It is beautiful to see everyone work towards a good end for all.It's an awesome place filled with awesome people. Even government is local and responsive. My husband once had a problem with a new federal employment policy that intended to stop exploitation of international workers. It was good policy but it shut down the labor flow that my husband's business required despite the fact that the imported workers were short term and well paid by any standard.
A meeting of federal labor representatives and my husband's industry was quickly summoned by the local PM and they worked the matter out equitably in a matter of a week or 10 days.
We always thought we'd retire to Vancouver but then the Olympics happened and real estate started to be gobbled up and the prices escalated and then became astronomical -- and even worse for non-Canadian buyers. The last time we were there homes were going for hundreds of thousands over the stiff original asking prices.
We had had earlier opportunities to buy. We kick ourselves for not taking advantage of them but I was the one who wanted my then young kids to be able to go home to their own school. ::sigh::
You live in LA and you are shocked by real estate prices?

I looked at property in Mexico north of Puerto Vallarta well over 10 years ago near the towns of Sayulita and San Francisco. Property close to the ocean was quite reasonable. 4 years later I was in Sayulita and most property was about 4 times what it had been. They blamed all the Californians, Oregonians, Washingtonians and Canadians for snapping it up because it seemed so cheap to them. It was outrageous. There was a lot of rehabbing going on. I spoke to several new home owners who shared what they paid for the houses. I couldn't believe what they paid. I could rent a beautiful 2 bedroom house high on a hill with a glass wall opening onto a large patio and a clear view of the bay for just over $50 a night. Given that, what would possess someone to pay a half million for something they have to rehab?
The price of real estate where one originates really skews reality.
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