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I am going to make a confession here. <ducks and covers>
In my previous life, I was certified in community development.
But - and this is a BIG but (no comments from the peanut gallery if you please) - WE did it differently. We didn't shove people off of their land, or make ordinances to drive them off of it. When our county tried all of that "urban development" crapola, we threw the book back in their faces. We had a better idea. We stopped all TIFs (Tax Incentive Funding) that put the burden of development on the local taxpaying citizens. If you wanted to build, you paid for it. That included infrastructure, everything from sewers to roads to cops. We kept out the 'get-rich-quick' developers by not offering them any incentives at all. We made them pay for everything - or slide over into the next county. The next county laughed uproariously at us - they just KNEW that THEY were going to get all the developers, and they had figured out that all of those high taxes on all of that new construction would pay for the required infrastructure. They promised schools, roads, water and sewer, cops, fire trucks - everything the developers wanted and needed and asked for. The developers built there and went on their merry way, pockets lined with taxpayers' gold.
Then, of course, the bottom fell out. Now that neighboring county is struggling to pay its bills, with hundreds of empty and foreclosed upon homes, still with bills to pay and no money with which to pay them. They have handicapped themselves with ordinances that the developers demanded, and can do nothing but enforce them to fill their depleted coffers.
Therein lies the crux of the biscuit - towns and counties that created their growth and prosperity plans on the shimmery surface of the housing bubble MUST now enforce their ordinances to put back the money that they have already invested in infrastructure... money that they never had, were simply counting on by putting all of their eggs in the developers' baskets. As time goes on, governments have no choice but to enforce ordinances that cost the taxpayers more and more, to pay for the governments' bad debts. Even and especially they will continue to increasingly enforce these ordinances - because if they run taxpayers off of their own property, those governments can hope and pray that they can possess the land and resell it to some other sleazy developer with delusions of grandeur and promises of money.They are stealing taxpayers and residents' money via ordinances to play a lottery that is bankrupt - but it is the only game left to them.
This is the only way governments can keep their heads above water and give all of their taxpayers the infrastructure that the governments are indebted to build, or even to maintain the infrastructure that is already in place.
THAT is why our little group did what we did - because we KNEW the bubble was going to burst, and we allowed developers no breaks, no corporate welfare, no TIFs, no condemnations or eminent domain practices or attempts. If they couldn't pay, they went elsewhere. Period. Sadly, there were a lot of 'elsewheres', governments that would do anything, believe anything, promise anything, to get promised future money into their coffers.
No, you haven't seen the REAL end of the housing bubble yet. The real end will come when there are no more property owners to displace or repetitively fine or ordinance out. When that tipping point is reached, hundreds of local and state governments will go bankrupt... unless, of course they find new developers who want to buy that repossessed property... like, oh, say Chinese investors.
Location: Went around the corner & now I'm lost!!!!
1,544 posts, read 3,597,735 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SCGranny
I am going to make a confession here. <ducks and covers>
In my previous life, I was certified in community development.
But - and this is a BIG but (no comments from the peanut gallery if you please) - WE did it differently. We didn't shove people off of their land, or make ordinances to drive them off of it. When our county tried all of that "urban development" crapola, we threw the book back in their faces. We had a better idea. We stopped all TIFs (Tax Incentive Funding) that put the burden of development on the local taxpaying citizens. If you wanted to build, you paid for it. That included infrastructure, everything from sewers to roads to cops. We kept out the 'get-rich-quick' developers by not offering them any incentives at all. We made them pay for everything - or slide over into the next county. The next county laughed uproariously at us - they just KNEW that THEY were going to get all the developers, and they had figured out that all of those high taxes on all of that new construction would pay for the required infrastructure. They promised schools, roads, water and sewer, cops, fire trucks - everything the developers wanted and needed and asked for. The developers built there and went on their merry way, pockets lined with taxpayers' gold.
Then, of course, the bottom fell out. Now that neighboring county is struggling to pay its bills, with hundreds of empty and foreclosed upon homes, still with bills to pay and no money with which to pay them. They have handicapped themselves with ordinances that the developers demanded, and can do nothing but enforce them to fill their depleted coffers.
