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Comment by chickenzzzzu | Hacker News Reader

I would be very interested in hearing how you subsidize my lifestyle, and I will refrain from flippant attacks like "do you pay my mortgage" because it sounds like you are alleging there is some externality that I am producing that you are paying for.

Regarding horrible commutes, I for one believe that it is the companies who demand in person work who are the ones who are being coddled here with transport infrastructure. In reality, we need a two speed road network-- one for seriously heavy trucking, and the other for bikes. I have no problem giving up my personal car, if that's the angle you are going to take.

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> and I will refrain from flippant attacks like "do you pay my mortgage"

Well to start with, have you heard of the Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction? I quite arguably do contribute to your mortgage!

The actual answer is far more complex. https://www.strongtowns.org/ has some info, though some of their stuff is debatable.

Whatever the closest shared government you have pays more to provide services to sparsely-populated areas than densely-populated ones.

But frequently, those governments do not charge people who live in sparsely-populated areas enough to cover those increased costs.

For example, a mile of urban street/utilities might serve 40,000 people, while a mile of suburban street/utilities may serve 400.

There's a decent amount of writing and videos on the subject, both for[1] and against[2]. The "for" arguments have convinced me because they use data and are presented by experts in urban planning and government, while the "against" arguments rely on appealing to principles/emotion and are frequently presented by politicians who treat the suggestion as a cultural threat.

1: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/1/9/the-real-reason...

2: https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/do-cities-really-subsidiz...

My reaction to this information is, anyone is welcome to build a city. I don't think the government should block you from it. I'll even pay part of my salary to keep you there.

But do not come looking to me to adopt your way of life. Furthermore, if that means that you in turn shut off my sewer and electric and police and etc, I have absolutely no problem with that.

Thanks to technology, it has never been easier for me to have my own self contained sewer, my own solar panels, my own well/water delivery.

Yes you can say these things are inefficient, but as always life is a spectrum. Does your apartment have its own heat producing unit? Why aren't you using the soviet style centralized heat system that heats the whole town? They don't even have thermostats-- just open a window!

Trust me, I don't want any of your hand outs, I'm sorry I receive them at all. And I'm sorry that SFH people mess up your zoning on purpose playing dirty politics games. I don't support any of that, and I'm happy to let my house drop in value. But my land is my land, and anything one inch outside of that is not.

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