Daily Local News - News - 04/08/2005 - Judge: Neighbors should settle feud
This is hilarious. Fred Pilot found it. I give this "HOA story of the month."
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Friday, April 08, 2005
Man crashes into DMV building and then renews driver's license
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/6357288p-6234486c.html
Things like this are why I keep telling people that government regulation of residential private governments may not prove to be the panacea they expect.
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/6357288p-6234486c.html
Things like this are why I keep telling people that government regulation of residential private governments may not prove to be the panacea they expect.
CNN Open House episode on HOAs moved to 4/16
My contact at CNN tells me that we have been pre-empted for 4/9 because of the royal wedding. The episode is now set for Saturday, 4/16, at 9:30 eastern time.
My 7 year old son, Conor, responded to news of the second pre-emption as follows: "Sheesh! What's next? King Arthur returns because England needs him?"
My contact at CNN tells me that we have been pre-empted for 4/9 because of the royal wedding. The episode is now set for Saturday, 4/16, at 9:30 eastern time.
My 7 year old son, Conor, responded to news of the second pre-emption as follows: "Sheesh! What's next? King Arthur returns because England needs him?"
Hole Drilled to Bottom of Earth's Crust, Breakthrough to Mantle Looms
Don't these people watch science fiction movies? This is the headline you see on-screen just before they break through to the dinosaurs and oceans of lava.
Don't these people watch science fiction movies? This is the headline you see on-screen just before they break through to the dinosaurs and oceans of lava.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Times Community Newspapers - Reston - 04/06/2005 - RCA to start selling town status to community
The Reston Citizens Association (RCA) is forging ahead with its project to make a compelling case for Reston becoming an incorporated town.
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Fred Pilot wonders whether this suggests we may see a "deprivatization" movement in which HOA residents would seek to convert their private governments into municipalities or special districts. Could be. Another explanation for such a trend, if one exists (not with Reston particularly, but other HOA-run neighborhoods) is a long-standing suburban tradition: defensive incorporation, meaning a neighborhood incorporating as a municipality in order to prevent being annexed by a nearby municipality, along with acquiring the full range of municipal powers. Tax base-seeking cities have been known to gobble up suburban unincorporated neighborhoods, which can be forestalled by that neighborhood becoming a city of its own. They keep their independence. Again, this seems not to be the reason for incorporating Reston. It isn't mentioned in the article at all among the "arguments for becoming a town" that you can find by scrolling down, and that section makes interesting reading on the limits of private government.
The Reston Citizens Association (RCA) is forging ahead with its project to make a compelling case for Reston becoming an incorporated town.
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Fred Pilot wonders whether this suggests we may see a "deprivatization" movement in which HOA residents would seek to convert their private governments into municipalities or special districts. Could be. Another explanation for such a trend, if one exists (not with Reston particularly, but other HOA-run neighborhoods) is a long-standing suburban tradition: defensive incorporation, meaning a neighborhood incorporating as a municipality in order to prevent being annexed by a nearby municipality, along with acquiring the full range of municipal powers. Tax base-seeking cities have been known to gobble up suburban unincorporated neighborhoods, which can be forestalled by that neighborhood becoming a city of its own. They keep their independence. Again, this seems not to be the reason for incorporating Reston. It isn't mentioned in the article at all among the "arguments for becoming a town" that you can find by scrolling down, and that section makes interesting reading on the limits of private government.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Pocatello Idaho State Journal: Lava airport effort grounded: White's vision halted by pending lawsuit, land-use disputes
Fred Pilot passed along this piece. Imagine having enough land to use lots of it for a landing strip.
Fred Pilot passed along this piece. Imagine having enough land to use lots of it for a landing strip.
Bloomberg.com: New Yorkers Dump Co-Ops for Condos, Paying a `Privacy Premium'
Co-ops are no longer king in Manhattan. Condos are growing faster in price and units sold, as apartment hunters like Jacobson reject having their finances examined, their private lives vetted and their properties controlled by New York's increasingly picky co-op boards.
Co-ops are no longer king in Manhattan. Condos are growing faster in price and units sold, as apartment hunters like Jacobson reject having their finances examined, their private lives vetted and their properties controlled by New York's increasingly picky co-op boards.
Friday, April 01, 2005
The Cincinnati Post - Couple sues homebuilder citing urine-soaked walls
Bradley and Margaret Parker's version of the American dream was ruined by subcontractors who urinated in the unfinished house, a Tuesday lawsuit alleges.
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A new kind of construction defect. Here come the lawyers.
Bradley and Margaret Parker's version of the American dream was ruined by subcontractors who urinated in the unfinished house, a Tuesday lawsuit alleges.
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A new kind of construction defect. Here come the lawyers.
