Tales of traffic

One of the benefits of working freelance is I usually get to work from home, hence no morning commute! Unfortunately, the other day I had several morning errands/appointments around the city and let me tell you, the commute was HELL. I was feeling lazy and decided to take the 8 tram to my first appointment instead of walking to largo Argentina... Big mistake. The tram took 20 minutes to show up (I could've walked there in the same amount of time) and when it did, there were 3 in a row, packed to the gills. Now for those of you who don't know, the 8 tram was constructed years ago to free up some traffic on Viale Trastevere and to give commuters one sure-fire quick way to go back and forth along this route. There used to be lots of different bus lines along this route but the city decided the 8 tram would make everyone's life better. And it would have... if Romans weren't such obnoxious drivers. You see, the problem is drivers block the box and get stuck in traffic at intersections so the tram gets held up by car traffic. So during rush hour, the tram is at the mercy of traffic as much as buses or cars are. Brilliant.
I finally get on the tram and after one stop, it stops... We're all told to get out because the tram ahead of us has broken down. As I start walking toward Ponte Garibaldi, I notice a huge accident in the other lane which is blocking traffic and the tram coming from the other direction. All the traffic coming from Lungotevere was blocked because people couldn't turn onto Viale Travevere, etc. Absolutely insane.

This morning I had more errands and opted to walk. MENO MALE! Trastevere and most of the surrounding areas have been paralyzed for the past few days because of the demonstrations going on outside of the Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione. This morning the entire area in front of this Ministry was pure chaos. No trams were running in either direction, buses were either not running or taking strange mystery routes, and the locals were rightfully grumbling as they trekked to their destinations. I saw elderly ladies waiting for buses to Monteverde for an hour... When I left the house they were there and when I got back they were still there, loudly and angrily discussing the annoyance of this demonstration. Now as much as I support the demonstration going on, there has GOT to be a better way. Why should an entire city have to suffer because others are protesting? We all pay taxes (or at least some of us do!), and it's not fair that we have to endure this insanity for days and days, that we can't get to work, that we can't get around the city.
Maybe they should make Milan the capital of Italy and transfer all the ministries and government offices up there and let Rome breathe a little...

Shafted

In November I got a cryptic letter from the Comune di Roma about a new property tax revision law. Since I have a hard time understanding bureaucratic Italian language, I had my accountant look it over... Apparently, the city of Rome decided it was time to review the status of certain buildings that had been classified as low-income housing (case popolari) many, many years ago but were no longer in any way, shape, or form, low-income homes. This inevitably meant the property tax would be increased- which seemed legit to me because many apartments in places like Campo dei Fiori, Monti, Trastevere were once low-incomes homes, but as we all know, nowadays they're inhabited by people who are well-off.

So it seemed fair to me for the city to increase the property tax (which is called ICI here). Plus, property tax in Italy ridiculously low compared to other big cities. I pay something like 200 euro a year in property taxes here, whereas in NYC I'd surely pay about $1,400 for a place like mine.

Being the stickler that I am, I immediately followed the procedures listed in the letter even though there was talk of a possible extension of the deadline from November to March. A law's a law, so I figured I'd get it out of the way instead of waiting. The whole process took about two weeks and cost me 600 euro plus I had to pay the difference between my old tax and my newly revised tax for the past 5 years. As painful as it was, I did it because I strongly believe in obeying the law and paying taxes- if we don't pay our taxes the city can't function, it's as simple as that. Duh!

Enter the new Berlusconi/Allemano government. With promises of abolishing property tax, they manage to sway the people. Now I'm sitting here thinking "Not only did I spend 600 euro to abide by this law, but I also back paid for 5 year's worth of undervalued property tax... and NOW they want to abolish property tax all together?!?!?".

What pisses me off even more is that people fall for this trick. HELLO- if they abolish the property tax, they're just going to have to find another way to get that money from us. The city's already in debt, there's no way they can cut that tax and still function. Property tax is a normal part of life, why don't Italians understand that?? Can you name one city that doesn't have property tax??

I'm amazed that people can be so stupid and easily conned. And I'm also annoyed that those of us who choose to follow the law in this country always end up getting shafted. Maybe I should ask the city to reimburse me for the money I spent to abide by the law?!? Hahhahha, fat chance.

