Bus and train

[rootbeer1]

Strange, strange mood on public transportation this morning. qbear and I were on the bus down the hill to the Glen Park BART station when someone on the street (between stops) tried to wave the bus down.

“Stop the bus, driver,” a passenger called out, helpfully.

“I CAN’T STOP ON A DIME!” the driver exploded, as she slowed the bus down. “Don’t tell me how to do my job! I don’t tell you how to do yours! Man alive!”

The entire ridership was quiet for a few seconds. “Welcome to MUNI customer service,” the passenger behind us muttered.

Five minutes later, we boarded the downtown BART train. The train didn’t move, and after a minute the conductor made an announcement.

“SOMEONE TRIED TO OPEN A DOOR WHILE IT WAS CLOSING AND HAS JAMMED IT,” the voice said, obviously irked. “Will the person who jammed the door please close that door and refrain from jamming open the doors. If that door is not closed, this train will have to be taken out of service.”

A minute later, the voice spoke again: “The door is still open. If the person who jammed the door does not close it, this train will be taken out of service.”

A minute passed before the voice came over the loudspeaker again, this time with a trace of smugness: “This train is out of service. Please depart and wait for the next train.”

Hundreds of commuters shuffled listlessly back onto the platform. The doors closed. The train sat there for five minutes. Jack and I rolled our eyes and scanned the platform for signs of passengers beating up the one who jammed the door. The lights of other trains were visible in the tunnel, showing that trains were backing up. Finally, the doors opened again, and the commuters plodded back inside.

“In the future, please refrain from jamming open the doors,” the conductor announced one last time, with ice in his voice.

At the next stop, two guys got on and sat behind Jack and me. One of them wondered aloud, “I wonder why the trains are all backed up …”

“Well!” Jack said, turning around, his eyes gleaming. “Let me tell you!” And he did.

* * *

Going against bigjohnsf’s predictions, Business 2.0 calls San Francisco a "bubble-proof housing market.”

Comments

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

And I thought the CTA drivers' union was bad! MUNI drivers aren't required to get off their plush bottoms and close the jammed doors themselves? That's what they do around here. Their revenge is that they take their sweet time strolling from the cab to the offending car and back while we all sit and glare out the windows.

Once monshu boarded a bus at the beginning of the route first thing in the morning and, while waiting for departure, witnessed a supervisor come up and politely inform the driver that there was a change in the route for that day. The driver exploded in a rage about how nobody could tell him how to do his job, carrying on in front of him and a handful of other passengers for several minutes before storming off. I think he ended up having to wait for the next driver and the second bus of the day.

[rootbeer1.livejournal.com]

I guess the conductor eventually did get off his duff and walk to the jammed door to close it. It was a 10-car train, though, so he probably thought that he could shame someone into closing it for him, before he began that potentially quarter-mile-long walk ...

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

The stupid thing is that whoever jammed the door was probably getting off so they were yards away by the time the shaming took place.

[owenthomas.livejournal.com]

A small correction, if I may: Business 2.0, not CNN, published the article on bubble-proof markets.

[rootbeer1.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I was confused. I am on both Advil and Claritin.

[owenthomas.livejournal.com]

No worries! It is confusing, what with our website having moved to CNNMoney and all that.

[blackwingbear.livejournal.com]

Sounds like MARTA in Atlanta...

[bigjohnsf.livejournal.com]

Steve, Darling!

I'm honored that you think so much of my powers of discernment, but far from it, those are not my predictions. I'm am neither an economist, nor a real estate guru. I am merely repeating what economists are saying. (And, deconstructing how people with a vested interest spin the analysis. As I've mentioned this reminds me of the stock market in 1999, where outlets very much like Business 2.0 were telling people they should still be getting in on the equities boom.)

