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I know I'm "growth" and I paid a LOT more to put your kids through public schools than you did, and continue to do so yearly. My tax bill was just posted and it is up 6% over last year. Instead of railing about conditions without contributing, I recognize that taxes are paralleling inflation, and would gladly pay another per cent if it went straight to teacher raises and classroom support.
Of course, at this point, you probably see good schools as a negative if anyone would move here hoping for the best for their own children.
Growth = jobs. I know that is moot to you, since you are retired, but it is pretty great for people who still wish to work.
You go on routinely and blindly about "impact fees," even after being shown multiple times that developers and new home owners DO pay impact fees and do subsidize and increase the tax base.
Growth pays for amenities.
You want mass transit, yet don't want to pay for it.
You want highway lights, yet don't want to pay for them.
You want modern schools, and don't want to pay for them. Of course, your kids are through WCPSS at nearly no cost to you and subsidized by "growth" via property taxes, so that probably matters less to you now.
McCrory's bond issue is absolutely a move to have growth subsidize a goodly portion of the cost. Pushing costs into the future, rather than just saddling the current population, means that newcomers will help pay the cost. I support school bonds, transportation bonds, parks bonds, to provide amenities, and recognize that bonds pass costs on to those who are not yet here, but will also benefit from their use.
A legitimate concern: Gentrification pushing people out of historically affordable neighborhoods.
Agreed. Stifling economic development and opportunity and defunding schools are not reasonable answers.
But, the world is not going to stand still in some subjective idyllic form and subsidize your entire life just because you slipped in before someone else. It just won't.
Simply an awesome post. If only the intended recipient would truly read, comprehend and think about what you've written. It's a lesson that needed taught. But I doubt it will be embraced in the least by the student.
I moved here 18 months ago and am really enjoying living in the area. I pay a lot of taxes, relative to many - especially folks like SF. I don't mind doing so. I volunteer a lot of my time with local youth and other organizations. I should not be made to feel unwelcome because some retiree has created a screed that says that every new resident to the area is making life worse for him or someone else. Nor should others looking to move here be made to feel the same way. Because it's simply not true.
To OP - not sure if this occurred to you, but people don't pop out of the womb knowing what needs to be done to a house to maintain it. Thank God for my husband, he somehow knows magically when things need a coat of varnish or when to rent a machine for this or that. If it was just me, I have no clue what the house would look like and wouldn't know until someone told me differently or it was time to sell.
we are all the only ones who maintain their homes to our standards.
I am always amazed as I drive around, and see gutters with small trees growing out of them. On a few occasions, these are nice homes, that otherwise appear well-maintained. It's just that unless you're LOOKING at things, as we Realtors often do, you see some things the owner themselves doesn't as they zip into their driveway after a long day at work.
That north side of the house they never pass or walk by, that has some green growth on the siding. That's a good example.
we are all the only ones who maintain their homes to our standards.
I am always amazed as I drive around, and see gutters with small trees growing out of them. On a few occasions, these are nice homes, that otherwise appear well-maintained. It's just that unless you're LOOKING at things, as we Realtors often do, you see some things the owner themselves doesn't as they zip into their driveway after a long day at work.
That north side of the house they never pass or walk by, that has some green growth on the siding. That's a good example.
I do still think some of it is apathy but I agree with Bo that at times as the owner, you become immune to some of what you are looking at. I would like to think that this is mostly with smaller stuff. For example, I have left the bucket of weeds in front of the house for a couple of days or the hose unwound vs. my siding is green with mold and my lawn has not been edged so now it has grown over the curb into the street!
I do still think some of it is apathy but I agree with Bo that at times as the owner, you become immune to some of what you are looking at.
This is the problem that HOA rule definition and enforcement solves. We all benefit from having an extra set of eyes on the condition of our properties.
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