[wplug] The evilness of it all (Verizon OT post)

O'Connor, Michael P. mpoconnor at switch.com
Wed Aug 23 10:19:54 EDT 2006


Doug I live in Shady side and I don't pay close to the number you said
(more then $400 less), you must not have been able to find a good
apartment at a good price.  And all but one utility is included.

Michael P. O'Connor
US&S 
Office: 412-688-2491 
Cell: 412-498-0667
mpoconnor at switch.com
-----Original Message-----
From: wplug-bounces+mpoconnor=switch.com at wplug.org
[mailto:wplug-bounces+mpoconnor=switch.com at wplug.org] On Behalf Of Doug
Green
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 1:20 AM
To: General user list
Subject: Re: [wplug] The evilness of it all (Verizon OT post)

Haha- I'm definitely not kidding. Furthermore, I'm not going to waste
any
time "educating" anyone (maybe "convincing" is a better word, but I have
a
hard time seeing it that way). In Shadyside you'll pay every penny of
1200
for a decent 690sf apartment, and then some. PLUS you'll have to pay
outrageous utility bills.

Buy a home in the Burgh, go ahead. It'll cost 10x less than a comparable
home elsewhere. And in ten years, when "elsewhere" has appreciated 7-12%
annually, your Pittsburgh home will be worth roughly what you paid for
it.
That's a great investment if you like to lose money. You're better off
stuffing your money in your mattress, at least there you won't be taxed
(HEAVILY) on it! Nor will you have to pay 17$/mcf to keep it warm!!

>From now on, mum's the word from me regarding this topic because I
refuse to
be in a flame war. Honestly, if you like living there more power to you.


On 8/22/06 9:18 PM, "kimberly" <kim at starjewel.org> wrote:

> You've got to be joking doug. I pay $1200/mo for a 690 sq ft apartment
in
> Sunnyvale. Real estate is the only thing that makes me want to move
back
> home.
> 
> On Tue, 22 Aug 2006, Doug Green wrote:
> 
>> Yeah, it's pathetic. Even more pathetic is that Pittsburghers have
done
>> NOTHING about the backyard monster for decades. The "don't hurt my
boss"
>> mentality runs deep there- wake up, UPMC has had the city by the nads
for
>> years.
>> 
>> UPMC makes a majority of their money on real estate deals. Healthcare
is,
>> indeed, a profitable venture- but the corporate giant has it's
fingers in
>> deeper pockets as well.
>> 
>> I'm afraid that the joke is on Pittsburgh. UPMC is the majority
employer in
>> the region. UPMC is the largest landholder in the metropolitan city
area.
>> UPMC is tax-exempt. To make up for the property taxes that are not
paid by
>> UPMC, the city looks to you.
>> 
>> I've lived a lot of places in my life- including places where "the
taxes are
>> really high"- and I've NEVER paid so much for so little.
>> 
>> I wasted 8 long years in the Burgh, hoping I'd see signs of change. I
could
>> rail on and on about how pathetic that area is, but instead I chose
to
>> LEAVE. I sold my house and got the hell out of there - and I took my
two
>> doctorate degrees with me!
>> 
>> If you've read this far, you might be thinking "good- leave if you
don't
>> like it here". And that mentality is the exact reason that Pittsburgh
is
>> losing, and will continue to lose, the highly trained young
professionals.
>> Pittsburgh has done NOTHING to attract or retain them!!
>> 
>> Food for thought: I now live 3 blocks from the beach in Southern
California,
>> and my rent is LOWER than what I paid in Shadyside (8 years ago).
Unlike
>> Shadyside, my utility bills are included. I get a personal retirement
>> savings plan instead of mandatory social security contributions. I
get a
>> renter's tax deduction for my housing expenses. There is no "tax
penalty"
>> for being employed within city limits. There's no city income tax.
There's
>> no payroll tax.
>> 
>> Yes, you are correct, there is something terribly wrong with
Pittsburgh.
>> UPMC is a good start.
>> 
>> Cheers from greener pastures,
>> Doug
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 8/22/06 7:46 PM, "Zach" <netrek at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> On 8/22/06, Brent M. Rust <rust at lucasware.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Maybe they figure that if the oil companies can make record profits
then
>>>> they too can reap the benefits of a complacent public and little or
no
>>>> competition.
>>> 
>>> Read in P-G today that UPMC posted a 77% increase in profits for the
>>> past fiscal year ending July! That is insanity. They are now up to
>>> over $ 1/2 billion in PROFITS. Hmm let's see we have most expensive
>>> health care and universities in the world which an increasing number
>>> of people can't access (and no not just the poor or working poor,
this
>>> is starting to hit the middle class), and then there is the equally
>>> trend where wages have remained largely stagnant for past 5 years,
>>> utility costs (electricity and natural gas) are soaring like e^x,
>>> gasoline prices are insane, etc. ad infinitum. Seems more and more
>>> people are working longer and harder to achieve a sub-standard
quality
>>> of living compared to their parents or grandparents' generation.
>>> Wonder how far away we are from another big social inflection point.
>>> :-) At least Linux is still free!
>>> 
>>> Zach
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> wplug mailing list
>>> wplug at wplug.org
>>> http://www.wplug.org/mailman/listinfo/wplug
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
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>> 
> 
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