Do status and concerts make it too expensive for you to hobby?

I was about to post this on Co-ed, but cryptkicker asked us to move back from the politics, so I'll post it here instead. First a few quotes from the original thread for context. Also, I misspelled "statues" in the title, and I can't change it now.

The cost of living and high taxes has increased to pay for these never ending concerts, statues, renaming of schools, summertime free lunches, and etc.. San Francisco is worse!!
Lets see whats the connection between these 2 cities????????
Hummmmm??????????????
The word is liberalism!!!!!!!

But thats ok. As long as people are having fun!! Originally Posted by winn dixie

WD, it has nothing to do with liberalism. It's just the free market at work. In case you haven't noticed, this is a tech hub and a very desirable place to live. As a result, real estate prices have skyrocketed along with the cost of living and doing business here.

It has nothing to do with concerts, statues, renaming schools, or anything else that some angry white guy told you on talk radio.

Seems like Grace Kelly had a line in one of her movies, something like, "When I was a girl, we had a village idiot who thought that elephant tusks were made from piano keys, but he had nothing on you." Originally Posted by Dev Null

San Francisco has a huge homeless problem. The shit and piss and unmentionables that some of those people have to live in is beyond disgusting. You would think with liberals living in that city that they would do something about it. Oh wait,they are American citizens that are homeless so they don't count. Maybe they should say their from south of the border - then they could get some get some assistance. The cost of living there is so high that most people are being forced out of their homes to live on the street. Some American citizens are living in their cars in church parking lots because they were evicted from their homes due to the high cost of living in San Francisco. In fact, there are some places in San Francisco that are like some of these third world shit hole countries. Just unbelievable.
So it makes sense that people charge a whole lot more for services there. They don't want to live in a shit hole.
I've been there - I was not impressed.
Good luck to the OP. Originally Posted by Austin Ellen

Einstein, you actually make me miss Old T! You think the ultra liberal programs here and San Francisco do not add to the cost of living? Heres your sign! crypt did you see how he offended me? I forgot to ask you nev dull. Hows claire? Originally Posted by winn dixie

Here's a link with pie charts of where money from Austin property taxes goes. Only 20% goes to the city, most of the rest going to the school district and the county, and a small portion to health services and community college.

https://austineconetwork.com/how-sho...ey-you-decide/

Of the 20% of property taxes that go to the city, the vast majority is for police, fire, and EMS. Maybe a third of that 20% is divided between parks and recreation, public health, libraries, animal services, planning and zoning, etc.

Maybe some of that is spent on liberal-ish programs, and homelessness is still a big problem here, maybe not as bad as SF, I don't know. Austin is dropping the property tax rate this year and spending more on homelessness, but I doubt if things will change much.

But if anyone still thinks that concerts, statues, school name changes, etc. are making it too expensive for you to live and hobby in Austin, you're just not looking at the big picture. Show us your numbers. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean that it is bankrupting you.

Austin is a boom town because of the tech sector and its attractiveness to people who want to live here. The free market drives real estate prices up, and property taxes go up too. The city grows and sprawls, requiring new infrastructure and rapid expansion of public safety expenses.

It's an Alvin Toffler future-shock world - the future comes too quickly and in the wrong order. Maybe more so here than some other places.

You have to be on your best game to continue living here and thriving, and a lot of people have to move away because it's too hot to handle.

I'm not defending it, but that's just the way it is. You can bitch and scream and moan all you like, and even blame it on things that have nothing to do with the root cause of the problem. Or you can scramble and find some way to adapt. The choice is yours.

I forgot that you cannot see the obvious! I applaud you finding numbers that back up your position! Great job! Its funny that you single out 2 well known conservatives on this board. I would first ask you leave Ellen out of any beefs you have with me! Second, it seems whenever sue needs a wk here you come! Your numbers do not show a true account! Ten people can show ten different percentages on how funds are spent! Those school funds include summer free lunch programs that feed illegal immigrant children! And their families. We can meet in ne Austin this summer and i will show you the proof!
Renaming schools! How about we just teach true history without making the new history politically correct! Statues of of homeless people and retrobates? Concerts that damage our city that we are stuck footing the bill! Nev dull. Who do you think pays for this? Tax payers and business owners like me! Lib People want all these socialistic programs but do not want to pay there share when the bill comes due!
Any big metropolitan area is generally gonna have a high cost of living! These same areas will largely be liberal areas! However! When some of these cities are so ultra liberal like kalifornia and austin. And be anti business and pro tax. These have the highest cost of living! It affects everything! So yes providers will have higher rates! Look at new york and boston! Highly liberal with high costs of living and higher rates for providers! Again its the obvious facts right before your nose! Why do you start a thread trying to start drama and attack me?

