Maybe we'll all need to have flying cars in 30 years ...
A Texas-Sized Pavement Problem
31–40 of 70 posts
Re: A Texas-Sized Pavement Problem
#32>Collin County has traffic problems. Collin County's traffic problems are a function of its land-use pattern—which spreads development extremely thin on the landscape, and segregates uses, ensuring that people have to make lengthy motor vehicle trips to accomplish pretty much every one of their day to day needs. The offered solution: >For automobile flooding (congestion), the only way to deal with it and still have a…
Out of curiosity, why do Texans dislike state income tax, but subject themselves to 2% property tax? This was one of my family's reasons to choose against moving there.
Re: A Texas-Sized Pavement Problem
#33> $12.6 billion: The amount Collin County says it needs to spend on new roads in the next 30 years. Why should we accept that roads should be that expensive? [1] is an article that provides a good overview of the rise in construction costs that eventually stalled new highway construction projects. One can imagine this trend in costs being reversed: in particular, 1) we should be able to reduce labor requirements thro…
Labor is more expensive. Materials are more expensive. Property is more expensive. Lawsuits from poor civil engineering are more expensive. And all are getting more expensive all the time.
Your "let's make things cheaper by sacrificing quality" seems to smell of a very deep ignorance of how this stuff works.
Re: A Texas-Sized Pavement Problem
#34What is the counterpoint to this argument? I feel like I'm only getting half an explanation here. It's apparent from looking up Charles Marohn that he's contributing to a lot of pieces on the web to push this idea, but I don't buy that infrastructure expansion is a straight up ponzi scheme.
The counterpoint is the status quo. Keep building more roads and expanding suburbs. To be fair, this has worked well for the second half of the 20th century. Land was plentiful and a whole generation got the American dream suburban home at very affordable prices.
The roads were built very cheaply, often with federal subsidies, but much of this infrastructure is due for repairs and that’s where StrongTowns’s sustainability critique comes in. The status quo ignored future liabilities now coming due. And the political problem is structural: politicians get far more credit for building new roads and bridges than paying the bills for old ones or balancing budgets. So the forces that be are strongly pushing back against StrongTowns, and if you want to be skeptical and suspicious, I think it’s better to target that at the system rather than the skeptics trying to reform it.
Re: A Texas-Sized Pavement Problem
#35Texas is big, red, suburban, and growing.
Texas is a success despite basically doing the opposite of what New Urbanists say at every turn.
This must really burn up writers at StrongTowns.
The big problem for New Urbanists is the fact that dense cities seem to end up with more and more expensive problems than the burbs.
Looking forward to a wave of Medium posts and Atlantic articles in 2021 professing a newfound love for suburbia as Millennials get sick of paying the bills for broken boondoggles like HSR and the dead-on-arrival Transbay hub
Re: A Texas-Sized Pavement Problem
#36>Collin County has traffic problems. Collin County's traffic problems are a function of its land-use pattern—which spreads development extremely thin on the landscape, and segregates uses, ensuring that people have to make lengthy motor vehicle trips to accomplish pretty much every one of their day to day needs. The offered solution: >For automobile flooding (congestion), the only way to deal with it and still have a…
Out of curiosity, why do Texans dislike state income tax, but subject themselves to 2% property tax? This was one of my family's reasons to choose against moving there.
This tax structure simultaneously keeps housing cheap while putting more money in the hands of workers.
Re: A Texas-Sized Pavement Problem
#37>Collin County has traffic problems. Collin County's traffic problems are a function of its land-use pattern—which spreads development extremely thin on the landscape, and segregates uses, ensuring that people have to make lengthy motor vehicle trips to accomplish pretty much every one of their day to day needs. The offered solution: >For automobile flooding (congestion), the only way to deal with it and still have a…
Out of curiosity, why do Texans dislike state income tax, but subject themselves to 2% property tax? This was one of my family's reasons to choose against moving there.
It's about where the tax goes, local vs state, worker vs landowner. Also, as a by product, helps encourage turnover. There is also sales tax for other expenditures, but a lack of state income tax in general encourages income/business.
Re: A Texas-Sized Pavement Problem
#38What is the counterpoint to this argument? I feel like I'm only getting half an explanation here. It's apparent from looking up Charles Marohn that he's contributing to a lot of pieces on the web to push this idea, but I don't buy that infrastructure expansion is a straight up ponzi scheme.
The counterpoint is the status quo. Keep building more roads and expanding suburbs. To be fair, this has worked well for the second half of the 20th century. Land was plentiful and a whole generation got the American dream suburban home at very affordable prices. The roads were built very cheaply, often with federal subsidies, but much of this infrastructure is due for repairs and that’s where StrongTowns’s sustainab…
Despite allthis, Texas roads are in much better shape than those in California despite the endless wave of bonds, Propositions, fees, and taxes that Californians impose upon themselves (monies all silently diverted into the general fund to shore up public employee pensions)
Re: A Texas-Sized Pavement Problem
#39>Collin County has traffic problems. Collin County's traffic problems are a function of its land-use pattern—which spreads development extremely thin on the landscape, and segregates uses, ensuring that people have to make lengthy motor vehicle trips to accomplish pretty much every one of their day to day needs. The offered solution: >For automobile flooding (congestion), the only way to deal with it and still have a…
> They worship [...] They brag [...] machismo [...] suspicious glances [...] hell yea brutha, we drivin [...] those stupid Californians
Sounds like it was good for everyone that you left and are not going back. The problem so many have these days is their lack of understanding towards other people's preferences, and then leveraging it to demean. Clearly, lifestyle disagreements must be wrapped up in pejoratives and stereotypes as though Texas isn't steeped in diversity.
I'm sorry your boredom on your friend's couch and other your-life-and-situation-specific anecdotes jaded you, but that doesn't mean you understand preferences of others or the general societal situations.
Re: A Texas-Sized Pavement Problem
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
The counterpoint is the status quo. Keep building more roads and expanding suburbs. To be fair, this has worked well for the second half of the 20th century. Land was plentiful and a whole generation got the American dream suburban home at very affordable prices. The roads were built very cheaply, often with federal subsidies, but much of this infrastructure is due for repairs and that’s where StrongTowns’s sustainab…
Despite allthis, Texas roads are in much better shape than those in California despite the endless wave of bonds, Propositions, fees, and taxes that Californians impose upon themselves (monies all silently diverted into the general fund to shore up public employee pensions)
Yeah, the hijinks with the general fund are a problem. I think we need an electoral system that will allow multiple parties, because single party rule makes it hard to hold anyone accountable. But Republicans aren’t viable here and we’d need multiple left parties.
Also the general fund is starved partially because of propositions like 13 that unfairly limits taxation on people whose houses have appreciated tremendously in value.