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>Or you’re NYC and already have an existing subway. But instead of 10s of millions it needs HUNDREDS of millions (or more) to ‘fix’, minimum. Remind me how muc

>Or you’re NYC and already have an existing subway. But instead of 10s of millions it needs HUNDREDS of millions (or more) to ‘fix’, minimum. Remind me how much money is in NYC?

MBCook 8y ago
The fact that money exists they are does not mean that it’s accessible. If it was there wouldn’t be new stories about how the subway system is about to fall apart every 12 months. SV would have the best public transit on earth and wouldn’t have any homeless or housing problems.
- soperj 8y ago
  >SV would have the best public transit on earth and wouldn’t have any homeless or housing problems. They should. All that would be required is raising municipal taxes.
  - MBCook 8y ago
    It’s where it is because of happenstance. It’s not a city that needs some specific natural resource that’s only produced right there. There’s nothing stopping Silicon Valley companies from migrating to other areas in California or even other states. I’m sure there are more than enough places that would be willing to throw out ridiculous tax advantages to lure big companies there.
  - soperj 8y ago
    Won't let me reply to you. A tax on housing is different than a tax on business. You've got the priciest real estate in the U.S. If you can afford that, you can afford to pay more in taxes.
    - briandear 8y ago
      If you can afford pricy real estate, that doesn’t mean you can afford more taxes. That means that you are spending more on real estate.
    - cnasc 8y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton%27s_fork https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton%27s_fork
  - ummonk 8y ago
    They built vta and no one uses it.
    - sargun 8y ago
      I have a bunch of issues with the VTA light rail. Mostly it’s slow and doesn’t always come at the “right time”. If the choice is not to go somewhere, or take the light rail, I’ll almost always choose not to travel there, or take a taxi. Sitting in a light rail for an hour vs 20 minutes in a taxi just doesn’t make sense.
      - ummonk 8y ago
        I mean this is my issue with public transport throughout the Bay Area really, except BART at commute hours. I'm visiting NYC right now and taking the subway, and the difference is night and day.
bogomipz 8y ago
If only NYC got to keep all that money. NYC is part of NY State so the money largely lines the state coffers where it is used for pork-barrel projects in far flung places most NYC residents will never even visit. The state is very enthusiastic about taking the money out of the city but not so interested in investing much back into any transportation infrastructure to support its' cash cow. Norman Mailer once ran for Mayor of NYC and part of his platform was for NYC to secede from NY State: 'New York City would be split off from the rest of New York State, and achieve independent statehood as the 51st State of the U.S. The campaign sought to free the city from the control of "upstate legislators who don't care about the city but control our schools, police, housing, and money."'[1] And perhaps more topical is that part of that platform was also to ban all cars from Manhattan except Taxis and buses. And this was in 1969 :) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City:_the_51st_State https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City:_the_51st_State

>Or you’re NYC and already have an existing subway. But instead of 10s of millions it needs HUNDREDS of millions (or more) to ‘fix’, minimum. Remind me how much money is in NYC?

MBCook 8y ago

The fact that money exists they are does not mean that it’s accessible. If it was there wouldn’t be new stories about how the subway system is about to fall apart every 12 months. SV would have the best public transit on earth and wouldn’t have any homeless or housing problems.

soperj 8y ago
>SV would have the best public transit on earth and wouldn’t have any homeless or housing problems. They should. All that would be required is raising municipal taxes.
- MBCook 8y ago
  It’s where it is because of happenstance. It’s not a city that needs some specific natural resource that’s only produced right there. There’s nothing stopping Silicon Valley companies from migrating to other areas in California or even other states. I’m sure there are more than enough places that would be willing to throw out ridiculous tax advantages to lure big companies there.
- soperj 8y ago
  Won't let me reply to you. A tax on housing is different than a tax on business. You've got the priciest real estate in the U.S. If you can afford that, you can afford to pay more in taxes.
  - briandear 8y ago
    If you can afford pricy real estate, that doesn’t mean you can afford more taxes. That means that you are spending more on real estate.
  - cnasc 8y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton%27s_fork https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton%27s_fork
- ummonk 8y ago
  They built vta and no one uses it.
  - sargun 8y ago
    I have a bunch of issues with the VTA light rail. Mostly it’s slow and doesn’t always come at the “right time”. If the choice is not to go somewhere, or take the light rail, I’ll almost always choose not to travel there, or take a taxi. Sitting in a light rail for an hour vs 20 minutes in a taxi just doesn’t make sense.
    - ummonk 8y ago
      I mean this is my issue with public transport throughout the Bay Area really, except BART at commute hours. I'm visiting NYC right now and taking the subway, and the difference is night and day.

bogomipz 8y ago

If only NYC got to keep all that money. NYC is part of NY State so the money largely lines the state coffers where it is used for pork-barrel projects in far flung places most NYC residents will never even visit. The state is very enthusiastic about taking the money out of the city but not so interested in investing much back into any transportation infrastructure to support its' cash cow. Norman Mailer once ran for Mayor of NYC and part of his platform was for NYC to secede from NY State: 'New York City would be split off from the rest of New York State, and achieve independent statehood as the 51st State of the U.S. The campaign sought to free the city from the control of "upstate legislators who don't care about the city but control our schools, police, housing, and money."'[1] And perhaps more topical is that part of that platform was also to ban all cars from Manhattan except Taxis and buses. And this was in 1969 :) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City:_the_51st_State https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City:_the_51st_State