When Your Home Becomes Another's Castle

WorldNetDaily ^ | November 5, 2005 | Henry Lamb

[cougar_mccxxi]

The American dream that has motivated generations is the hope of owning a home, a sanctuary where the family is safe and the future secure. Millions of people who have scrimped and saved to realize this dream are now faced with a nightmare as sustainable development is imposed upon them.

Florida flourished as "snowbirds" flocked to the warm climate to retire. For every millionaire who bought a condo on the beach, a hundred retired factory workers and shopkeepers bought a mobile home in a retirement park to enjoy their remaining days fishing and playing shuffleboard with their neighbors.

Some of these retirement parks were created and operated by municipalities. Others were private development projects in which the residents owned their mobile home, but rented the lots. Now, as the planners' vision of sustainable development crashes across these communities, many of these retirement villages no longer fit the plan. Residents are being forced to find new living arrangements. The land on which these mobile home parks are located can produce substantially higher tax revenues if the mobile homes are replaced by high-rise apartments and office buildings.

[cougar_mccxxi]

An example of government hard at work to increase its own income?

[dsc]

It's tyranny. No lesser word will suffice.

[RockyMtnMan]

Unfortunately most Americans are too busy watching TV to care and our Representatives know it. We have become a nation of apathetic losers who talk the talk but don't walk the walk and are afraid to vote outside party lines.

The Fair Tax book was on the bestseller list for weeks and 70% of people, when polled, fully support it. If our government was truly a representative government the Fair Tax would pass without a hitch. The people don't pull the strings anymore, you can vote, but they do whatever they want once elected or simply stall any REAL reform until they leave office.

We are also a nation of ADHD, there is ALWAYS a new issue popping up as soon as what seems to be progress is made in reforming our tax system. Eminent domain is the first step toward socialism, which is where we are headed. Naturally the MSM is happy with the progress made regardless of which party is in office.

[zeugma]

I realize that abuses of ED are legion these days, as out of control governments run roughshod over owner's rights. BUT, it is not entirely clear if that's what is happening to the people mentioned in the article.

Residents of Harbor Lights MHP on Boca Ciega Bay were given the opportunity to buy their park. The price: $45 million, or $100,000 from each of the 450 residents, almost all of whom sank their life savings into a mobile home and live on Social Security.

The above sounds to me like the owner of the property decided to do something different with their property. Just because the folks living there were renting space for their mobile homes doesn't mean they have the right to do so forever. If they's had $100k (each), they could have owned their slots free anc clear, and not had to worry about it.

OTOH:

Riviera Beach, Fla., is planning to use its eminent domain power to take nearly 400 acres, displacing 6,000 people, to allow developers to build an upscale waterfront yacht club and business complex.

I'd support armed resistance in the above instance.

[OpusatFR]

Look what we have in Virginia for the governor's race: Tweedle-dum or Tweedle-dee.

The big boys don't put the money up for just anyone and a third party can't compete.

[elmer fudd]

There are trailer parks and there are trailer parks and many of them richly deserve a date with a bulldozer. From what I have seen of them, retirement communities ussually start off pretty nice with newer mobile homes and elderly homeowners who keep their places neat with lots of lawn gnomes and plastic wishing wells. As the mobiles get older and the original residents start to die off however a new and younger group of residents moves in and 30 years later you end up with the typical trailer park ghetto. Once the prostitutes and the drug dealers have moved in you can't really blame the owners or the local government for wanting to redevelop the land.

[RockyMtnMan]

I'm dealing with a new tax hike here in Colorado that all the a$$hole liberals pushed for and the MSM supported. People are soooo stupid and gullible, it's so disheartening and it's hard on the checkbook (or ATM card as it is).

The downward slope looks like the face of Pikes Peak and it's greased with vaseline. I don't know how it's ever going to turn around for this country.

[Political Junkie Too]

It's beginning to sound like we need a new Magna Carta.

-PJ

[Taggart_D]

Oh, excuse me...I thought this was an article about Israel.

[JTN]

One more reason to support the Institute for Justice's Castle Coalition.