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Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

seattle.gov

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Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#71
post #34
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fix that whole rain thing and I'll be there tomorrow.

Yep. I have an internship there this summer, and I'll be moving from Calgary, which gets the most hours of sunlight of any city in Canada. Hope the change won't be too jarring/depressing... it was overcast every day when I was there for interviews.

So far that makes 3 confirmed interns, it would appear microsoft has recruited half the comp sci department.

I used to live a few hundred kilometers away from Seattle in the same temperature area, I can say for sure I'm looking forward to this summer!

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#72
post #66
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you expand on why the lack of personal income tax is a good thing? Instead, WA has roughly 10% sales tax which some would say disproportionately taxes the poor.

It's good in that it's efficient (consumption = income-savings so it is good that it does not tax savings), but it's bad in that it's regressive. The easiest way to make it progressive is by offering a rebate check to residents for poverty-level spending (or 2x poverty perhaps). This makes it highly progressive: low income earners actually get money from it on net. The problem is that a rebate check provides a perver…

I hadn't thought of the "residency arbitrage" problem at the state level. Presumably it would work a lot better at the federal level as a result; we already have lots of effort put into both becoming a citizen and determining who is and is not a citizen.

The other benefit of a negative tax (negative consumption tax or negative income tax) is that we could then get rid of virtually all other benefits and entitlements -- just increase the base subsidy. There's no reason to administer a food stamp program if you just give everyone a $20-30k/yr income. Same thing with student aid; why give someone subsidized loans when you can just give them $20-30k/yr and tuition/etc. costs $10-40k/yr, so a feasible part-time job (or private scholarship) covers the cost of going to school at Harvard, and you can actually save money if you instead go somewhere cheaper.

I'm not 100% in favor of giving everyone free stuff, but I'd far prefer to just give everyone free stuff vs. build an expensive bureaucracy to administer a program which incentivizes poverty and disability (a huge fraction of the SDI payments are to people who are basically employable and functional, but who can't get jobs; if they had an independent $20-30k income, there would be nothing to discourage them from doing $5-10k extra in legal work.) Obviously services other than pure transfer payments would still be needed, but the majority of welfare programs are about the transfer payments; counseling and other support could be charity, commercial, or funded separately.

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seattle has fantastic transit, as long as you pick the right neighborhoods to live in. Basically, any neighborhood surrounding downtown has fantastic transit, as well as the U. District. Transit to the major job centers in the suburbs is also quite good.

Have to disagree - lived in Seattle 2 years, have also lived in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, SF, and NYC - Seattle's transit is by a very wide margin the worst out of that bunch. It's serviceable for some contrived use cases, but a long, long, long, loooong way from "fantastic". I lived in Belltown first, and then Capitol Hill (right along the Broadway corridor) - both transit experiences were pretty shitty. The trans…

They discontinued the free-zone a month or two ago, so passengers can now get off the bus at the rear exit.

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#76
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a friendly mention that if your would-be neighborhood is Belltown or SLU, you may want to investigate some other options (unless of course you already have, in which case please ignore me!). Belltown has become worse and worse for crime (unless Phoenix Jones happens by to save you from being mugged). SLU, while nice and pristine and new, is now very overpriced due to Amazon's recent relocation there. Both neighb…

[citation needed] re: Belltown crime. SLU is a former industrial neighborhood now filled with Amazon offices and cookie-cutter apartments. Basically the positive there is that you're close to work, the neighborhood itself is severely lacking in culture.

Belltown is "dangerous" only for people who have never lived in a city with a real dangerous neighborhood. I have never so much as felt even uncomfortable walking around Belltown alone at night. I can't say the same about most downtowns of other cities I've been in, let alone sketchier neighborhoods.

Maybe I've just been desensitized, but I really feel like there is no cause for alarm in Belltown.

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#77
post #74

Question: why would a private person (as opposed to a business) need a Gigabit internet access?

Why would you need a terabyte hard drive? Why would you need 8 GB of RAM? Why would you need a Core i7 processor capable of over 80,000 MIPS?

Step back and think about what you do with a computer or mobile device today. Most of what we do involves the Internet. We don't "need" Gigabit internet access any more than we "need" the things above, but when they're present, we're free to find innovative new ways to use them.

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#78
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That and the transportation. Otherwise, Seattle is probably the place I like to live in the states the most. The traffic and lack of good public transport options is a serious negative :(

Traffic and public transport in Seattle is not as bad as Atlanta.

Or Philly, or Balitmore, or DC.

NYC has it beat, but how could it not?

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#79
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No it doesn't. Seattle has some of the best summers anywhere; it's one of the city's best-kept secrets. July and August are gorgeous. The relentless gray of which you speak is true of months like December and January.

Exactly, the summer only lasts for July and August. November to February it rains non-stop, and every other month is hit or miss. You can't really plan any trips because those clouds come out of nowhere. And that was the worst part. I would wake up and the sun is shining. I decide to go ride some trails on my bike, half way to the location it starts to rain. Plans ruined.

Outside of winter (November -> March) the rain is really light and doesn't interfere with wandering around outside. But I'm a Seattlite =).

Re: Seattle to deploy Gigabit fiber network

#80
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a friendly mention that if your would-be neighborhood is Belltown or SLU, you may want to investigate some other options (unless of course you already have, in which case please ignore me!). Belltown has become worse and worse for crime (unless Phoenix Jones happens by to save you from being mugged). SLU, while nice and pristine and new, is now very overpriced due to Amazon's recent relocation there. Both neighb…

[citation needed] re: Belltown crime. SLU is a former industrial neighborhood now filled with Amazon offices and cookie-cutter apartments. Basically the positive there is that you're close to work, the neighborhood itself is severely lacking in culture.

I have worked in or around Belltown for years. My feelings are...mixed. There is a lot of minor urban annoyances. Panhandlers, junkies, drug deals, public urination, etc. I don't feel unsafe (in daylight hours) but it does feel sort of bleak and depressing.

I respect that other people have different tolerances for urban annoyances.

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