Santa Monica, California decline

[IIVI]

Mind you, at the same time these companies want cheap talent:


We're building OTHER countries' middle classes. That's not hyperbole. That's actual facts. India's middle class skyrocketed thanks to American companies hiring overseas. A few thousand of those tech jobs we shipped to India would've looked good for remote workers of Santa Monica.

Circling back to this, I honestly think the "problem" is that the world just caught up.

Our engineering education is basically the same on all levels with the rest of the world now as most of these international schools are ABET-accredited at this point or getting there which wasn't the case back in the early 2000's where only American colleges earned that standard.

Now companies can 100% go the international option to countries like Mexico, Colombia, Vietnam, etc. and get the same level of skills for much cheaper because ABET has analyzed their programs and given the seal of approval to them.

Also why student loans for colleges at this point are bullshyt. Those international kids go to school for free and get the same education, starting off their careers without $80k debt so instead of paying $80k in student loans, they can use that $80k to buy a house. Meanwhile, Americans are assed out for getting the same degree. 10 years of paying student loans vs 10 years paying for their first house.

A kid from another country can go to school multiple times, earn multiple degrees in various engineering programs that are all ABET-accredited for $0. Now they have enormous flexibility and can bail on a field if they don't like it. If an American wants to do the same, they're going to pay some serious tuition to the point that it's not worth it.

 

[Insensitive]

The more I watch this, him basically trying to low key blame "liberal policies" without saying so much (YT much like the rest of the country, leans left, is pro-people) - is that all of these "businesses" - his class of people - are moving because they can't afford the commercial rent.

What business is was he in? Before he cashed in on internet celebrity, he was real estate agent, and then a landlord and house flipper.

Cued up @ 8:28

He's talking about how the Landlord doubled the rent -

Not the City.
Not the State.
Not the Fed.

The Landlord. (possibly a massive corporate, but probably a local guy like this man)



Earlier he talks about the restaurant facing 60K monthly - again, that's not the city asking that type of rent - it the land lord.

"Forced to keep their rents high (and the places empty), to keep their value"

Somehow 40% of the strips buildings being vacant don't bring down property values, but occupied buildings with lower rent do?

Make it make sense.

Graham is going to be biased in his "reporting" because he himself used to be a landlord.
He doesn't see that as an issue because he views being a landlord and having the power to control
where people live or who can do business is a thing that's beneficial to society and not a net negative.

People like Graham will say "I don't know why Cali is so bad " then go on and evict tenants who can't afford
a $2k+ rent. There's a level of dishonesty to anything he says regarding wealth and who holds it because that's
how he built his first fortune before Youtube enriched him further.

 

[Grand Conde]

Something fundamentally “broke” in the world after COVID. I don’t know how to explain it though

...in the world? I'm in Asia and pre and post Covid are the same. America is a shythole all by itself.

 

[Lucky_Lefty]

High cost of living (rent/mortgage/taxes/etc.)
High competition for jobs (especially “unskilled” labor)
Low enforcement on homeless
Low enforcement on petty crimes
High mental illness issues
People come here chasing dreams and end up stuck

You just described Austin, TX

 

[num123]

The problem is...almost all of these links are from this year. Newsom has been a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Mayor of San Francisco. He's been in politics for the last 20 years and in those 20 years the homelessness issue has gotten exponentially worse. He doesn't get a free pass, at all.

First of all, i said i could add more links and either then the date is not the issue. Distilling the issue into being as simple as "well he was in various positions over the decades" is crazy.

Homelessness is not some simple "FIX IT NOW" problem, it is a result of many factors over time: Soaring cost of living, lack of housing capacity to meet demand, lack of mental/drug facilities, the inability to force mentally ill people in hospitals, cities and counties not wanting to pay for homeless shelters or having them in their areas, etc....

This is not a dictatorship he is in charge of where he can snap his fingers and force new high density housing, sweep all homeless and take them off of the street, force all companies operating in CA to pay more, etc.... He literally has to fight cities and counties over this shyt. In the links i posted, you can see L.A. and other places fighting against moving homeless or putting homeless shelters in certain areas.

We have to be better when talking about this because putting the blame on one person for everything that is happening is wrong and ridiculous.

 

[Buckeye Fever]

I live here in SM.


It’s a legit shyt show.

No lie, three days last week I walked past human shyt near the promenade downtown. I have been followed and harassed crossing the street by homeless and mentally ill.

Mad buildings are for sale and for lease. And FYI, my rent is going up next month…

SM was one of the 1st places we hit on our 1st day in so cal last month. Went to the pier and definitely saw some sheisty lookin' individuals. I was told to watch for pick pockets. I noticed a woman scopin' ppl out.

Then some dude with a boom box was following a man reading from a Bible out loud

 

[Braman]

This country is fukked.

It’s a perfect stormy of not only corporations and cost of living, but it’s a loss of general sense and morals. People can scoff at that all they want but it’s now ok to be nasty, be mean, to ‘eat the rich’. So you got everybody angry walking around thinking they Batman, as long as the target of their ire has an inkling more than them, they’re justified to be hateful.

