IS-SV

I agree and to some degree that is happening. Those with lower education and skill levels, less ambition, less successful careers, lower incomes are doing just that. The highly desirable parts of CA are just too expensive for some.

mmarshall

[QUOTE=IS-SV;5186923]Just as I thought or "true", and I am mystified by a retired person that doesn't travel frequently in their freetime, that's unheard of in my family (retired ones and not).

One reason, among many, why I COULD retire as early as I did was because I didn't blow a lot of cash on long vacations in my earlier years. But that doesn't mean I am a constant couch potato (despite my high number of posts). I do go places occasionally.....I didn't buy a car for nothing. But you're right....my priorties may be a litle different from your family.


Something else that would go a long way towards making parking spaces more amiable for future shoppers (or employees) would be if the state takes the money collected from these parking fees (since they are the ones who are ultimately going to get the income) and use it to install plug-in charging facilities for the upcoming pure-electric and extended-range plug-in hybrid cars (I saw a number of them at the D.C. Auto Show this week.....you'd be surprised how many either are on the way or are in the process of certification). CA will (probably) be the first state to really embrace these (and other non-petroleum) new vehicles, as it often does with new vehcle types. I think vehicle owners would like it if they could have the batteries in their vehicles being charged while they are inside, shopping. Automakers are now working with utility companies to develop 400-volt chargers that will fully charge an advanced lithium-ion battery in some 20 minutes. If the state is going to rake in the $$$$$ from these parking spaces, they might as well use it for something that, IMO, makes sense.

MrBruin09

I read somewhere that Arnold will veto this bill if it makes it to his desk

mmarshall

How you you feel about the bill, personally? I take it that you are one of the CA voters that Arnold will have to answer to in the next election (and, don't forget what happened to Gray Davis, his predecessor).

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

basically whats happening, other areas of the US are growing faster than Cali is. Cali is supposedly at risk of LOSING a House seat, while other states might gain House seats.

MrBruin09

Stupid Bill in my opinion. Arnold isn't running in the next election. Meg Whitmen the ceo of Ebay is running for governer. Hopefully she can win. She understands how to run a businsess..but you never know who will get elected in California.

mmarshall

Not just those with lower incomes, either. Nissan U.S.A. itself pulled out of SoCal and set up shop in TN, nearer to its Smyrna plant, because of what it considered too-high costs in CA. It's unclear, though, how much this bill would have actually affected them if they had stayed in CA, or it they would have been allowed to give their own employees free parking there.

mmarshall

Definitely. Gray Davis proved that.

Evitzee

Let's not all get carried away. If they take free parking away that just means you'll have more time at home to enjoy yourself. Just flick on that huge screen LCD TV and enjoy some great sports events. Oh, wait a minute, next year CA is putting a clamp on those, too. The bad thing is these wack job rulings in CA tend to portend what happens later to the rest of us poor schlubs in middle America.

Evitzee

As did Arnold, Boxer and Nancy P. ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN in sunny CA.

toy4two

why hasn't California (aside from progressive cities like San Francisco) start collecting taxes from the hugely popular marijuana storefronts? I've seen numbers in the billions that would generate and every public poll I've seen says California citizens are all for it.