Garden Gnome Liberation Front strikes again
Lyon - About 100 garden gnomes were "liberated" from front gardens in the French city of Lyon and placed in a park next to a motorway, police officials reported on Thursday. "They were all standing there with their faces to the motorway, watching the traffic speed past," a police statement said.
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I suspect a renegade HOA president.
Lyon - About 100 garden gnomes were "liberated" from front gardens in the French city of Lyon and placed in a park next to a motorway, police officials reported on Thursday. "They were all standing there with their faces to the motorway, watching the traffic speed past," a police statement said.
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I suspect a renegade HOA president.
Thoughts after taping CNN "Open House"
The show will be broadcast on Saturday, 4/2 at 9:30 eastern time. What does that mean in other time zones? I don't know. This was "taped live," which means the show is taped in its entirety and then broadcast later without editing. I guess they can show it at any time they want, in any time zone.
There are three sections. The first is on whether there is a housing price "bubble," and it is a provocative one that I want to listen to again. (I say listen because I was in a different city--Chicago-- listening through an earpiece. The hose, Gerri Willis, was in New York. I don't know where the two guests were.) The HOA segment is second. It starts with a horror story, then a comment from (if I recognized the voice correctly) Frank Rathbun of CAI, and then they go to me for the rest of the segment. I thought Gerri Willis did a good job of moving it along, but I wish we had more time (the college professor's eternal lament, I know, I know).
I think business shows like this are pitched at a higher intellectual level than any other television except PBS documentaries. The normal TV approach is "Are HOAs GOOD OR BAD, professor???!!!" Here we got a chance to talk about the pros and cons a little.
The show will be broadcast on Saturday, 4/2 at 9:30 eastern time. What does that mean in other time zones? I don't know. This was "taped live," which means the show is taped in its entirety and then broadcast later without editing. I guess they can show it at any time they want, in any time zone.
There are three sections. The first is on whether there is a housing price "bubble," and it is a provocative one that I want to listen to again. (I say listen because I was in a different city--Chicago-- listening through an earpiece. The hose, Gerri Willis, was in New York. I don't know where the two guests were.) The HOA segment is second. It starts with a horror story, then a comment from (if I recognized the voice correctly) Frank Rathbun of CAI, and then they go to me for the rest of the segment. I thought Gerri Willis did a good job of moving it along, but I wish we had more time (the college professor's eternal lament, I know, I know).
I think business shows like this are pitched at a higher intellectual level than any other television except PBS documentaries. The normal TV approach is "Are HOAs GOOD OR BAD, professor???!!!" Here we got a chance to talk about the pros and cons a little.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Major California HOA reform bill, SB 551, includes ombudsperson
Here's the .pdf version. It will be big news if California goes the way Nevada and Florida already have. And if foreclosure reform passes as well, this will be the second huge year in a row for HOA reform legislation.
Here's the .pdf version. It will be big news if California goes the way Nevada and Florida already have. And if foreclosure reform passes as well, this will be the second huge year in a row for HOA reform legislation.
CNN "Open House" show on HOAs to air on Saturday at 9:30 am Eastern
I'm about to head over to a studio to be interviewed by CNN for this. Don't miss it. The link to CNN's Open House program web site is:
http://money.cnn.com/ontv/openhouse/
I'm about to head over to a studio to be interviewed by CNN for this. Don't miss it. The link to CNN's Open House program web site is:
http://money.cnn.com/ontv/openhouse/
Law loses its way
Every HOA activist on Planet Earth has sent me a link to this article so here it is for all to read. A retired judge denounces the legal system and the legal profession.
Every HOA activist on Planet Earth has sent me a link to this article so here it is for all to read. A retired judge denounces the legal system and the legal profession.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Two bills divide homeowner, condo groups on foreclosures and state regulation
Fred Pilot found this good article that lays out the upcoming legislative battle in Florida. High stakes all around...
Two statewide organizations will duke it out on Wednesday in Tallahassee over the laws that affect millions of Floridians who live in association-run communities. The sides disagree on two bills that would ban boards from foreclosing on owners who owe less than $2,500 (SB 2632), and would require mandatory training for board members, mandatory audits of association books, and state regulation of homeowner association boards (HB 1229).
Fred Pilot found this good article that lays out the upcoming legislative battle in Florida. High stakes all around...
Two statewide organizations will duke it out on Wednesday in Tallahassee over the laws that affect millions of Floridians who live in association-run communities. The sides disagree on two bills that would ban boards from foreclosing on owners who owe less than $2,500 (SB 2632), and would require mandatory training for board members, mandatory audits of association books, and state regulation of homeowner association boards (HB 1229).