Therein lies the crux of the biscuit - towns and counties that created their growth and prosperity plans on the shimmery surface of the housing bubble MUST now enforce their ordinances to put back the money that they have already invested in infrastructure... money that they never had, were simply counting on by putting all of their eggs in the developers' baskets. As time goes on, governments have no choice but to enforce ordinances that cost the taxpayers more and more, to pay for the governments' bad debts. Even and especially they will continue to increasingly enforce these ordinances - because if they run taxpayers off of their own property, those governments can hope and pray that they can possess the land and resell it to some other sleazy developer with delusions of grandeur and promises of money.They are stealing taxpayers and residents' money via ordinances to play a lottery that is bankrupt - but it is the only game left to them.
This is the only way governments can keep their heads above water and give all of their taxpayers the infrastructure that the governments are indebted to build, or even to maintain the infrastructure that is already in place.
THAT is why our little group did what we did - because we KNEW the bubble was going to burst, and we allowed developers no breaks, no corporate welfare, no TIFs, no condemnations or eminent domain practices or attempts. If they couldn't pay, they went elsewhere. Period. Sadly, there were a lot of 'elsewheres', governments that would do anything, believe anything, promise anything, to get promised future money into their coffers.
No, you haven't seen the REAL end of the housing bubble yet. The real end will come when there are no more property owners to displace or repetitively fine or ordinance out. When that tipping point is reached, hundreds of local and state governments will go bankrupt... unless, of course they find new developers who want to buy that repossessed property... like, oh, say Chinese investors.
OOOOOOHHH, I can see now JesusSCG. Thank you for rubbing my eyes until I could see CLEARLY. I was wondering why this was going on. If this is what going on then other countries, like China, can... sit... and... wait for our STUPID local and state and federal governments keep making the SAME STUPID mistakes until they are in soooo much debt that they will GIVE it to them out of desperation. Welcome to the Communiistic United States of America. I know that China is already bargaining for Hawaii and CA now for the monies owed to them from our government borrowing from them; that could be it.
Not to mention the entire city they are going to build in Idaho...
What this means for those who want to or are already living the self-sufficient lifestyle is that you cannot just sit back in your garden, pay your taxes, and expect nothing to change and no one to bother you, since you are bothering no one. Change is coming, aggressively, and it is driven (as always) by money. Attend your local town and county meetings, and study their budgets, see from where they are planning on getting their money - and argue as a group against any "common good" ordinances. You may have to put up with an unsightly rusted-out truck or tractor in someone's overgrown side yard, but when they start telling you how high your grass can be, how much wind or solar electricity you can provide for yourself, how many chickens or rabbits you can have, or how many vegetables you can grow, the people who would have supported your rights will already have moved or been forced out.
My guess is that it's the same kind of thing as the Ownens valley pipeline a hundred years ago that essentially boiled down to LA stealing the lifeblood and future of of the Owens valley, or today where Las Vegas is trying to do the same thing to the Snake Valley.
Resource wars, in other words... not necessarily attempts to force dependance.
Now this is true because I lived in the Chicago area about three years ago to care for my mother until she passed. There is a tollroad (80 cents each) about every 5 miles and EVERY major highway up there. The Skyway which connects IN to IL has been there for 30+ years but when I returned...MY GOSH it is terrible now. The money goes to Brazil from what I was told.
I guarantee the drug trade will travel along this corridor which I believe there is one underground already trafficking drugs to major cities in the adjacent states the US.
My brother told me they plan to do the same with prisons. But get this, when these prisoners get to be around 50 years old they plan to release them into the public. That way they don't have to pay for their medical needs and they don't have to deal with them because they reside in another country.
Wow USA is being raped by so many pimps in all areas and the government allows it to happen. But I guess the government is the w***e with its legs wide open for whoever has the money to buy.
DA_MN, I hope I am dead a gone by the time all of this comes to a head
A lot of good comments there, but some people as bright as any of the basic stooges in the now defunct Soviet Union, but often greedy and coarse and would fit in well in the China of Today.
It is really awful what is happening to people minding thier own biz in the Antelope Valley.
