patrick.net

try to avoid the boomer/race/political/gender tangents

We can talk about religion, right? :)

I am protesting this thread as it is discriminatory to Surfer X!

But it does not even have a cartoon of Surfer-X.

How about this non-cartoon "depiction" of David Lereah?

http://tinyurl.com/bpbpf

Ok,
Here are some general thoughts. I found this article, and out of all the things I've read on housing in CA, this just about sums it up perfectly:

"Does California Have A Rational Housing Policy?"

"...This situation has produced large numbers of both winners and losers regarding housing.

The 59% of California households who are homeowners - the second lowest fraction among all 50 states - are big winners financially. From 1999 to 2004, California home-owners gained almost as much gross equity wealth from rising home prices as all the homeowners in the entire other 49 states combined! Even after subtracting mortgage and home equity debt, California homeowners prospered mightily.

Yet Californians have the lowest housing quality standards in the nation. It takes young Californians much longer in their careers than any other Americans to amass enough money to buy or rent a home. And when they do, they get a smaller abode with fewer amenities than elsewhere per dollar spent, and it is farther away from where they work. So they commute greater distances and encounter worse traffic congestion.....

....If you were running a global business trying to be competitive, why would you locate in California? It has the 10th highest state taxes per capita, by far the highest housing costs, a government that is broke, ranks almost last among states in spending per pupil on primary and secondary students in attendance, has an above-average poverty rate of 13.5%, has high cost of living expenses, and the nation's worst traffic congestion. Is California's good climate and pretty scenery really worth all that? In the long run, the high costs of living in this state will be a drag on its economic growth.

Now let me say a few words about why housing costs are so high in California. It is basically a combination of local government policies that discourage new homebuilding.

Local governments determine how many and what kinds of housing units can be built. Almost all suburban governments are politically dominated by homeowners, who comprise 70% of suburban voters, according to PPIC surveys. Homeowners are driven by two key goals: (1) maximizing or at least maintaining the values of their own homes, which are their major financial assets in most cases, and (2) preventing any worsening of traffic congestion in their areas. Traffic congestion worsens because of rising population and economic prosperity.

The first goal is served by not permitting any more lower-cost housing to be built nearby. The second goal is served by preventing as much growth as possible. To serve both goals, NIMBY homeowners pressure local governments not to allow much new housing to be built near them, especially relatively affordable - i.e., low cost - housing.

.....The Bay Area is an extreme case, but it illustrates the basic reason why this state has high housing prices. California homeowners do not want enough new units to be built to reduce existing price levels; and homeowners control local governments. As long as local governments set the state's housing policies, there will be a permanent shortage of housing in California....

....
Just consider all the interests who don't want home prices to decline. They include the 59% of California households who are homeowners, all banks and lending institutions that hold mortgages on those homes, all the Realtors and home builders, all investors who own mortgage-backed securities and bonds, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, all local governments who don't want taxes to decline, all retail firms who depend upon consumer spending derived from home equity profits, and all the local officials these people support. These groups represent overwhelming political resistance to falling home prices. There is no chance whatever of getting locally elected officials to defy them. All local officials are parochial in outlook, acting primarily to benefit the local citizens who elect them. So they will not allow enough building to drive prices down...."

If that doesn't address what's really going on here, then I haven't seen satisfactory data to dispute it. In essence, California's Politics are controlled by the current generation of homeowners. Perhaps not boomers, maybe not neccesarily scrupulous investors, young saps. Just plain ordinary people who " don't wanna' have any more neighbors" and only act for themselves and for the non benifit of others. Here in Alameda, I have some next door neighbors with a big red sign that says " Keep Measure A! No overcrowding!"
So... CA politics are FU*#d up big time. This is what happens when you give the people TOO MUCH power. There i a delicate balance here and CA is off the deep end. Unless these issues are addressed, then you can bet your boots, prices will stay out of reach for a LONG time.

Link to that site: http://www.anthonydowns.com/CalifInclusionary.htm

Oh, and I said to try to avoid the tangents. If Surfer-X tries, but finds it too difficult, who am I to argue?

I forgot, are you the Blog Queen or the Queen of Tangents or both?

This is what happens when you give the people TOO MUCH power. There i a delicate balance here and CA is off the deep end.

There is no need to change. California is a goner. The process cannot be reversed. (Unless we can immediately adopt a Texa style growth policy and abolish state income tax)

There are only two remaining competitive advantages of the silly valley: food and weather.

Food is not difficult to duplicate, so long as there is a market. So weather is the only edge.

Can anyone remember the name of “The Former Iraqi Defense Minister”? Didn’t this guy have his own website? The parallels to David Lerah are uncanny. Are those actual quotes from David Lerah? Can anyone actually be that biased?

We usually just call him Baghdad Bob. Some quotes are actual, I believe. A shill is usually biased anyway.

Hey DINOR,
Honestly, this is about the most smoking gun piece of literature I've found on the topic ever. I bookmarked it. The thing for me personally for a while has been the question of whether or not I should just stop everything, the friends network, and all, pack my bags and be done with California. I think It is safe to say many people my age( 29) and situation( educated middle class) are sitting on the fence just waiting for the ball to drop. I think I have been looking for an answer. If I knew for a fact that RE in CA will be unaffordable no matter what, the I would've left a long time ago for TX, TN, NC, or some other more reasonable area.
This whole linking of home prices to local citizens and their death grip on politics and the lack of intrest in developong new housing just about gives me my answer which is that the best thing for many of the people I know to do is save their CA wages for a 2-3 years, and move away and simply buy a house outright in a better affordable area.I can only assume these new areas will be more opportunistic the more of us leave.CA will be stuck with the old, the wealthy, and the dishwashing recent immigrants. It's Sad and I hate to sound like a quitter, but enough is enough.
The sun, weather and food aren't worth a lifetime of debt and poor living standards.