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It’s great until you spend literally 4 hours at the DMV and “appointments” are available two months away at a minimum. And, if we have a 9 billion surplus, why

It’s great until you spend literally 4 hours at the DMV and “appointments” are available two months away at a minimum. And, if we have a 9 billion surplus, why are my taxes so high? Other than the weather, there’s nothing I see running better than Texas where taxes are much lower. Downtown San Francisco, especially near Tenderloin, looks like a refugee camp — if the refugees were crazed drug addicts. Houston is a city of millions and has fewer homeless than the city of San Francisco. You also don’t have tent cities on the sidewalks. Nor do you have parking garages blaming thefts of auto owners who have the audacity to leave items in their car. It’s as if local governments were warning girls to not wear revealing clothing, lest they be raped. Rather than locking up smash-and-grab theives, Prop 47 treats that crime like a traffic ticket — and then blames the victim for “tempting” the crime. How backwards is that? Prop 47 — more “great” government? But sure, it’s a “great” government here in California — the weather outside this morning is delightful. The California Office of Weather Control is doing a smashing good job. To be fair, I am happy I relocated here; but it isn’t because of the competency of the government. Taxes, politics and government were in the “cons” column when I made the decision. Even housing costs were not a particular negative because I’d also be making a salary that could more easily afford it. But, I am not convinced that our expensive government provides a good value compared to other states.

smcameron 8y ago
> Houston is a city of millions and has fewer homeless than the city of San Francisco. I lived in Houston for 30 years, and the bay area for 3. If you were living outdoors, would you stay in Houston? Not a chance. If you're outdoors, go where the weather's good. Houston's weather is the opposite of good. SF's is the epitome of good.
lliamander 8y ago
> It’s great until you spend literally 4 hours at the DMV and “appointments” are available two months away at a minimum. In case you (or anyone in this thread) is unaware, AAA ("Triple-A") is a fantastic way of circumventing the DMV. I've never waited more than 15 minutes (no appointment), and the staff is quite adept at helping with more complicated situations.
- asteli 8y ago
  +1. Well worth the ~$70 annual fee. Granted, you can't do everything there (e.g. replacement photo ID), but for vehicle registration tasks it's super fast. There are, uhh, some times of day where you can get through the DMV in under an hour and a half, in my experience. But I'll let y'all figure that one out.
mikeg8 8y ago
Lived in CA my whole 30 years and your last few sentences were on the money. I wish I could say the state government was a good “value” for what we pay for it. Not there yet unfortunately
gamblor956 8y ago
And, if we have a 9 billion surplus, why are my taxes so high? Other than the weather, there’s nothing I see running better than Texas where taxes are much lower. Texas has extremely high property taxes and their sales taxes are comparable to California's. The end result is roughly the same tax burden as you would face in California, but everything about Texas is worse: the weather, the people, the food, the politics, the environment, the political dysfunction, the blatant intrusion into people's rights to live their lives freely especially if you're a woman, a minority, or not straight. Do agree about San Francisco being a shithole of homelessness, but that's a local issue, not a state issue, and part of the problem is that places like Texas send their homeless to California in part because of SF's generosity to the homeless. (Their former governor used to brag about it.)

smcameron 8y ago

> Houston is a city of millions and has fewer homeless than the city of San Francisco. I lived in Houston for 30 years, and the bay area for 3. If you were living outdoors, would you stay in Houston? Not a chance. If you're outdoors, go where the weather's good. Houston's weather is the opposite of good. SF's is the epitome of good.

lliamander 8y ago

> It’s great until you spend literally 4 hours at the DMV and “appointments” are available two months away at a minimum. In case you (or anyone in this thread) is unaware, AAA ("Triple-A") is a fantastic way of circumventing the DMV. I've never waited more than 15 minutes (no appointment), and the staff is quite adept at helping with more complicated situations.

asteli 8y ago
+1. Well worth the ~$70 annual fee. Granted, you can't do everything there (e.g. replacement photo ID), but for vehicle registration tasks it's super fast. There are, uhh, some times of day where you can get through the DMV in under an hour and a half, in my experience. But I'll let y'all figure that one out.

mikeg8 8y ago

Lived in CA my whole 30 years and your last few sentences were on the money. I wish I could say the state government was a good “value” for what we pay for it. Not there yet unfortunately

gamblor956 8y ago

And, if we have a 9 billion surplus, why are my taxes so high? Other than the weather, there’s nothing I see running better than Texas where taxes are much lower. Texas has extremely high property taxes and their sales taxes are comparable to California's. The end result is roughly the same tax burden as you would face in California, but everything about Texas is worse: the weather, the people, the food, the politics, the environment, the political dysfunction, the blatant intrusion into people's rights to live their lives freely especially if you're a woman, a minority, or not straight. Do agree about San Francisco being a shithole of homelessness, but that's a local issue, not a state issue, and part of the problem is that places like Texas send their homeless to California in part because of SF's generosity to the homeless. (Their former governor used to brag about it.)