Your title shows you completely missed my point! Please read my above comment! I cannot simplify it any easier! Yes! Liberal cities with unchallenged liberal social programs cause high taxes and high costs of living! That affects pricing everywhere! Even provider prices!
Easy basic and common sense 101!

Welcome to the thread, winn dixie. Glad that you could join in.

I really didn't mean to single you and Ellen out for any beefs. I'm okay that we disagree about some things, and there's nothing personal.

It's just that you and Ellen are the only two people who posted political stuff to that thread in co-ed, so I wanted your comments to be represented in the original post. Please don't take it personally. I wanted you both to be included. If anyone else had posted political content, I would have posted it too.

I don't consider myself a WK, and I know that some of Sue's posts are kind of out there for some people. I'm fairly vanilla most of the time, but I like to hear about different people's experiences. I wouldn't want that to be throttled. I've done a few pretty kinky things in my time, so I'm in no position to judge anyone else's kinks.

So yeah, I support her even though people spread rumors about her. There are all kinds of dirty play, and the kind that goes on in the bedroom doesn't bother me. It does bother me when people play dirty by smearing someone, who may or may not be guilty for all I know. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, but when people are abusive, it kind of removes all doubt.

I could say that you are a WK for Ellen, but I won't. You're defending her because you thought I was attacking her, that's all. It doesn't make you some label or thing. It's just what you thought was the right thing to do. I'm not attacking her, I assure you.

I don't have a problem with feeding children. It's not their fault where they come from, and children need food. At any rate it's not much of a tax bite for anyone, compared to the massive overhead that it takes to support law and order, schools, EMS, etc. And it promotes law and order if people are fed instead of having to steal for food.

I understand that you're angry at having to pay for things like that, and I'd be fine with you being able to deduct from your taxes all of the things that you disagree with ...

As long as people who don't agree with spending money on the military can deduct those taxes too, if it is against their better judgment.

But we live in a democracy of sorts. We all have to pay taxes to support things that we disagree with. You're not the lone ranger here. We're all in the same boat, we just have a different view of what's important.

I could refute some other things that you said, but I won't. You already feel like I started this thread to attack you, and I'm sorry that you feel that way. That was not my intention.

Maybe it would be better if we give it a rest for now, and come back here and talk after we've slept on it. That's what I plan to do.

Now that response is one i can respect!
We just disagree in some things .

Now that response is one i can respect!
We just disagree in some things . Originally Posted by winn dixie

Yes, we do, and that's okay. Vive la difference, as the French say.

I’d say yes they contribute to the high cost.
People spend thousands on tickets to SXSW, ACL, Formula 1.
All are more geared to the affluent.
Just for kicks I checked into Burning Man. (not in atx)
300 per day just to get to the outer circle of the event.
Parking for 3 days runs in the thousands.
Basically was going to cost more than a vacation to just about anywhere in the world.
They see trendy yuppies with money, and boy oh boy do they want to take it all.
Why wouldn’t hooker’s set rates high?

I’d say yes they contribute to the high cost.
People spend thousands on tickets to SXSW, ACL, Formula 1.
All are more geared to the affluent.
Just for kicks I checked into Burning Man. (not in atx)
300 per day just to get to the outer circle of the event.
Parking for 3 days runs in the thousands.
Basically was going to cost more than a vacation to just about anywhere in the world.
They see trendy yuppies with money, and boy oh boy do they want to take it all.
Why wouldn’t hooker’s set rates high? Originally Posted by Spoogebob Cumpants

Maybe so, and I generally avoid hobbying during SxSW, ACL fest, and Formula 1 because of traffic, so I can't speak about rates when that stuff is going on. The rest of the time it seems pretty normal considering how the cost of living keeps going up.

I just love Austin. Most people are friendly and it's not hard to find people I like hanging out with. I don't agree with all the tax decisions, but on whole, I think they get it right more often than not.

Though I can understand that if you are a Republican or Libertarian, being in a city like Austin, which is around 70% Democrats, could be difficult. That being said, nobody is forced to live here. There are plenty of other towns like Marble Falls, where Austin haters can thrive.

If thing were to ever get too expensive, I would move. But I wouldn't move to Marble Falls!

"Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded." - Yogi Berra