patrick.net

RTBA, skibum:

Regardless of the intricacies involved in figuring out direct cost-of-living comparisons, there remains one truism: many goods are nationally priced. These goods are priced on the margins, which means prices are set by high-inflation/high-wealth/high-volume regions. Low inflation regions either avoid these products, substitute for these products, or simply have/use less of these products.

This is the basis of the entire Wal-mart growth strategy (exploiting inflation differentials) up until recently. A Hawaiian vacation costs the same to a SF'er as it does a Virginian in nominal dollars, it just costs a whole lot more for the Virginian in real dollars.

A Hawaiian vacation costs the same to a SF’er as it does a Virginian in nominal dollars, it just costs a whole lot more for the Virginian in real dollars.

When you see that Europe is packed with Japanese tourists, you know that Yen is strong.

I think that pay is higher in CA. So, I believe the standard of living is higher in CA.

@Returning to Bay Area,

Not so. 2003 Census figures: http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/h08a.html

California median income: $48,912
Virginia median income: $52,776
U.S. median income: $43,349

Interesting point. I suppose the corollary to the Walmart example, would be the recent national expansion of Whole Foods, targeting higher income areas (as well as self-described socially conscious consumers).

What are socially conscious consumers?

I thought people buy at Whole Foods because of quality.

newsfreak,

"Parts of Virginia horse country are very expensive."

I know, my parents used to live on the northern fringe of it (Leesburg). It's really an extension of the DC/NoVa suburbs.

HARM,

Virginia is an usual case. Northern Virginia is very rich and has some of the highest avg. incomes in the country, it's so big populationwise that it skews the state. But NoVa isn't really in the south. It's really more mid-atlantic than anything.

-usual
+unusual
:oops:

newsfreak,

Come on, have you seen Great Falls? (right next to the Potomac river) There are plenty of horsey properties in Northern half of Virginia. They've just become incredibly expensive in the last five years.

@RTBA,

When I used "toleranace" in quotation marks, I wasn't insinuating you yourself were being intolerant of things you don't like about the South. I was referring to your comment about the South's relative 'lack of tolerance', as in racial prejudice, segregation and the things that non-Southerners generally associate with the South.

We talked about this here in an earlier thread (don't recall which one) and basically all agreed that, while these concerns are valid (especially when taken in the historical context of slavery/civil rights movement), this argument tends to be overblown by non-Southerners. Most metropolitan areas of the South today don't look like "Deliverance", nor are you required to be a Klan member in order to get a job anymore. There is also a certain lefty smugness that is very offensive to many non-Californians, which can also be considered a form of "intolerance". That's what I was trying to get at.

HARM Says:

"I’m not even so sure we’re all that “tolerant” frankly. There’s plenty of smug, arrogant lefty NIMBYism & PCness around here."

In California "tolerant" means tolerant of left wingers and weirdos (you must tolerate a school teacher who writes FUCK BUSH on his forehead with a Sharpie or a guy dancing around in plastic underwear making duck noises. A "tolerant" Californian will NOT tolerate any parents who mention that teaching kids in Spanish is a bad idea or tolerate anyone who likes NASCAR and goes to church...

newsfreak,

With all due respect, your mom doesn't make for a community. I live in NoVa and there's a pretty vibrant community of immigrants (domestic and from abroad) here. I encounter many more foreign accents here than I do southern ones.

newsfreak,

Okay. And sorry, since I got a little overheated.

What do I love about California? Tom Cruise.

Mmmmm, placenta.

I wonder if there are prions in placenta.

Mmmmm, placenta.

I rather have pancetta.

SF Woman,

I'm amazed. I guess I've got to get out more.

SFWoman,

The Japanese pioneered the use of placenta in face creams and health supplements. The fashionable Chinese have followed up on this trend.

skibum,

I don't get why anyone in the BA needs to shop at Whole Foods, there are so many organic/humane focused farms here that it's really easy to buy that stuff from farmer's market or CSA directly at 1/2 the price.

SFWoman,

Nope, if it was "quality" stuff, it'll be human.

I heard stories about people eating them too, but I will not elaborate.

I heard stories about people eating them too, but I will not elaborate.

That is technically cannibalism.

I think Jewish people bury the foreskin after a circumcision.

Once on the Discovery Heatlh Channel this couple cut the umbillical cord with a sword after the mom gave birth. It was supposedly a Scottish custom. I think the dude just made it up, personally (even if there is historical precedent I doubt his father and grandpa did it), but it was still sort of cool.

