RE: Los Angeles Home Prices Are Out Of Control
That transporter beam stuff I was hoping would happen when I was still a kid! ..... And then I watched The Fly
Yes, house prices are crazy - even in the small town in Alberta, Canada, where I lived. I still own the house, but I now live in Vienna, Austria for these past 10 years. My ex and my son live in that house at present (a 4-level split). I bought it in 78 for $ 47.000 - now the small lot it is sitting on is worth at least 3 times as much if not more. The situation is as extreme as you describe in centers like Vancouver or Toronto. When I worked for the railroad in -Canada, company officers had their moves subsidized by the company, but not the regular working stiffs (unless you got displaced because of closure, and then it was negotiated by the union, but not when you transferred voluntarily).
PS: the last image looks depressing, but somewhat familiar - similar as in downtown LA - not "Los Angeles", but "Lethbridge Alberta".