the state controlled liquor outlet. serious costco in Cali sells liquor?
Hey all, I've read a couple of posts by this guy (and I don't know tax code fer shit). But does anyone know the veracity of this poster MAK over at IAFF?
"Everyone who keeps claiming that these foreclosures will result in taxes due needs to understand that if Casey is insolvent, which he is (-$150K net worth), then the losses do not count as income. He has no tax liability.
Regarding why it is better to have a short sale than a foreclosure, it really isn’t a great deal different but in Casey’s warped mind if the bank voluntarily accepts a short sale then it is not a failure of his, THEY (the bank) have voluntarily taken less because they realize the collateral they have is not worth what they are owed, and since it is their choice, it makes the whole thing less his fault. Also, because the f/c would not be on his credit report, but only the hugely delinquent mortgage as a “write off”, he thinks that is better. It isn’t much different really.
Regarding all the creditors coming after him for deficiency judgments after f/c, you need to understand that in CA where 3 of the houses are located, if the lender chooses to do a trustee sale (much faster and cheaper for them than a judicial foreclosure for which they would have to hire attorneys), by law they cannot then follow that with a suit to get a judgment. Normally in >99% of cases, the lenders know the deadbeat has nothing worth collecting. The deadbeat can’t pay. There is no point hiring attorneys to try to squeeze blood from a stone, and it makes no business sense. Therefore the lender takes the cheap and fast method of having the “crier” (the guy with the funny hat at the garbage can) sell the house. That guy is cheap and fast and they don’t have to hire an attorney. And by doing so, they get title, all junior liens are wiped out, but they give up the chance to claim deficiency judgments (which they know they wouldn’t collect on anyway.)
In NM, all foreclosures are judicial because the laws don’t allow for power of sale clauses in a trust deed. OK, so there they could get a deficiency judgment. Question is, will they? Is is worth them hiring attorneys and filing in court to do so? Depends on what they think the chance of collecting from Casey is. Not much. So most likely they will take the order of sale from the judge, sell the thing, take what they get from it, and move on.
Yes Casey’s credit will be dirt for perhaps 10 years, although it is less dirty after about 3 years. However, as we can all see he is already thinking along the lines of either using an entity (corp, LLC), or another person (relative, straw buyer) to process transactions in the shadows for him in the future.
Regarding getting credit issued to him fresh by a lender in his own name, you are correct, he won’t get it, or he will have to pay extreme hard money rates to get it. But he is working another angle already. He will find some idiot who bought a house and has no equity and needs to sell. And he will offer to buy that house from the idiot and just take over the payments in the idiot’s name. No new mortgage will be required. Thus, he can essentially buy a house without any credit, if he wants.
The system is really screwed up. I don’t like this any more than you, and I would like to see someone punished for abusing it. But these are the realities."
nobody has addressed this. It's got to have Snowflake thinking he may actually walk away totally unscathed in terms of long term responsibility.
Yo, Tony. Got that right. He's always been in denial. And I agree, there will be a "White Bronco" episode eventually.
aaron, yes. Not just Beefeaters but everything including $60 bottles of wine and fancy liquers. I'm not real conversant with prices but IIRC a 1.75l of Tanqueray Gin cost $26 or so about 20% less the last time I bothered to price compare. Somebody who knows more, please correct but the point is they are not only cheap but appear to drive down others' prices.
@Aaron
Same as here in New York. It's a separarte entrance but they have everything by the palate-load including a really good selection of top allocated wines. Pretty insane. They bend distibutors over a barrel and get whatever they want to in terms of pricing and access to difficult to get goods.
You should move to Russia. We buy liquor on the street here.
Dawg-
A "discount level" store on Manhattan's upper east side - i.e. the type of retailer that can order deep, charges $44.99 for a mag of Tanqueray. They leave nothing on the table.
Ouch.
tk,
Ain't no tax expert either but that is wrong, wrong, wrong. I mean don't even delve into the code. "I don't owe no tax because I don't got no money." Jeez. And RE losses are not deductible, the evil flip side of gains not being taxable. This second point will be a post soon.
In short the post seems like a creul joke on casey, a lead life preserver to a drowning boy. Hah, hah. [not]
I think there's a new record for a post up with no first but...
The business model of Walmart and Costco and some other big boxes has positive consumer impacts far beyond their stores. That "free parking" ends up being better than free and not just for their customers.
On the original topic, I dislike huge amounts of parking, but mainly for the fact that it is yet another unproductive use of land. As if the U.S. didn't already have enough of a trade deficit, we are in the process of rendering what productive, export-producing land we do have--farms, mines, factories--to completely unproductive ends. The list of unproductive uses is nearly endless, and we've explored virtually every possibility--housing (yes, housing is an unproductive use of land), commercial (only sells goods, doesn't make them), golf courses (don't get me started), nightclubs, more housing, more commercial, more golf courses, amusement parks, and oh yes, more housing, and acres and acres and acres of parking.
I'd be willing to excuse all that parking, and even be supportive of it, if I had any feeling that there was any sort of productive activity going on at the destination. Given, however, that farmland is being converted to commercial and housing property, and that old factories are being turned into--guess what!--more commercial and even more housing, I can't justify it. The only upside to all of it--and it's a slim one indeed--is that with all of that housing and big-box retail and parking, there just won't be room left for more golf courses.
Rob-Dawg,
I think you may be mixing up causality with correlation. Free parking is needed to support the customer demand to the store but it doesn't drive (no pun intended) customers into the store. It's designed in parallel along with the space requirements and stock management systems of the store.
Or did I miss your point? I just had a melatonin and am about to go to bed...
-Melatonin Eater
First, this is a very complex subject and no one misses points, it just sometimes takes extra explaining to get a subtle point across. You ask:
I think you may be mixing up causality with correlation. Free parking is needed to support the customer demand to the store but it doesn't drive (no pun intended) customers into the store. It's designed in parallel along with the space requirements and stock management systems of the store.
Ample Free parking is both an inducement, capturing a larger segment of the potential audience and a cachement multiplier. There's a reason these big boxes are "freeway close." Their business model benefits from drawing people in from further away while reducung their own transportation costs. Now, don't get me started on abuses of the "tragedy of the commons" variety. You think free parking is involved? Just try to talk to me about evil Walmart and their blatant anti-democratic maneuvers.
So recap; more capture of market and larger market equals economies of scale that more than pay for the costs of adequate free parking and still return lower prices to the consumer. Even consumers who do not partonize these places.
LAST!!!
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