But consider the example of Colonias in Texas, mostly along the South Border but in many other areas as well, largely left alone or given help doing what the people in CA are getting in deep trouble for. Some people are targeted and others not so much
Last edited by 1957TabbyCat; 09-05-2011 at 12:54 PM..
Gov Perry the "darling of conservatives" tried to ram this though, and they will surely not give up.
It could be used to bypass the port of Long Beach Ca and send goods out of China accross the USA, likely would be rather costly for the locals to actually drive on. And Drugs, since when our our leaders and better then the 3rd world
A lot of good comments there, but some people as bright as any of the basic stooges in the now defunct Soviet Union, but often greedy and coarse and would fit in well in the China of Today.
You may be intent on Texas, but have you ever considered Carson Estates / Two Peaks in New Mexico?
Not sure if you are familiar with it, but if you want a relative degree of freedom to have cars on your property (and other stuff), they seem to be pretty lax over there.
There's plenty of normal people there, despite what the film shows, but apparently a lot of people there really do live like that. That might be something that appeals to you. Just something to consider, if you don't find what you are looking for in Texas (I'm sure you will).
Gov Perry the "darling of conservatives" tried to ram this though, and they will surely not give up.
It could be used to bypass the port of Long Beach Ca and send goods out of China accross the USA, likely would be rather costly for the locals to actually drive on. And Drugs, since when our our leaders and better then the 3rd world
TabbyCat, I read your link to the TX forum. Good. Grief.
Perry irritates me no end; he is not what he is now purporting to be. Looks like the Tea Party is going to throw still another RINO up to cheers and praise.
Sadly, some of the attitudes in that forum are like many I have encountered all across the country - if someone has high grass, lives in a trailer, has old cars in their yard, they MUST BE poor/welfare recipients/methheads/criminals. And it is exactly that holier-than-thou attitude - encouraged by the MSM and politicians who want to pass more and more restrictive laws - that will handicap anyone's search for a place where they can live independently and do as they please with their property. It is also that attitude that will get innocent taxpaying decent citizens,who aren't breaking any laws against or invading anyone else's rights, into financial and legal troubles that will cost them not only their lives and livelihood but everything they own. And the people who insistently demand such enforcement could care less whom they harm or make homeless.
Gotta say it's one of the reasons I didn't even look into TX when we set out to look for our farm. I lived there for awhile, and my main dealings were with those types. Too many holier-than-thou, it's-for-your-own-good types there; too high prices for too danged little, and too many restrictions. Not to mention too far south, too hot, too humid (for the most part) not enough water accessibility for what I wanted to do; I like icy cold rivers and streams, and pure groundwater. It took us three years to figure out that rural Nebraska was the place where we could do whatever we pleased, grow and raise whatever we wanted, enjoy hunting and fishing almost year round, and no one cared or minded our business. DH helps people out with small engine repairs, and no one complains. Out here, high grass is what it's supposed to be - critter hay! - and grows proudly everywhere. My neighbors have commented on how nice our yard looks, especially since the previous owners used to let their horses graze... in the front yard. They still didn't say anything to him, though - it wasn't their business. Although I'm not much for trailers - I like a lot of room in my house when my kids, nephews and nieces come to visit! - I am eyeing a trailer for sale down the road for one of my nephews who wants to move here. It backs on to our pasture, and would be a win-win.
One of my good friends tried to start a communal living place in TX for like-minded people who wanted to organically garden and raise food animals. They ran into so many political snags both before she bought the property - part of an old ranch that was down a gravel road! - and after, that she sold it and quit in disgust. I wish you a lotta luck in TX - you're going to need it.
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My Thread in Dallas Fort Worth
- and grows proudly everywhere. My neighbors have commented on how nice our yard looks, especially since the previous owners used to let their horses graze... in the front yard. They still didn't say anything to him, though - it wasn't their business. Although I'm not much for trailers - I like a lot of room in my house when my kids, nephews and nieces come to visit! - I am eyeing a trailer for sale down the road for one of my nephews who wants to move here. It backs on to our pasture, and would be a win-win.
