Trashing California on L.A. Land

A pretty picture above some ugly words. An L.A. Land post about the collapse of real estate market in the Inland Empire was linked to the widely read Drudge Report, and has brought out California haters in large numbers. Seems lots of folks around the country can’t wait to talk about California, and why they’re happy they don’t live here. A sampling of the 240 comments so far on the post:

At 6:20 a.m. Arial wrote, evidently from Indiana: "I know SEVERAL people who have moved here (i.e. Indiana) from California and LOVE it. Good, friendly, sensible people, reasonable housing, decent jobs, a wonderful place to raise a family -- that's the heartland. Good luck California. You've lived off the fumes and benefits of your location for a long time. The wacko liberal policies, unchecked ILLEGAL immigration, etc. will catch up with you eventually. It's simply not sustainable (to use your own lingo). Never has been. Learn from history."

At 11:50 a.m., Mexifornia Nightmare wrote,  "I recently moved to a fantastic area of western Washington state where almost everyone speaks English, schools are top notch, crime is low, no tagging trashes the area and life is pleasant. And I paid half of what I had to pay in SoCal for a house in a great neighborhood. Who cares if it rains more as long as I don't have to deal with all of the idiots who now populate California."

At 12:36 p.m., Mr. Money bags wrote, "Ariel, Life sounds so wonderful for you after moving to Indiana, but yet, here you are posting on a Los Angeles real estate blog. You looking for some sort of justification on why you made the mistake of moving to such a lame place? The so-called heartland is not wonderful place. It's full of ignorant zombie rednecks, bad restaurants, McJobs, fat people, and zero culture...sorry, but race car driving doesn't count, sweetheart."

Your thoughts? Comments?
Photo: Sunny day at Manhattan Beach. Credit: Los Angeles Times

L.A. Land, where bad news is good news

Foreclosures are piling up, the real estate market is in a historic slump, and home prices are falling at the fastest rate ever measured. This is bad news, right?

You're clearly not reading the real estate blog L.A. Land, where many commenters -- probably a majority -- view falling prices as a good thing in Los Angeles. Why a good thing? They think L.A. housing prices are too high; they'd like to see lower prices so they can afford to buy. A sample of today's comments on a post reporting that home values in L.A. fell 23.1% from last April to this April:

At 8:15 a.m. Anon wrote: "Sanity being restored to the housing market here in LA is a good to watch."

At 8:36 a.m. Rob wrote: "Its going to be an exponentially wonderful summer."

At 8:37 a.m. Amir wrote: "Faster pussycat, kill kill ... You ain't seen nothing yet."   

At 8:40 a.m. cbk16 wrote: "Long term this is the best new we could have for the economy. ... The good side of this needs to be mentioned since our our children are the beneficiaries of the lower price of homes."   

And at 9:23 a.m. ex HermosaBoi wrote: "Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people."

Your thoughts? Comments?

Despite economy and real estate market, new mansions (and critical comments) rise up

Over at LA Land, Peter Viles blogged about the odd trend that despite the dramatic downturn in real estate values in Southern California, dozens of very large homes are still being built here, including the 32,000 square foot mansion in Beverly Hills shown above.  Not surprisingly a few critics came into the comments to air their disapproval.

Abe:

What a crying shame, think of all the wood in the forests cut, the water it will use, not to mention the energy it will use to heat and cool the space, Don't these people feel any obligation to the planet or the rest of it's citizens?

Cash does not equal class:

This illustrates that having lots of money and having lots of class are always mutually exclusive.

Jeffrey Allen Miller, NY:

Can't wait for a social revolution... think of the arrogance and selfishness involved in building houses this size that take up resources for decades after their occupants are alive. If we in Manhattan can live in 180sq feet, these people can certainly live in a 5,000 sq foot home and still have the accessories they feel privileged to afford. No single human is worth the salaries these people make either.. Where is Robin Hood when we really need him?

Mime:

Without royal title nor land, the American's McMansion is just a Disneyesque imitation of the European aristocracy.

- Tony Pierce

photo by Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times