Gated communities

Of course, the show put the most callous asshole as an example of a resident.

But anyway, I'm not sure why anyone here cares where someone else they don't know chooses to live. And no, I don't live in a gated community.

Skitch Patterson wrote:

i think this thread may have been more accurate 15-20 years ago... I think in many circumstances and metro areas you're seeing more people (especially the rich white folk) moving back into the cities, for luxury urban apartments and condos... and away from the 50's style suburban communities.

Oh no, these places are all over, and they're way beyond 50's style suburbs. A woman at work had to rip out half of her garden last year because her flowers and shrubs weren't on the "approved" list. Sometimes people are surprised when they find out exactly what they've gotten themselves into, as far as regulations go. They think it just means they have to keep up their property, then they're shocked when angry neighbors show up demanding that they re-paint their front door in a "proper" color, or take down their new awnings because stripes aren't allowed. I'm amazed that people will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a house without reading the fine print, but it happens.

I'd never live in one because a) I think they're creepy, and b) all the houses look so much alike, I'm sure I'd come home drunk one night and get myself arrested for walking into the wrong one.

As teenagers, my friends and i used to sneak in and tear down their basketball rims. good times.

i think they are sick. You end up building walls, as opposed to breaking them down. You mean, rich white trustfundians are so worried about brown people that they build walls to keep them out? I mean its just so absurd. I think all rich whities should be forced to spend a day in the projects, and see what life is really like for people. While they are oppressing the poor and sending youth off to die in Iraq, the poor and brown are actually fighting the war and are being brutally slaughtered by inhumane pigs out for blood.

I find it funny rich whites feel they have to seperate from society, like us poor people are too horrific to even live next to.

Gated communities are inherently racist. Its always the rich who can afford to move away from poor neighborhoods, this depleting the wealth of their former neighborhood. I would say gentrification, and white flight are 2 examples of huge problems in society.

I agree with the great Zack De La Rocha in Down Rodeo, talking about how people there havent seen a brown skin man since their grandparents bought one.

Gated communities breed racism, hatred, fear of the "other", gentrification, xenophobia, inequality.

Basically they are evil incarnate. I say while they build there communities, we should tear the walls down, and tear the gates down.

Until we control some stuff, until the poor, until workers control the system, they wont build their crap, thats how I see it.

You want to build a mansion? Fine, but be willing to send your kid off to Iraq and be willing to give away your money.

to the poster who said, this thread is outdated, that makes no sense. If I was a wealthy white male, who could choose to live in the Hamptons or in South Central LA or a poor neighborhood in chicago, its not too hard to figure out where I would live. Rich whites have always left poor minorities to dwell in hells that whites themselves tacitly support and allow to happen. After all it makes no sense, if you are white, why not move somewhere all white, because you compete only with whites for jobs. Whereas if you move to a poor multicultural neighborhood, you are "getting your job stolen" by other races.

This thread is outdated when people no longer move out of poor black neighborhoods because they are white. This thread is outdated when the hamptons no longer exists.

Cheguevara6 wrote:

to the poster who said, this thread is outdated, that makes no sense. If I was a wealthy white male, who could choose to live in the Hamptons or in South Central LA or a poor neighborhood in chicago, its not too hard to figure out where I would live. Rich whites have always left poor minorities to dwell in hells that whites themselves tacitly support and allow to happen. After all it makes no sense, if you are white, why not move somewhere all white, because you compete only with whites for jobs. Whereas if you move to a poor multicultural neighborhood, you are "getting your job stolen" by other races.

This thread is outdated when people no longer move out of poor black neighborhoods because they are white. This thread is outdated when the hamptons no longer exists.

People - no matter what race - tend to move away from less desirable areas when they have more wealth. It's not a white v. the minorities issue at all.

Cheguevara6 wrote:

i think they are sick. You end up building walls, as opposed to breaking them down. You mean, rich white trustfundians are so worried about brown people that they build walls to keep them out? I mean its just so absurd. I think all rich whities should be forced to spend a day in the projects, and see what life is really like for people. While they are oppressing the poor and sending youth off to die in Iraq, the poor and brown are actually fighting the war and are being brutally slaughtered by inhumane pigs out for blood.

You want to build a mansion? Fine, but be willing to send your kid off to Iraq and be willing to give away your money.

Believe it or not, some folks really are just workin for a living like everyone else and just built a house. People of different income levels live in areas of like income levels.

This isn't unique to white America. Look at other nations, brown nations in South America. Look at their social divide in living area. It's about income and social stature, not race. Just because this tv program put some racist yahoo on the screen as n example, it doesn't take away from that reality.

As far as giving money away, I agree (and religions that I know of support this as well) that the wealthy should help the poor because it's just the right thing to do. However, if you're just saying this out of anger, or because of some dislike of wealthier people, then that's wrong as well.

fanch75 wrote:

One more thing -

We tend to define what is excessive by our own standards of our own lives. What I mean by that is, some folks complaining about the extravagance of others probably live pretty extravagantly according to other folks. Think about the world population, and how much of it lives. I bet many of them would point to most of our lives as pretty excessive.

So, I'd think about that one a bit before getting all self-righteous and fired up against "rich" folks.

Exactly. I'd say anyone who has access to this forum is probably richer than 85% of the world....and that's being conservative. We're all rich here.

Restless Soul wrote:

Maybe people with internet access could be considered rich but this isn't about us, that's kind of missing the point. There are real poor people living in the cities right now who are suffering. That's who Che's talking about.

I dont see why having gated communities really effects those people though. If wealthy people started building nice houses next to poor neighborhoods then the property value of the poor neighborhoods would just go up, possibly forcing people in those neighborhoods out.