4 ms·

It'll be interesting to see if habits change. It takes 30 days to change a habit. Will people just get used to not eating out. Personally I am enjoying this lac

It'll be interesting to see if habits change. It takes 30 days to change a habit. Will people just get used to not eating out. Personally I am enjoying this lack of unnecessarily bullshit spending that is imposed by the quarantine.

mulmen 7y ago
I think the change in habit will have catastrophic impacts in the short term. Landlords seem totally willing to let prime restaurant real estate sit open. In my neighborhood several storefronts have sat vacant for years waiting for a tenant that can survive more than a few months. Rents continually increase. This drives up food prices and landlords have become accustomed to those rates. Post-virus the new demand will not support those prices. I am enjoying spending less money to eat but restaurants will not be able to reduce price to meet the lesser demand because their rents will not go down any time soon. The current restaurants will have to fail and that property will have to sit for potentially years before rent is reduced. We need a penalty (additional property tax?) on vacant real estate to drive prices back down with shifting demand.
- quickthrower2 7y ago
  Yes a vacancy tax would help in that scenario. But why would landlords leave the place empty rather than taking some rent. Are a lot of them without debt and own the buildings outright?
  - mulmen 7y ago
    There is a coffee shop down the street that couldn’t pay their rent a couple years ago, way before coronavirus. They started a gofundme to bail themselves out and promoted it on the hyperlocal blog. The nouveau riche giddily bailed them out. Landlords here seem to know, consciously or not, someone with money to burn will pay the price. I’m personally aware of several small businesses that are simply burning capital from family or friends to stay alive. Almost all of it goes to rent.
bcrosby95 7y ago
For us, this was the catalyst that really got us to stick to "no eating out, no takeout, and eat leftovers". We've been trying to do this for months with spotty success. But this has forced our hand. I've really noticed it in our trash and recycling bins. They've been half full on garbage day since the quarantine. Usually we have more than we can put in them. I'm hoping this behavior sticks for us, but I kind of doubt it.
- quickthrower2 7y ago
  Also try composting if you can, it has reduced waste going into the bin by about 50%, and that compost can be used to grow more food in a few months time. Most of that compost is the parts of fruit/veg not eaten, such s carrot peel or broccoli stalks.
  - syedkarim 7y ago
    We have chickens. They eat everything we don’t. And they give us eggs in exchange.

mulmen 7y ago

I think the change in habit will have catastrophic impacts in the short term. Landlords seem totally willing to let prime restaurant real estate sit open. In my neighborhood several storefronts have sat vacant for years waiting for a tenant that can survive more than a few months. Rents continually increase. This drives up food prices and landlords have become accustomed to those rates. Post-virus the new demand will not support those prices. I am enjoying spending less money to eat but restaurants will not be able to reduce price to meet the lesser demand because their rents will not go down any time soon. The current restaurants will have to fail and that property will have to sit for potentially years before rent is reduced. We need a penalty (additional property tax?) on vacant real estate to drive prices back down with shifting demand.

quickthrower2 7y ago
Yes a vacancy tax would help in that scenario. But why would landlords leave the place empty rather than taking some rent. Are a lot of them without debt and own the buildings outright?
- mulmen 7y ago
  There is a coffee shop down the street that couldn’t pay their rent a couple years ago, way before coronavirus. They started a gofundme to bail themselves out and promoted it on the hyperlocal blog. The nouveau riche giddily bailed them out. Landlords here seem to know, consciously or not, someone with money to burn will pay the price. I’m personally aware of several small businesses that are simply burning capital from family or friends to stay alive. Almost all of it goes to rent.

bcrosby95 7y ago

For us, this was the catalyst that really got us to stick to "no eating out, no takeout, and eat leftovers". We've been trying to do this for months with spotty success. But this has forced our hand. I've really noticed it in our trash and recycling bins. They've been half full on garbage day since the quarantine. Usually we have more than we can put in them. I'm hoping this behavior sticks for us, but I kind of doubt it.

quickthrower2 7y ago
Also try composting if you can, it has reduced waste going into the bin by about 50%, and that compost can be used to grow more food in a few months time. Most of that compost is the parts of fruit/veg not eaten, such s carrot peel or broccoli stalks.
- syedkarim 7y ago
  We have chickens. They eat everything we don’t. And they give us eggs in exchange.