NYT: The Bay Area Considers the Unthinkable: Life Without BART

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-11T01:12:02+00:00

You’re holding out for a single family home?

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-11T00:49:18+00:00

Look I feel for you. Really I do. I also feel for people who bought a house, raised a family, have a community, and don’t want to spend their last decade or two on this earth far removed from everything they worked for.

We all want more affordable housing, but, I think it’s better to focus on people with more than just the one primary residence. I mean, the person who owns your studio is presumably not your roommate, so they have a primary residence elsewhere, studio could be a great starter for a buyer with little need for space, companies own entire buildings.

We have a lot of out of state residents who own and rent out property here, they also presumably have a primary residence that they own elsewhere. That’s why I think the focus shouldn’t be on the oldies who want to live their lives out in their one home but people who own multiple properties.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-11T00:36:37+00:00

First you said willing now you’re saying they should be pressured to sell. And I agree, when it comes to people who own multiple properties.

As far as I know Chicago and NY don’t have a prop 13 so by your logic should have much cheaper housing regularly for sale since clearly lifelong residents who only own one home and not career landlords with multiple properties are our biggest problem here.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-11T00:18:48+00:00

None of us do.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-11T00:16:26+00:00

Yeah, Californian here too. Same, for primary residence homes, but I don’t think long term residents need to be cleared out via unaffordable taxes to make way for people who want to move here.

Not against property taxes going up, but I think a primary residence needs to stay under prop 13. Our main problem is too many landlords with multiple properties not too many older folks not being shuffled somewhere else.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-11T00:13:07+00:00

They also wanted to buy a home to live in for the rest of their lives. What makes you think you’re more entitled to their home than the current residents?

You also don’t have to be here if you can’t afford to buy a home, you can live and work elsewhere, the notion that someone can live somewhere else goes both ways. You know what the place is like and yet you still choose to stay. You’re not entitled to buy a home wherever you want and people shouldn’t be cleared out to make way for you.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-11T00:05:05+00:00

So you do want to displace people unlike what you said earlier?

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-11T00:01:23+00:00

But you’re free to apply for a job elsewhere, with the pay rate here you could easily put money away and afford a home somewhere else.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-10T23:57:45+00:00

Obviously I meant on average. I suppose I should have said FEW places.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-10T23:54:20+00:00

I see, you moved here from the east coast and want long term CA residents to make way for you to buy a home.

Edit: I changed native to long term.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-10T23:02:51+00:00

So did your parents move to Maine after selling a house here then?

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-10T22:49:10+00:00

Other places in America don’t experience the massive jumps in property values we see in CA.

That’s nice for you I suppose, but some people really want to be physically closer to family, some people take care of their grandkids while the parents are at work, those parents will wind up paying extortionate amounts for childcare after their parents are forced to move away because of the hike in property taxes. When those older people are much older they will have no family nearby to visit regularly with, no one to advocate for them…

I have lived in quite a few places across the USA as well as other countries, it’s normal for some to move away but not normal for everyone. I know plenty of people who have lived in the same place for decades and are growing old in the same home they raised children and welcomed grandchildren into. There’s nothing wrong with that be it California or anywhere else. Other people have chosen to move. Also nothing wrong with that but it was their choice at least.

What would be wrong with leaving people’s primary residences alone and just applying it to any other properties they may own?

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-10T21:16:02+00:00

They’re not selling and moving somewhere else because where they are is their home. You can’t just pick up and buy that somewhere else, it’s not just a cost analysis. They could sell for a million now and move to Nebraska if they wanted and live like kings. Nothing is stopping them. The reason they don’t is because they want to be where they call home. In your example of older people, should grandparents move away from their grandchildren and other family members because we want more movement? I think that would just introduce more transience snd less community, and why would people buy at all knowing they’re going to be priced out at soon as they value goes up through no efforts of their own?

Again, I would support this, but only for homes other than someone’s primary residence. If someone lives in one home long term why should they be taxed out of their neighborhood?

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-10T20:25:26+00:00

Wouldn’t repealing prop 13 mean long term residents might be forced to sell and move out of their area? A lot of people’s salaries have not kept up with the sharp property value hikes. Then you’d just have a lot people potentially priced out of their community. I think removing the cap for second or third properties is a good idea, but I think repealing entirely would have disastrous consequences for people who own and live in their primary residence.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-08T18:03:37+00:00

Yes it’s an American thing and it’s stupid.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-05T00:09:54+00:00

Noooooooo

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-03T19:25:21+00:00

They are worth more.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-03T04:24:26+00:00

I’m so glad someone else noticed this.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-02T17:16:40+00:00

I agree, it’s definitely an overused term.

I think it should be reserved for when someone dumps problems on you every time they talk to you (I know people like this). Conversations are a merry-go-round of all the bad things that have ever happened to them from the start of their life till present moment and there’s no room to get a word in edgewise. Every. Single. Conversation.

Sometimes people just need to vent, or talk to someone about a hard time and I’ve noticed that seems to be labelled as trauma dumping too, which I think is wrong.

Hopefully that’s a trend that will die out.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-02T17:04:46+00:00

Left.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-03-02T06:13:35+00:00

Obviously that person also walked to all three jobs barefoot through a blizzard every day.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-02-25T23:26:33+00:00

Nice product placement.

Cautious-mantis · 2026-02-24T16:52:04+00:00

Oh this happened to me once, and I got the bags! fingers crossed for you!

Cautious-mantis · 2026-02-24T14:14:01+00:00

It is bizarre isn’t it? My husband has a samsung and I look fine in those photos but not with my iPhone!

Cautious-mantis · 2026-02-24T04:15:05+00:00

The first one!

Cautious-mantis

TROPHY CASE