What happens in a town when the privileged move in (MA Libs Move To New Hampshire)

http://granitegrok.com/ ^ | March 18, 2008 | Skip

[NonValueAdded]

Bookmarked!!! What a great example of the mASSification effect. I moved here for the ambience ... now let's change it. Perhaps the town meeting should reinstate another old New England custom: warning out

[fella]

Let’s see. Rich folks move in and decide to take over. So they raise property values like a skyrocket, which is OK with the greedy and power hungry local politicians. Then the original citizens are driven out by the high property taxes and the local politicians are replaced by newbys. Kind of sounds like Vail Colorado.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

When I moved here a year and a half ago...

Any self-respecting Selectman should chuck this hussy's letter by this point...

[durasell]

Did someone promise these people that things would stay the same forever?

[peeps36]

If this douche-bag wants a community center and large grocery store she should use her own money to build it herself. I can't stand liberals who act as if having money makes them smarter than everybody else. Her and her husband had to leave MA after turning it into a liberal paradise and now there ready to ruin small town NH.

[Jimmy Valentine]

"Lisa St. Amand"

Jaw droppingly overwhelming in its faux intellectualism and condescension. An elitist fascist to her very core.

My reaction to her letter was an urge to jump in my car, drive from Maryland to New Hampshire and punch her in the mouth.

[xmission]

I feel sorry for both of us!! :)

Thanks for your pinglist BTW.

[SandRat]

Which list

Border

Scouts

FRWN

??

[Howindependent]

Has anyone else noticed that after the elitists move into a small town, they jump up and down about the lack of “community centers”, “health clubs”, big swimming pools, etc. Then they whine at the annual town meeting about the needs of the community, gets all the “new-bees” to vote to build the items (at tax-payer’s expense) with a 20 year bond that “only” increases the tax bill $100 for the average homeowner, and THEN after another year or two, sells their Mc-mansion and moves out of town, leaving the new items to be paid for by the rest of us?

[longtermmemmory]

must be about keeping the riff raff occupied and away from the “good” places.

[gidget7]

What if she was allowed to “build it” and nobody came?? This is straight out of the diversity book bag. Let's do everything we can to get them ALL together, even if they would rather not.

[Think free or die]

"Has anyone else noticed that after the elitists move into a small town, they jump up and down about the lack of “community centers”, “health clubs”, big swimming pools, etc. Then they whine at the annual town meeting about the needs of the community, gets all the “new-bees” to vote to build the items (at tax-payer’s expense) with a 20 year bond that “only” increases the tax bill $100 for the average homeowner, and THEN after another year or two, sells their Mc-mansion and moves out of town, leaving the new items to be paid for by the rest of us?

Precisely. It needn't be a rural community either, as we're learning in our suburb. We managed to kill the proposed community athletic complex, against very vocal newby opposition. Unfortunately, we are already footing the bill for fatter contracts for the "poor teachers" and full-day Kindergarten. The Kindergarten proposal flew through our School Board's approval process, now that it's stacked with "cooperative" directors who all get along as they spend themselves silly. I never saw one shred of evidence that it was scholastically justified. It's just taxpayer-funded child care.

We built a new (4th) elementary school in 2000, which was based on pretty shaky enrollment projections. The latest is replacement of the high school. I'll grant that the existing high school has seen better days and is inconveniently sprawling. The proponents of a new school stacked the deck through the evaluation process. They made sure that the requirements of the new or improved building were so great that improvement of the existing facility would cost nearly as much as new construction. The voters were given the choice of new or repair, and of course, selected new. The new building will be monumental indeed. Unfortunately, we're just now borrowing the funds, and I suspect they're not going to come cheap in this lending environment.

[Solitar]

I'm a resident of 23 winters in a small town in central mountain Colorado. We've seen lots of the same sort of people moving in, trying to change stuff, and then moving out. Most usually leave after their second winter. But we still have too many who stay on for years -- and keep meddling with their neighbors for years. I wish for more winters like this one -- to make more of those suburban liberals to leave after one winter.

[perfect stranger]

Add Kenly, North Carolina.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

I've got almost 25 years of sweat invested in what was intended as a long term family homestead. Now, I worry about whether the kids will be able to keep it when I'm gone, or be taxed off of it. I get frequent offers from real estate agents, so I know I'm in their sights.

I never bought this land for any reason other than a homestead. I don't worry about how much it increases in fiscal value each year, with a view to selling, and making a profit. What I do worry about is the kids paying more in taxes than I ever paid in mortgage payments.

We aren't "condo" people, or "gated community" people, we cleared this land with hand tools and an old pickup truck, never been a bulldozer on this land. I can walk around and tell you when I planted each Oak tree, when I dug a drainage ditch, when I built a shed. It is personal land, we live here. A house was built on the 6 acres just North of my land, folks moved in, in 6 months there was a for sale sign out front, they'll move on, and do it again, it's good money, I can't blame them, but it isn't my thing, and it will cost me, down the road.

My folks have lived near here since 1798, but I don't know how much longer we can afford it.

There is a right to use your land as you see fit, but your neighbors shouldn't have to pay for it.

If I was younger I'd start raising hogs, before they change the zoning.

[xmission]

I’m on your FRWn list. Why don’t you sign me up for the others?

Thanks again

[SandRat]

You’ve just been added to them as well.

[Chickensoup]

We are seeing this in Maine.

People who come in with money realize that they cannot buy a lot in the south coastal communities are now moving inland and want the amenities of the expensive coastal regions that they couldn’t afford and get the mini mansion they wanted.

So tired of these folks.