'Bright Flight' - From the Suburbs (Pittsburgh, York: balloon payment, foreclosure, mortgage)

[fleetiebelle]

They not only emptied out the tube, they REFILLED it somehow.

If only they put their patience and ingenuity into good instead of evil. Dang.

[JRTurner]

Have you ever been to Toronto at afternoon rush hour?

Instead of cars and people EXITING the city, they are going in the opposite direction. People still live in Toronto and work in the areas surrounding it.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

It's one of the "perks" of living in a high crime/high cost of living area. (Oakland, CA is the 3rd or 4th most dangerous city in the country.) The one that really got me was buying Sebastian's Potion 9 for my hair. It's a sweet smelling orange colored styling/moisterizing product. In a METAL squeezable TUBE, like an old style toothpaste tube. It's not cheap, either.

I noticed the tube was a bit crinkly, but it was heavy, so I knew it was full. I flipped open the tube at home and saw white goo oozing out. It was cream rinse or something -- looked like white Soft Soap, but didn't lather. They not only emptied out the tube, they REFILLED it somehow. I took it back to the store, and the cashier didn't bat an eye. She said it happens all the time.

We walked back to the shelf and there were 4 boxes, and only ONE was shrink wrapped. The other three we opened and I confirmed all the product had been replaced.

I took the shrink wrapped one, and it was fine.

And when I told my husband about it, he said even shrink wrap doesn't mean anything..... because at the flea markets all over people sell shrink wrap machines and supplies. Great for all your black market and counterfeiting needs...

That's pretty much when I started buying online. Or at Costco -- where they way overwrap stuff in ways you can't get in to get the product without destroying the package.

That's disturbing when you can't even trust the product you're buying. I feel bad you live there (unless you like it)

[Jclover]

They are very prej against blacks in cranberry that's why I left

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

That's disturbing when you can't even trust the product you're buying. I feel bad you live there (unless you like it)

I used to like it more than I do now. It's charm is fading. When we retire in a few years we hope to move back to Pittsburgh, or at the very least back east.

We'd move from here to a better place, but our house value was decimated in the foreclosure mess. We've lost around 75% of it's high value. And although houses have started selling (YAY) stats show that still the vast majority of homes on the market are foreclosures (BOO). I just checked and the percentage is higher than ever at 95%. The last time I checked it was 85%.

Could be that since houses are selling, more houses that were sitting empty have been put on the market...

At least, since I drive and have little dependence on public transportation, I can easily go other shopping venues that are in better areas. I've just gotten very used to buying drug store stuff at drugstore.com. I've used the same mascara brand for years, the same deodorant.... I buy three and when I pull the last one I put three more in the shopping bag on my drugstore list.

Oh -- and that isn't a public transportation bash. Once again -- you have to consider that I live in a bad area, so often bad stuff happens on the public transportation. There is no troublemaker detector at the bus doorway....

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

I used to like it more than I do now. It's charm is fading. When we retire in a few years we hope to move back to Pittsburgh, or at the very least back east.

We'd move from here to a better place, but our house value was decimated in the foreclosure mess. We've lost around 75% of it's high value. And although houses have started selling (YAY) stats show that still the vast majority of homes on the market are foreclosures (BOO). I just checked and the percentage is higher than ever at 95%. The last time I checked it was 85%.

Could be that since houses are selling, more houses that were sitting empty have been put on the market...

At least, since I drive and have little dependence on public transportation, I can easily go other shopping venues that are in better areas. I've just gotten very used to buying drug store stuff at drugstore.com. I've used the same mascara brand for years, the same deodorant.... I buy three and when I pull the last one I put three more in the shopping bag on my drugstore list.

Oh -- and that isn't a public transportation bash. Once again -- you have to consider that I live in a bad area, so often bad stuff happens on the public transportation. There is no troublemaker detector at the bus doorway....

I'm young so the CA mystique never appealed to me after hearing about constant bad air, bad traffic, taxes that put any tax in PA to shame, and constant blackouts. I could never imagine that high of a precentage of homes on the market as foreclosures. Were these foreclosures the result of idiots who got loans and credit for houses that they shouldn't have or investors who who bought then abandoned the homes?

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

I'm young so the CA mystique never appealed to me after hearing about constant bad air, bad traffic, taxes that put any tax in PA to shame, and constant blackouts. I could never imagine that high of a precentage of homes on the market as foreclosures. Were these foreclosures the result of idiots who got loans and credit for houses that they shouldn't have or investors who who bought then abandoned the homes?

Our zip code (one of the three worst in the Bay Area) had a LOT Of speculators who lost their homes, some bad loans for buyers -- but we also had a large percentage of poorer long time owners with bad credit who were using the bad loans to cash out.

One of them made the news out here. The older couple in their paid off house had their on disability daughter move in to take care of them. The father had dementia and the mother wasn't far behind, and supposedly the medical costs got too much so the daughter found someone to refi the house... and the brother came looking for his share of the cash, since she was now "spending the inheritance".....and then she refied again to get out more cash, but her credit was more damaged so she got a liar loan with horrible terms and when the mortgage reset to 5K a month, she ended up losing the house and the parents went into care.

Of course, since they were destitute the state paid for them. But I'm sorry -- in less than three years she went through 200K of money. Not ALL of that went to the care of the parents...

[Copanut]

The mortgage meltdown was a combination of unqualified buyers and speculators along with uneducated mortgage brokers and lousy appraisers.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Copanut

The mortgage meltdown was a combination of unqualified buyers and speculators along with uneducated mortgage brokers and lousy appraisers.

Don't forget the financial industry, which created a gigantic secondary market for low-quality mortgages.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Don't forget the financial industry, which created a gigantic secondary market for low-quality mortgages.

Definitely in the mix, particularly the big banks, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, Citi Group, they all wanted loans to sell.

And don't forget the government with the Community Reinvestment Act. Local banks were forced to lend to unqualified people.