Peter P.

"That is technically cannibalism."

Are you intolerant of cannibals?

SFWoman,

I think you are right. I have seen pictures of an Orthodox burial detail whose job it is to retrieve body parts after a suicide bombing. It is both beautiful and heartbreaking to see, they go over every inch of the area to ensure that the decedents are buried properly. The worst part was that the picutres I saw were taken a couple of years ago, after a suicide bomber attacked that school bus. Talk about bad.

I guess there's worse things in life than the housing bubble after all. Count our blessings.

The worst part was that the picutres I saw were taken a couple of years ago, after a suicide bomber attacked that school bus. Talk about bad.

Those monsters are complete devoid of morality. Only true evil will attack defenseless children.

back to the thread topic -

google.com and Intel. My life would be very unhappy without them.

:P

The portable nav system on my old PDA could not handle the transition from one state to another. About a year and a half ago I flew to rural Ohio from CA and wanted to use my navigation system there.

This was in BFE, Ohio, but surprisingly, the nav system had all of the streets in its databases and unerringly guided us to all of our destinations. Unfortunatley, about halfway through the day it crashed, leaving us without convenient directions. It has never crashed before or since, I guess it just could not handle the mental stress of travel in a different state.

I just dont know when it will capitulate, sometimes I dont know if being rational and thrifty is worth it at all.

Just compare rent with mortgage costs. If you still prefer to buy, it is fine so long as you can afford conservatively.

Being thrifty does not necessarily pay. Enjoy life. But enjoy it rationally.

What would Amerika be, without California?

A lot smaller, both population and GDP-wise. The US would have its GDP cut by so much that it would lose an enormous amount of global economic bargaining power to the EU/EMU and China. Imagine the US having far less clout in the WTO, IMF, WB, etc., instead having to take seriously the demands of other developed country participants.

Joe Schmoe,

No, I grew up just outside of BFE Ohio. It's a strange energy that emits from the Earth there that causes useful, interesting things to either shut down, wilt or die.

brahma,

Try this (a spreadsheet I and others here created for analysis). If you are happy with present-value implications of buying now, then you probably should so long as you can afford it.

I love the coast (here's a cheer for the Coastal Commission keeping it from turning into something resembling Florida!).

The last two times I moved I managed to purge several boxes of stuff. The next time I move I expect to "lose" another box or two; I'd lose more, but there's not too much left to toss, outside of books.

brahma: depends on your patience. I don't care too much, since I've just happened to end up with a decently balanced portfolio (i.e. decent companies, about 5% gold, cash on hand for a down market, etc.) I don't feel any great urge to buy, but then I'm immune to many passing fads. If prices go down (either in real or nominal dollars) then I may buy. Personally, all the numbers I see suggest that current levels are unsustainable, and so I don't buy. (Like being the 20th guy in a game of Russian Roulette, the correct assumption is not "hell, someone must have forgotten to load the thing".)

This placenta thing has really turned my stomach.

Me too! I love the beach and the sound of the ocean.

I used to live next to a freeway. Somehow, it did sound like ocean at night. :)

Brahma,

the party has just started, and you want to withdraw?

Fed will stop rate hike after 1 or 2, where is the support for USD?? Our budget deficit? Our looming recession?

Oil new high, gold new high, commodities record high, USD losing ground against all major currencies in the last week, and more to go.

If you dare to take a little risk, you can buy a home expressed in a much weakened USD in a year or two, although the nominal value is not that much off. If someone has been staying largely out of USD in commodities or foreign stock market from the end of last year till now, his portfolio expressed in USD should have gained at least 10% to as much as 50% by now, which means, if he exchanges back to USD, even the same home retains its nominal USD value, he is already buying a home at a reduced price!

And we are not even reaching the beginning of the ARM reset fun which is due to start this summer. I am quite excited to see the show of the century.

Peter P,

I found the perfect image for this thread, but since you're the author, I can't add it: http://www.strangepolitics.com/images/content/101110.jpg.

We don't have the best beaches in the world, the best beaches are down under, along the eastern coast, especially up the stretch where the great barrier reef is. The water is bluer, clearer, and most importantly, much warmer! Their coastal weather is clear blue sky 80% of the time, unlike us, foggy, foggy, foggy!!

Thanks HARM!

np ;-)