We moved from DC to Camp Hill, PA for similar reasons. Camp Hill has a decent walkable/bikable community (stores, schools, etc.) Harrisburg is the capital so it has just enough going on. I miss DC for sure, but it is nice to have an affordable house and a less complex lifestyle.
although most believe the cost of commuting falls to the employee, in reality, the cost is shared. a long commute means the employee will demand more money, quit sooner, not accept the job in the first place, etc.
Buyers in a high priced area are taking on way more risk then people realize. If you have $200K and buy a $1M dollar apartment, you just put 500% of your net worth into one asset. If prices fall by 20%, you just lost all of your money. Hot markets like NYC and SF have inflated prices propped up by high incomes, restrictive building practices, low interest rates, and high desirability. You can't assume all of these factors will remain forever.
Yeah. A simple donation to the local municipality would have gotten this requirement waived. I once heard of a company getting past height restrictions by simply buying the town a few new firetrucks.
The quote is a good way to summarize what economists call "price discrimination" or "differential pricing." I think the practice generally results in a lower price for the people who "do care" than what they would have gotten with no price differences, because they end up getting a below average price. Although my understanding of that is sketchy.
I have. My great aunt was killed as a pedestrian crossing a busy road in an strip mall area. She was not crossing illegally. No charges to the driver. The driver felt horrible about it. No one in my family really blamed the driver. The mindset seems to be she shouldn't have been crossing that busy road to get to the grocery store. She was an old woman who wasn't being careful. This is a classic example of how American culture has changed. For me, it is not the fault of the pedestrian, or the driver, but rather our society for allowing retail areas to be unsafe for pedestrians.
To be a cartel, you simply need to agree to limit supply to keep prices higher. So it sounds more like a cartel of survival rather than to make obscene profits.
If I was a member of this church, I would be upset by the seemingly misappropriation of resources. Has anyone in the leadership calculated the likelihood of an attack. Have they considered other safely improvements that might statistically save more lives? On-site ambulance during services, speed bumps, etc. What services are going to lose funding? Wouldn't you rather have an extra youth director, give more to the local charities, or have a few free concerts?
I kinda wish this would happen in my city, where motorists rule, and the brave cyclists are treated like inferior annoyances. I do agree these "rich" areas should not be limited to a select few.
For those of you in the US interested in this topic, I suggest listening to podcast called The Kunstlercast. It really opened my eyes and altered my views on housing, land use, transportation, etc.
People do want to live in them. It is the people who control what gets built that don't. Consider a neighborhood with a great school. You don't think families would jump at the chance to live in a new apartment in that town? The town planners, however, will fear apartments will bring in people that might lower the quality of the school, bring town test scores, etc. The only apartments allowed will be retirement communities.
Where in upstate? You should look up Duncan Crary, who lives in Troy, NY. He did a ton of podcasts with James Howard Kunstler, and has a newer one called a Small American City. It is about this very topic of revitalizing small American cities. There is also Ithaca, NY.
Exactly right. Young people today would rather be poor in a "trendy" city, than rich in a not so trendy one. It has almost become a badge of honor of how much you can rough it to stay afloat in X trendy city. I am guessing it was not like this for previous generations, and I think it leads to too much homogeneity of culture. I think we should start to encouraging people to go to a uncool city and help build it up and make it cool.
The tenants will need devise a new service to perform for the land owner. Perhaps build him a house, maintain the land, watch his kids, etc. Option 2 might be to pass a property tax to encourage the land owner to sell some of his excess land.
Depends on your definition of proper disposal. Putting anything in a landfill other than biodegradable materials just seems far less than ideal. Won’t the metals, precious elements, batteries, etc. eventually need to be dealt with by future generations? Isn't the true cost simply being postponed?
> Nobody wants to share things.
I don't think that is always true. Some people want to see resources being used efficiently, which is why they like to share.
Is the cause "air" pollution, or could it be "noise" pollution? I would think living near loud traffic areas might lead to less quality sleep for the brain. And a lack of sleep is linked with alzheimers. Just a thought.
Ouch, that's pretty harsh. I really don't. And I would agree your examples fit medical care and are excellent points. I just wanted to people to consider, is artificial hormones really more healthy? Is healthcare an accurate term?
I mostly agree with you. But I am willing to bet the the baggage fee is much more than what is costs the airline to transport the bag. Which would mean the airline is generating more profit from the bag people than the bag-less.
Right. It also seems like school districts in these high priced cities are either really, really good, or really, really bad. It is harder to find a "middle" of the road school district.