We turning into Gotham. Unless you’re a bum or broke you should be weary. Black folk in particular. Bc we’ve traditionally been tricked to always align with poverty. But we all get older and more stable, but while to you you’re middle class, or just a homeowner, or made sound investments, etc…. to ‘Gotham’ you’re RICH. So its funny when it’s Santa Monica or a white or traditionally rich neighborhood, but it won’t be so funny when it comes to that culdesac YOU worked hard to get to /rant

 

[Insensitive]

California is one of those places where there is A LOT preventing building.
That's part of keeps the housing prices so high.
Of course if you want to live in the red sea near an Amazon facility somewhere or potentially one of the
defense contractors, there's an opportunity for housing but you're still facing the California housing premium.
Homes that would be $200k, IF THAT, in other parts of the country WILL go for double here.

 

[getmoney310cpt]

I love Cali.
I'mma stay ducked off with my six figure income and stay out the way.

Y'all stay safe tho

You happy as hell to make 6 figures you mention that every post congrats bro lmao

 

[Insensitive]

You happy as hell to make 6 figures you mention that every post congrats bro lmao

It's a blessing breh.


On a more serious note tho.
I feel there's a lot of failures that are both at the state and federal level that have led to California and most
of it boils down to this:

Just-world fallacy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And our belief that class is easy to change.

I was one bad weekend away from being one of these people that we talk about on here and I dealt with a turbulent living situation most
of my adulthood. In my early posting history on this website, I'd just started college, and I mentioned often what
I wanted to do but a lot of it never panned out to due to how rough my early adulthood was.
I think myself and anyone else born in California that managed to somehow someway carve out a piece here understands
how remarkably difficult that is.

 

[Braman]

Got a chick who lives in the Oakland and works in San Fran makes ‘six figures’ at this big high rise big company

She was FaceTiming me walking from work it was just chaos around: homeless people, shyt on the floor, background looked kinda run down. I said damn Oaklnad really is struggling. She said naw I’m outside my building in San Fran

This is happening to a lot of cities.

 

[num123]

California is one of those places where there is A LOT preventing building.
That's part of keeps the housing prices so high.
Of course if you want to live in the red sea near an Amazon facility somewhere or potentially one of the
defense contractors, there's an opportunity for housing but you're still facing the California housing premium.
Homes that would be $200k, IF THAT, in other parts of the country WILL go for double here.

Exactly. A big part of the issue is places not wanting to build new high density housing:

California Slams San Francisco for ‘Egregious’ Barriers to Housing Construction

The city adopted a state-approved plan in January to build 82,000 new housing units in eight years. It’s already failing.

www.nytimes.com

California just ripped San Francisco housing policy and its 'affluent NIMBYs' for conduct that 'flouted state laws' for decades

A 44-page state report, the first of its kind, just made clear that the state of California considers San Francisco an abject failure. Even the mayor agrees.

fortune.com

Where the Taller Apartment Buildings Are Going in SF, Maybe on Your Block

In 1978, San Francisco enacted its great downzoning, freezing more than half the city into low-rise residential neighborhoods often restricted to single-family homes, and where, in terms of density and general aesthetics, little has changed since. Forty-six years later, a new map has arrived...

thefrisc.com

Opinion | Too many San Franciscans will always find a way to oppose housing

NIMBYism is alive and well in San Francisco, despite the movement's updated rhetoric

sfstandard.com

Opinion | Peskin's anti-housing law would be a slap in the face for SF

“I truly hope the Board looks at the big picture and understands that a veto override would be a black eye for San Francisco."

sfstandard.com

You have cities like SF with extreme housing issues but still fight against building more and it has been an issue for decades. It is just this greed and NIMBY'ism combined with the other issues are finally causing this issue to erupt.

 

[WIA20XX]

Graham is going to be biased in his "reporting" because he himself used to be a landlord.
He doesn't see that as an issue because he views being a landlord and having the power to control
where people live or who can do business is a thing that's beneficial to society and not a net negative.

People like Graham will say "I don't know why Cali is so bad " then go on and evict tenants who can't afford
a $2k+ rent. There's a level of dishonesty to anything he says regarding wealth and who holds it because that's
how he built his first fortune before Youtube enriched him further.

He definitely isn't some sort of ideologue for sure.

Him, like most closet conservatives, doesn't really do much in terms of self reflection.

 

[WIA20XX]

Here's the Times talking about LA Homeless Encampments - and the Gov. Showing up to put stuff in trash bags I guess

 

[Rekkapryde]

Seems like it. Doesn't Cali have high min wage?

Lowering the minimum wage wouldn't solve the issue either. Too many loopholes for the rich not to pay their fair share of tax everywhere. Supply and demand out there.

Corporations allowed to buy single family homes driving up prices and no one stopping it.

So many factors but it starts with the rich, especially facelesscorporations and companies skirting their way out of paying.

Blaming immigrants for taking jobs nobody wants to do anyway for the price.

Add in entitlement.

COVID.

And yes laziness as much of the younger generation doesn't see the value of trade and blue collar work, especially in the highly influential social media age of clout chasing and attention whoring. The amount of kids who want to be "influencers" is comical nowadays.

Unchecked capitalism and greed will always destroy a system eventually.