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Malibu CA: Soaring Beach Home Prices & Homelessness


The Hollywood Reporter recently featured a story about how the usually upscale California oceanside cities are now dealing with homeless wanderers. Beaches, streets and boardwalks throughout Souther California are now littered with makeshift tents, tattered people and their inevitable trash.

Some reasons for the influx include soaring inflation, drugs and mental illness. It all brings back memories to your travel4senior.com editor. Looking at a modest house near the beach in Malibu in 1955, the price was $30,000, a bit high for a news writer earning $75 a week. That same house listed recently for sale at $2.5 million.

Also, beachfront hotel rooms are just a bit more expensive. In 1955 they were $30 a night. Just add a zero or so for today’s prices. If your upcoming travels take you to Malibu, Santa Monica, Laguna Beach, Venice or other Southern California oceanside cities, be aware of how the growing homeless crisis could affect your visit.

Cruise ships face weighty problems: Heavier passengers PDF Print E-mail

Fat man

Maybe it’s the all-you-can-eat buffets aboard, but according to the U.S. Coast Guard, cruise passengers today weigh an average of 185 pounds. That’s 25 pounds heavier than those who sailed in the late 1980s.

This may seem to be just a problem for the passengers’ health, but the USCG report says it has more consequences. Larger ships with thousands of passengers may sail with 100,000 pounds of extra weight, affecting fuel costs.

Additionally, there are legal limits to the weight ships can carry, which cuts the number of paying passengers allowed on each cruise. To meet expenses and profit expectations, booking charges have to be increased.

So, if your bathroom scales show an extra 25 pounds or more, and you want to go to sea, consider knocking off the extra weight. Then maybe you can proudly call yourself a biggest cruiser loser.

 
 
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