I might have to call Le Iene about this one!

A stroll through Trastevere

Has anybody else seen this?
A couple of homeless people have decided to inhabit the facade of the ancient church of San Cosimato- complete with potted plants and a bookshelf. WTF?!?!
The city just spent millllllllllions renovating the piazza (and don't even get me started on that subject) because they wanted to lower the street level in order to expose the entire facade of this important church and NOW this is what happens?

These people are there day & night, it is literally their home. It's pretty much impossible to go near the church now, also due to the stench of urine- a corner has become a makeshift urinal for all the neighborhood's homeless & junkies. At least these two church residents aren't aggressive or annoying but enough is enough, come on!

Sadness

A sad day for Rome...

Money

During the past few weeks I've found myself discussing this topic with coworkers and friends alike. I suppose it all stems from the fact that I've scored a sweet short-term job in NYC this winter, and by sweet I mean it pays well.
I was playing around with the numbers, adding, multiplying, and dividing and couldn't help but notice: 1/4 of my monthly salary would cover rent, and the rest was mine to pay bills, to buy food, to put in the bank, or whatever. That's the way it should be. In fact, there's a general rule of thumb that says at max, 1/3 of your salary should go toward rent.
Try applying that formula to current Italian salaries and you'll fall off your chair. Let's say the average Italian makes something like 1,800 euro a month (I'm being rather generous here), 1/3 of that would be 594... there's no way in hell you can find an apartment, let alone a decent room to rent in Rome for that price! If you want to live in central Rome you'd have to fork out at least 1,000 euro- which leaves you with 800 to spend on bills and whatnot, and nothing to stash away in the bank. The equation is completely off balance for Roman standards. You'd have to earn 4,000 euro a month in order to be able to apply this rent formula. And from what I know, very few people have the luxury of making that kind of money.
Now let's think back to the days of the good ol' lira, this equation was actually applicable, or at least it was for me and most of the people I know. We actually earned enough to be able to pay rent and bills, and then save some money. Didn't we?
I had dinner with some friends and their friends visiting from Amsterdam and we ended up talking about Rome and the state of things. They were blown away by how pricey Rome was, and they were even more blow away when they discovered what the average Roman earned! Even in the center of Amsterdam, rent isn't nearly as outrageous as it is here YET they earn more than we do on average.
Something has gone terribly wrong here...

Lost for words...

I'm lost for words, really...

From beppe grillo's blog:

Ricardo Franco Levi, Prodi’s right hand man , undersecretary to the President of the Council, has written the text to put a stopper in the mouth of the Internet. The draft law was approved by the Council of Ministers on 12 October. No Minister dissociated themselves from it. On gagging information, very quietly, these are all in agreement.
The Levi-Prodi law lays out that anyone with a blog or a website has to register it with the ROC, a register of the Communications Authority, produce certificates, pay a tax, even if they provide information without any intention to make money.
Blogs are being born every second, anyone can start one without a problem and they can write their thoughts, publish photos and videos.
In fact, the route proposed by Levi limits access to the Internet.
What young person is going to submit to all these hoops to do a blog?
the Levi-Prodi law obliges anyone who has a website or a blog to get a publishing company and to have a journalist who is on the register of professionals as the responsible director.
99% would close down.
The lucky 1% still surviving on the Internet according to the Levi-Prodi law would have to respond in the case of the lack of control on defamatory content in accordance with articles 57 and 57 bis of the penal code. Basically almost sure to be in prison.
The draft Levi-Prodi law has to be approved by Parliament. When Levi was asked what would happen to Beppe Grillo’s blog, he replied with perfect Prodian-bottom-protecting words: “It’s not up to he government to establish that. It’ll be for the Communications Authority to indicate with regulations, which people and which companies will have to register. And the regulations will arrive only after the law has been discussed and approved by the Lower House.”
Prodi and Levi take cover behind Parliament and the Beppe Grillo Communications Authority, but it’s them, and the Ministers who were present at the Council of Ministers who are responsible.
If the law gets passed, it’ll be the end of the Internet in Italy.
My blog won’t close. If I have to, I’ll transfer lock stock, barrel and server to a democratic State.
PS. Anyone wishing to express their opinion to Ricardo Franco Levi can send an email to: levi_r@camera.it