Sunday, March 27, 2005
BUILDER Online: The top 100 builders
It's interesting to note that all these folks talk about is how many housing units they sold and how much revenue they generated. They never have much to say about the consequences of all the private governments they are creating along with the homes they build. I guess that's what economists call an "externality" to them--something they don't consider as part of their cost-benefit equation.
It's interesting to note that all these folks talk about is how many housing units they sold and how much revenue they generated. They never have much to say about the consequences of all the private governments they are creating along with the homes they build. I guess that's what economists call an "externality" to them--something they don't consider as part of their cost-benefit equation.
CNN.com - Exurb growth challenges U.S. cities - Mar 27, 2005
University of Denver geography professor Paul Sutton opines on growth of the exurbs:
The West is the fastest-growing region of the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and Colorado's population grew by about 30 percent from 1990 to 2000.
Sutton said he believes urban growth everywhere is happening even faster than people realize.
Using satellite photos of nighttime lights to measure sprawl, he has concluded that his family, and a third of all Americans, are living in "exurbia" -- places just beyond the suburbs where the country looks like country again, beyond the limits of most studies of urban growth.
"I think a lot of the old ideas of suburban living are now in exurbia," Sutton said. "There is a natural environment; kids are not going to get run over by a bus. "I don't lock my house," Sutton said. "There's no crime." So people live better for less money, a little farther away. Why does that matter? First, Sutton said, because fire and police protection, school bus routes, water lines, phone service and electricity must be available for such homes -- all of which is costly. Second, he said, many who live in exurbia still work in cities, adding to traffic and pollution, and demanding services there, rather than forming independent small towns with self-sustaining economies. In effect, cities get stuck paying bills run up by people who live in the exurbs.
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He makes some good points, but nothing in the article explains that in the West and practically everywhere else where this rapid growth is occurring, CIDs are the low-cost way that municipalities grow. I think the "cities get stuck paying bills" for the exurbs line, which is now a staple of Democratic Party rhetoric, is questionable. You need to add up all the taxes and assessments exurbanites pay to all levels of public and private government, not just the ones that go to municipalities.
University of Denver geography professor Paul Sutton opines on growth of the exurbs:
The West is the fastest-growing region of the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and Colorado's population grew by about 30 percent from 1990 to 2000.
Sutton said he believes urban growth everywhere is happening even faster than people realize.
Using satellite photos of nighttime lights to measure sprawl, he has concluded that his family, and a third of all Americans, are living in "exurbia" -- places just beyond the suburbs where the country looks like country again, beyond the limits of most studies of urban growth.
"I think a lot of the old ideas of suburban living are now in exurbia," Sutton said. "There is a natural environment; kids are not going to get run over by a bus. "I don't lock my house," Sutton said. "There's no crime." So people live better for less money, a little farther away. Why does that matter? First, Sutton said, because fire and police protection, school bus routes, water lines, phone service and electricity must be available for such homes -- all of which is costly. Second, he said, many who live in exurbia still work in cities, adding to traffic and pollution, and demanding services there, rather than forming independent small towns with self-sustaining economies. In effect, cities get stuck paying bills run up by people who live in the exurbs.
-----------------
He makes some good points, but nothing in the article explains that in the West and practically everywhere else where this rapid growth is occurring, CIDs are the low-cost way that municipalities grow. I think the "cities get stuck paying bills" for the exurbs line, which is now a staple of Democratic Party rhetoric, is questionable. You need to add up all the taxes and assessments exurbanites pay to all levels of public and private government, not just the ones that go to municipalities.
Journal Gazette | 03/27/2005 | Suckers for sociopaths can learn avoidance
Every homeowner needs to be able to tell if any of the neighbors are sociopaths, don't you think?
The person living next door to you may look normal but could actually be about as benign as a pod person in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” so you had better avoid him or risk having your life ruined. That is the intriguing core of Martha Stout’s “The Sociopath Next Door,” a self-help guide to the detection and avoidance of sociopaths?– or people without consciences.
Every homeowner needs to be able to tell if any of the neighbors are sociopaths, don't you think?
The person living next door to you may look normal but could actually be about as benign as a pod person in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” so you had better avoid him or risk having your life ruined. That is the intriguing core of Martha Stout’s “The Sociopath Next Door,” a self-help guide to the detection and avoidance of sociopaths?– or people without consciences.
Gated community update: Many Germans want Berlin Wall back
BERLIN (Reuters) - Nearly a quarter of western Germans and 12 percent of easterners want the Berlin Wall back -- more than 15 years after the fall of the barrier that split Germany during the Cold War, according to a survey.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Nearly a quarter of western Germans and 12 percent of easterners want the Berlin Wall back -- more than 15 years after the fall of the barrier that split Germany during the Cold War, according to a survey.
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