If You're Going To Squat, Might As Well Do It In Style

When you're going to squat, why not do it in style? That's what some squatters just did in Seattle:

The 8,000-square-foot mansion was dark and in foreclosure for years. So last weekend when the for-sale signs came down and the lights lit up, neighbors were relieved.
"We were like — 'finally, somebody's going to make that place a home,' " says one.
But then some new signs went up.
"No trespassing," the signs say. "Privately owned property. Not for sale."
That's odd, neighbors thought. The West of Market neighborhood in Kirkland is friendly, easygoing. So one of them called the real-estate agent to ask what was up.
What he said floored them. The house is still for sale for $3.3 million. Whoever is living there had broken in. They're squatters.

Danny Westneat of Seattle Times has the story: Link (Photo: Alan Berner/Seattle Times)

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Waste not, want not. Of course someplace that sits vacant for years is going to attract someone eventually. In an economy where folks are losing everything through no fault of their own, driven to it by greedy corporate raiders and sleazy bankers, it makes sense that this sort of thing would happen. People will do what they have to survive.

And those who advocate committing murder as a response should do us all a favor and point the gun at themselves to gracefully eliminate one more sociopath from the gene pool.

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I'm all for van living, did it for my last two years of college and for a couple of years of my first job. That saved me a ton of money. That being said, the van was my property and I was parking on public property and am a member of the public. So I'd argue with police that didn't want me to park on streets or in parks. I understood the concern but if I wasn't bothering anyone and I was respecting the property, I believe I have as much a right to it as anyone.

But you lose my support when you start honing in on private property. I understand all the philosophical arguments for it, but when it happens to your private party, those arguments don't hold water.

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Squatters are disgusting individuals with no respect for what isn't theirs. Just because a place is empty doesn't mean that it's for public use.

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Waste not, want not!

The house wasn't occupied; the bank obviously wasn't going to make any money off it, since it hadn't been sold for years. Nobody was using it - and then some folks decided to use it! I'm far too amused by the sheer audacity of the whole thing to be enraged.

Those of you who think that murder is an appropriate punishment for theft... well, uh, maybe you need a little less caffeine in your diets! You seem sort of twitchy.