Random Early Lunch Post

[urbpan]

1. I'm pleased to see that after the Atheist Apocalypse there are still pigeons. It wouldn't have killed the cartoonist to change it to an American robin, but hey, I haven't given up the room in my heart for pigeons.

2. On account of the exciting mortgage crisis (Low income people out on the street! Bailouts for Wall Street Usury firms!) our options for where to move have temporarily expanded. Here's a question I asked on thequestionclub with predictably binary results (considering the binary nature of the question): You have two choices about where to buy a house. You have a 300k budget. Do you a) Buy a tiny house with no yard in Oakland California or b) buy a nice house with a gigantic yard 30 miles outside of Austin Texas?

Comments

[bunrab.livejournal.com]

The only places within 30 miles of Austin that are even faintly cool are Pflugerville and Buda, and they are still podunk-y, just with some cool features. And geez, we have been back there several times already this year, as you know, and
(a) the traffic is even worse than we remembered,
(b) fewer eateries are open later at night than there used to be,
and (c) the prices of everything at said eateries have gone up, so that a sandwich at most places now costs as much as it does here in B'more.

My brother J and his wife and 2 kids live in Oakland. They live in a very nice area. However, their house DOES meet the "no yard to speak of" description; they have cats rather than dogs, so it doesn't bother them, but I couldn't see living there with any dog larger than a Pomeranian.