Parking Lot Slurry Seal - Scheduled Closures

Letters went out today to notify our residents of our scheduled Parking Lot Slurry Seal to be performed next week - Tuesday November 9th thru Friday November 12th.

Please reference the color-coded maps that were distributed to see when your section of the property will be under maintenance. As a reminder all vehicles must be removed from the designated areas by 7:00a.m. in order to avoid being towed at owner's expense. We anticipate that the parking lot areas will re-open at 6:00p.m. each day.

Please contact the Management Office should you have any questions.

We are proud to maintain Alara Links at Westridge at such high standards for our residents. We do understand that this process may be inconvenient and we appreciate your cooperation.

Great News! Wi-Fi Is Here!

We are very excited to annouce that there is now Wi-Fi access at the pool and clubhouse areas of Alara Links at Westridge!

Please contact the office to learn the name of the network and the key needed for your first time logging on.

Have a great weekend!

October Is Fire Safety Month

October is National Fire Safety Month and we wanted to provide some tips on how to keep you and your family safe.

The history of National Fire Prevention Month has its roots in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. During the 27 hour blaze, over 4 square miles of the city were destroyed and left nearly 100,000 people homeless.

Given the dry conditions of Southern California and the recent heat spell, it is even more imperative that we take extra steps to prevent fires.

~ Be sure your smoke detectors are working. Never remove the batteries!

~ Clean out your dryer lint trap after each use.

~ Plan an escape route and a meeting place for your family.

~ Create an Emergency Kit for your household. You can pick up brochures from FEMA at the Leasing Office to help get you started.

~ Keep flammable items like bedding, clothes and curtains at least three feet away from heat sources.

~ Never smoke in bed.

~ Do not store anything flammable or combustible near your water heater. You should maintain at least two feet of clear space around your water heater at all times.

~ Teach kids that matches, lighters and candles are tools, not toys.

~ Do not throw lit cigarettes out of your car or apartment windows. Brush on the side of the road is extremely dry and can easily spark into a full-blown fire.

~ Remember: Get out and Stay Out!

For residents with pets, you absolutely need to visit this website. It has some tips for caring for your pets during and after an emegerncy. The best part, however, is that it lets you create a personalized window decal to notify fire fighters of your pet's identity. Be sure to check it out!

We can never be too careful when it comes to planning for an emergency. Being prepared is the first step to being able to handle the unexpected. From all of us here at Alara Links at Westridge, we hope our residents take the time to inspect your apartment homes for any fire dangers and take those first steps to fire prevention.

Drive-Thru Resident Breakfast!

On Thursday, September 30th we will be hosting another secret drive-thru breakfast!

We will be set up by 7a.m., so if you are on your way out between then and about 8:30a.m., please stop by our tables. We will have muffins, breakfast bars, bananas, apple & oranges juices and Starbucks Frappucino!

And the best part... it's all FREE!!

We look forward to seeing you all bright and early tomorrow morning!

Save the Date! Resident Pool Party Saturday, July 24th

We know it's been over 100* and the heat wave will continue. However, that will not prevent us from celebrating YOU - our valued residents!

Join us on Saturday, July 24th at the Clubhouse and Pool areas. We will have catered food from the Pita Pit, a great new place in Valencia.

We will also be hosting games with prize give-a-ways - including FREE RENT!

We always have a great time at the ALARA Links Summer Pool Party. It's a time to kick back, relax, meet your neighbors and possibly walk away with some goodies. We look forward to seeing you there!

Shh! Surprise Breakfast Tomorrow!

On Thursday, July 1st we will be hosting another secret drive-thru breakfast!

We will be set up by 7a.m., so if you are on your way out between then and about 8:30a.m., please stop by our tables. We will have muffins, breakfast bars, bananas, apple & oranges juices and Starbucks Frappucino!

And the best part... it's all FREE!!

We look forward to seeing you all bright and early tomorrow morning!

Two Recent Articles Tout the Advantages of Renting

Economy Today Requires More Rental Housing for a Mobile Workforce
Digested From "Homeownership Is Overrated"Wall Street Journal (06/07/10) by Richard Florida
Richard Florida, author of "The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity," writes that owning a home may actually be a drawback in today's economic reality. He notes, "My colleagues and I tracked homeownership levels across U.S. cities and regions to see how they correlate to other measurable demographic and economic factors. As we expected, the rates of homeownership are greatest where housing prices are lowest." However, cities with high levels of homeownership -- in the range of 75 percent like Pittsburgh and St. Louis -- had, on average, significantly lower levels of economic activity and substantially lower wages and incomes. Florida adds, "Far too many people in economically distressed communities are trapped in homes they can't sell, unable to move on to new centers of opportunity. The cities and regions with the lowest levels of homeownership -- in the range of 55 percent to 60 percent like L.A., N.Y., San Francisco and Boulder -- had healthier economies and higher incomes." He goes on to report that those who are not locked into mortgage payments have a greater degree of flexibility and resilience in the face of economic shocks and downturns than those who have a mortgage. Those individuals can downshift as needed or more easily move to take advantage of employment opportunities elsewhere. Florida currently serves as director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto.

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Independent Study Shows Renting Beats Homeownership
Digested From "76 Percent Think Renting Beats Homeownership"Orange County Register (CA) (06/09/10) by Jon Lansner
The National Apartment Association (NAA) recent commissioned an online survey of more than 2,000 Americans, which found that 76 percent of respondents see renting as a better option than owning a home. Researchers note that is five percentage points better than 2008. The top reason, cited by 64 percent of respondents, why is that major repairs and maintenance issues are left to the rental housing owner. Financial considerations, such as home-value risk and chance of foreclosure, also ranked high. NAA President Douglas Culkin states, "While some may want to declare the housing crisis over, consumer patterns of behavior are showing otherwise. . . . The simple fact remains that in a bad economy, people must make whatever changes necessary to improve their situation, especially if they have lost their job."