Orange County & Irvine Slammed by Slate.com Article

Mr. Daniel Gross of Slate.com unleashes a rancid torrent of truth about the Orange County housing market, with a special dose of vitriol - nicely delivered - for that carefully planned OC McCity called Irvine, which Mr. Gross generously dubs "a center of reckless real estate lending and borrowing" and "the nation's capital of real estate folly".

Until recently, Orange County was New Jersey to Los Angeles's New York -- upscale but generally ignored, and not nearly so chic or happening as its urbane neighbor. Television helped change the image with glitzy offerings such as "The O.C.," "Laguna Beach" and "The Real Housewives of Orange County." These shows portray the county's glittering beach communities as the capital of plastic surgery and extreme consumption. But inland, just over the hills, the massive planned community of Irvine has become the nation's capital of real estate folly.

Wow. Ouch.

Yeah, see that gaping wound I have right over there? Yeah, I'd like you to throw a fistful of salt in it please. What? No salt? Well, do you have terpentine?

Indeed sub-prime mortgage loans (even prime loans), irrational exhuberance for real estate of any shape, color or size, and financial illiteracy are indeed biting the OC middle class and even the more well-to-do.

Got Hummer?

If you do have one, I'd like to know: Are you still enjoying your ride? I imagine by now you either hate the monstrosity with a passion or remain completely enamored with it.

If you live where I live (Lake Forest, CA) right now per gallon 87 octane gasoline is running at about $3.51 per gallon. Hummer owners are probably not only the most-frequently-seen customers at the local gas stations (8 miles per gallon city!), but they are likely dropping somewhere between $81.00 (H3) and $112.32 to fill it up all the way!

Holy crap!

I don't own one. I rented one (not by choice) on a business trip in Denver and was pretty unimpressed. Power, handling, driver comfort, road visibility...no good. But maybe that's just me. I drive a 2000 Honda Civic. But a number of people in Orange County do own Hummers, Exploders and Escalades, etc. A number of them are realtors...but don't get me started there.

But I guess you don't even need to have a Hummer to experience a coronary at the gas pump these days. Today, May 7, 2007, gasoline prices in the United States of America are only cents away from the all-time highest per gallon price in our nation's history.

And unfortunately, my opulent Orange County friends, there are few reasons to expect any future price declines as we approach the summer months and then the cooler fall and winter seasons.

So, I really do hope those of you are enjoying that gigantic beast of inefficiency and impractical machinery! Enjoy it, for the sake of the rest of us, who ride in your wake.

Now for all of you Hummer owners, if you ever see someone you've never met before at the gas station or on the road tell you to "f*&% off!" by flipping you the bird, view this site and it will help you with some background information as to the reasons why.