...just thought I'd check in with you folks to deliver the great news that I am no longer an Uptown resident (and the crowd cheers wildly) - although it
would seem this place is as barren as Uptown north of Montrose anymore. You see, this is one of those rare win-win situations where people like Irish Pirate,
UptownRising & other like minded people get to rid themselves of my presence in their community - while I, in turn, get to escape the fruits of
Shiller's 20+ year experiment in liberal socialism.
Now I didn't think Uptown was ALL bad - at least the southern end of it - but I certainly won't miss the skeevees, the lack of development, the drug dealers, the occassional rape... you get the picture. I must also say that when we drove by the future Uptown Ghetto Towers - crown jewel of Shiller's section 8 housing campaign - I had the distinct feeling of being in the last lifeboat feverishly rowing away from the sinking ship. Granted, I had to sell the condo at a pretty big discount - which won't help your property values any - but I ended up netting out pretty well considering that since ALL property values were down, upgrading to a single family home, yard, security etc made good sense. Plus, I figured once Shiller's dream of infusing Uptown with one last massive dose of concentrated poverty became reality.... well, it wouldn't be too long before property values in Uptown would plummet RELATIVE to everywhere else.
Sure, Shiller's always made sure Uptown was kept in enough squalor to keep it relatively cheap compared to every other community - and I'll be honest... I thought it'd be a great investment (especially in Buena Park) where everything was supposed to 'pop' really really soon. Well, unfortunately - Shiller won again - and is well on her way to casting Uptown further down the gutter than ever before. And honestly, while Cappleman (sp?) was a much better choice than Shiller - and a very nice guy (I met & spoke with him) - I'm not sure even HE was going to do what was necessary to clean up that cr*phole - and let's face it, all other powers that be are MORE than happy to use Uptown as a dumping grounds for everyone & everything they don't want in their OWN wards.
Anyway - I'm outta here - good luck to you all.
FunPants
Now I didn't think Uptown was ALL bad - at least the southern end of it - but I certainly won't miss the skeevees, the lack of development, the drug dealers, the occassional rape... you get the picture. I must also say that when we drove by the future Uptown Ghetto Towers - crown jewel of Shiller's section 8 housing campaign - I had the distinct feeling of being in the last lifeboat feverishly rowing away from the sinking ship. Granted, I had to sell the condo at a pretty big discount - which won't help your property values any - but I ended up netting out pretty well considering that since ALL property values were down, upgrading to a single family home, yard, security etc made good sense. Plus, I figured once Shiller's dream of infusing Uptown with one last massive dose of concentrated poverty became reality.... well, it wouldn't be too long before property values in Uptown would plummet RELATIVE to everywhere else.
Sure, Shiller's always made sure Uptown was kept in enough squalor to keep it relatively cheap compared to every other community - and I'll be honest... I thought it'd be a great investment (especially in Buena Park) where everything was supposed to 'pop' really really soon. Well, unfortunately - Shiller won again - and is well on her way to casting Uptown further down the gutter than ever before. And honestly, while Cappleman (sp?) was a much better choice than Shiller - and a very nice guy (I met & spoke with him) - I'm not sure even HE was going to do what was necessary to clean up that cr*phole - and let's face it, all other powers that be are MORE than happy to use Uptown as a dumping grounds for everyone & everything they don't want in their OWN wards.
Anyway - I'm outta here - good luck to you all.
FunPants
