That is true sometimes and other times the middle class wants to be in BFE.

Personally, having lived in the ‘burbs, the city, and the stix, I can say without a doubt that the stix is the most enjoyable place to have a home, even if it does cost > for the commute.

House size depends a lot on opportunity, perceived and practical needs. From an investment perspective, up to a point, a bigger house provides a larger ROI due to the cost per square foot effect.

I'd love to have a home in the stix -- as a second home, not to sit in the car for 4 hrs every day going back and forth.

From a rental investment perspective, 2nd-tier suburb property is probably the best. The rent-to-purchase price ratio actually isn't great in many rural areas, and it might take a long time to find a tenant.

At one point in time I thought it would be a badass idea to own an old military bunker.

I saw one south of Chicago for $300k. It was some underground communications bunker that was 8,000 square feet and had some 10 acres with it. Also came with two diesel generators and some air circulation system. Sure it would need some work but I thought that would be a badass place to setup shop.

We have FasTrak for the bridge tolls around here - a 25 mph speed limit is posted. I usually slow to 35 or 40, I often see people going faster than that. I've never been contacted about it nor have I heard of anyone else getting grief about it. I suspect they are wary of discouraging people from using it as plenty of people don't as it is. I don't get it. I often save 5, 10 minutes or more not to mention wear and tear on brakes and clutch.

I'm not sure I follow you. It does say that there are experiments to RETROFIT cars that don't have it. So what is to say they cannot say "All new cars must have it. Your old POS, if it moves, has to have one."? I mean, can I say "Well, I have an old car that was made before license plates so I don't have to put one on."? My ATV came without plates. WI and other states mandated a plate.
The rest of the cars were retrofitted with the sort of V2V equipment that would go into cars that were already on the road before the technology became available. - See more at: NHTSA May Mandate That New Cars Broadcast Location, Direction and Speed | CNS News

The rest of the cars were retrofitted with the sort of V2V equipment that would go into cars that were already on the road before the technology became available. - See more at: NHTSA May Mandate That New Cars Broadcast Location, Direction and Speed | CNS News


The rest of the cars were retrofitted with the sort of V2V equipment that would go into cars that were already on the road before the technology became available. - See more at: NHTSA May Mandate That New Cars Broadcast Location, Direction and Speed | CNS News

Regardless of what you think of the safety issue, why do you need to know where I am?

I can disable my phone. How do I turn my car off and drive it?

But therein lies another issue. You did say you want the major parties to move from allowing chaos to nanny work. Now you cannot say that they must do it the way you want. I cannot tell my Mom and Dad that I think their idea of a curfew or that I must do chores or whatever if I insist on living in their home and they pay the bills. Govt should be a neutral arbiter so that we don't kill each other. Now you ask them to take care of you from cradle to grave but you complain that they are doing it in the way that makes sense to them but not to you?

So you are advocating a nanny or is it just a nanny for your self deemed worthwhile causes? Seems like you want it both ways and it has to suit you and you alone.

How about allowing you to have sex, eat, drink, etc, etc a predetermined number of times? Sorry, you can't go to the toilet. Therefore we limit your intake to the bare minimum? All for the good of the environment, of course. Yet when a cop or TSA agent limits your freedom to do as you please you whine line a stuck pig. On the one hand you want govt to intrude, on the other, you don't. Too bad you won't allow others to do that, which is what we have. Everyone wants a piece of the action and in the end, we have a mess. Everyone like you, wants the govt to intrude on their lives in one way and only that way. You bristle at the parents telling you want to do but you insist on living on their dime and having them pay you bills.

How about this. It's NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. While I agree that 3000 sf is too much for me, it isn't my business to coerce, nudge or "encourage" you to do what I want you to. If you can afford to do it all, have a 20000 sf house for all I care. When you cannot afford it anymore and it gets foreclosed, well, it sucks to be you.

I don't see the point of 4 wives either but if you can maintain it all, have at it.

I suspect that the initial outlay might have to do with it. I bought a transponder for the IL tollway and you have to pay for the device and then you have to load it up. So you are up to say $50 NOW whereas a toll is $2. TWICE what it costs with the transponder. However, remember after Katrina, people were dumping their trucks and SUV or whatever THAT IS PAID FOR in order to get a new one with higher insurance rates and a car payment, all for the smaller sticker shock at the pump?

Fine, but let's call a spade a spade.

If the oil companies want oil to keep flowing in the Middle East, bill them for the military's services directly. Iraq I and II should have been 100% paid for by taxes on Middle Eastern oil. Same goes for cleanup of oil spills, remediation of effects of global warming.

You don't want nanny subsidies? Fine. Pay your own way. But prepare for expensive energy equivalent for $10/gal gas, since that would reflect the real costs of the energy use.

Point being that the government actually ENABLES sprawl via indirect subsidies.

What could possibly go wrong with every citizen having a permanent government minder?

Don't worry
 

Your next stupid phone will be implanted in your SKULL, impossible to turn off, with a built in TAZER function so government bureaucrats can monitor and PUNISH everything they don't like... :D :D

You know, little things like free speech, privacy, the right to protest, etc... :D :D

Be happy, smile and OBEY.

.

You forgot that they would be MANDATORY and paid for by BO in his fourth term. :D