That Business 2.0 piece is the worst kind of PowerPoint journalism, they don't explain their reasoning in any detail, but I think they're saying that real estate prices in San Francisco won't ever go down because over a fifty-seven year period they increased by an average of 4.2 percent. First of all it's crazy reasoning to say that prices won't go down because they haven't gone down before. That is like saying that I haven't died yet, so I'm going to live forever. And, second, the market went up faster in the last five or so years than it ever has before. So, just imagine how much of a "soft landing" their could be before the average appreciation since 1949 even fell to one percent.

Again, thanks for the job promotion, but I'm not thinking any of this stuff up. I'm just reporting what the people who advise banks and huge corporate real estate investors are telling them.

[rootbeer1.livejournal.com]

Heh heh! I'm such a comment whore. I knew if I posted that link I'd get you to respond! I shouldn't have put your name on it, though -- that just made it too obvious.

[owenthomas.livejournal.com]

You may find it more enlightening to read the article itself. Here's a quote you may have missed: "San Francisco, New York, and a small handful of other big cities may suffer dramatic swings in a downturn." You may also find the study cited, "Superstar Cities," (PDF) of interest.

[greggjim.livejournal.com]

No comment.
Whore.

[qbear.livejournal.com]

I prefer to call him "hootchie."

All I know is our house is worth ridiculously more than we paid for it 5 years ago, and will almost certainly never lose its value, based on the land alone. You're in a similarly happy situation, I believe.

[markosf.livejournal.com]

I knew MUNI drivers liked the throw tantrums (apparently, it is the only way they can feel any sense of importance), but I didn't know that level of unproffessionalism had spread to BART drivers.

Incidentally, my stocks have outperformed my Noe Valley house over the last 12 years, so I guess that old adage really is is true. 'Course you have to be willing to deal with that roller coaster...

[qbear.livejournal.com]

I like to follow Chuck Schwab's advice--diversify, diversify, diversify and wait. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, 401Ks, cash--all part of the mix. And like a souffle in the oven, better to leave it all alone (with a few periodic portfolio adjustments) until ready to eat.

[markosf.livejournal.com]

While at times pulling my hair out, I have done better by picking stocks than the S&P (though have gotten better the past few years about diversifying across industry sectors.)

BART doors

[ursine1.livejournal.com]

I am surprised how after 30 years, BART trains still have doors that can take trains out-of-service. I have had this this same situation happen to me as a rider in the past. It is seldom that a conductor walks back to fix the problem. It doesn't seem to be a problem with the rolling stock here in Spain.

BART has a rule about no bikes in the lead car of a train. I remember someone getting on the first car with their bike and the announcement that the train would not move until the cyclist went to another car. Once out of the car, the conductor quickly closed the doors leaving the the biker beating on the train as it pulled from the station,

Chuck

[danlmarmot.livejournal.com]

San Francisco is a bubble-proof real estate market that won't decline? Heheheh, people don't remember the late 1980s, when everyone else said the same thing, and then watched house prices decline in SF (yes, San Francisco!)

Still... I wish I could've bought that house on Hartford St when I moved to SF in 1992. At $315,000, it was a bargain.

[qbear.livejournal.com]

Sure, if there's another earthquake, I'm sure prices will drop---temporarily. But they'll bounce back, because unless SF totally disappears, there will always be more demand to live here than housing supply (I hope).

And that house on Hartford is worth well over a million now, I'm sure.

[danlmarmot.livejournal.com]

It doesn't take an earthquake. Prices are flat to declining now across San Francisco in several places, including the Castro. It's happened before as well, in the late 1980's into the early 1990s, and it just didn't take the earthquake.

And (if I'm to be a bit argumentative for a bit :-)), that saying that 'everyone wants to live in SF, and it's a tiny place so therefore prices will always stay up' is a misread of demand.

Demand isn't just wanting to live in SF, but wanting to buy a house in SF... with prices going over a million in many areas, there isn't just as much demand. Drop prices down a couple hundred of thousand dollars, and you'll get more demand. Until then, I think it's more reasonable to rent.

For actual data on this, you can see DQNews.com at http://dqnews.com/ZIPSFC.shtm, and http://dqnews.com/RRBay1106.shtm for October's report.