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I don't see any way this could be a meaningful survey, because the implication is that 60% of consumers would "not even consider" switching to a cheaper provide

I don't see any way this could be a meaningful survey, because the implication is that 60% of consumers would "not even consider" switching to a cheaper provider, which is ridiculous. Of course people would consider it. I'm not even personally convinced it's a great idea (I'm not currently impressed with municipal _anything_ living in Seattle), and I would _consider_ using it instead of Xfinity. I doubt there are 20% of Americans who would reject cheap municipal broadband out of principle, if it existed and was offered to them cheaply. It doesn't mean they think it's realistic or good policy.

runako 6y ago
> not currently impressed with municipal _anything_ living in Seattle Are the water and sewage systems that bad in Seattle? I was unaware, but will now be detouring to learn more (although I am a little hesitant to find out what problems could be arising on the sewage front).
- bpodgursky 6y ago
  The water quality is fine, and I haven't had sewage problems. But they are both pretty crazy expensive given how much accessible clean water there is in the PNW (https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/rain-soaked-seattle-has-nations-highest-water-bills/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/rain-soaked-s...). I'm not impressed with trash or recycling pickup, which are intermittent and expensive. Electricity is fine I guess, but we have solar and don't end up paying anything on net so I don't pay attention to the price.
  - Cd00d 6y ago
    To be fair, it doesn't seem like you have many issues with municipal management, but don't like the cost. How can you know the cost is worse than a privatized version? Intermittent trash pickup does seem problematic.
  - kn0where 6y ago
    I think the high cost of water is largely due to sewage treatment costs, which are higher because we’re surrounded by water. I think Seattle Public Utilities contracts out trash pickup to companies like Waste Management, just based on what I see on the side of the garbage trucks driving in my neighborhood, so if they’re not doing a good job perhaps the city should re-evaluate that contract.
NovemberWhiskey 6y ago
>I don't see any way this could be a meaningful survey, because the implication is that 60% of consumers would "not even consider" switching to a cheaper provider, which is ridiculous. Are you assuming municipal broadband would be cheaper? As discussed elsewhere on this thread, it's very difficult to have any sense of the meaning of the results without understanding the questions asked. If the question was literally just "would you consider switching from your current broadband supplier to a municipal supplier?" then it tells us very little other than people are making a bunch of assumptions that lead to mixed conclusions.
- bpodgursky 6y ago
  No, sorry, not making any assumptions. I'm using "consider" as "take a look and see if it's worth it". I agree it's useless without giving consumers actual numbers to look at.

runako 6y ago

> not currently impressed with municipal _anything_ living in Seattle Are the water and sewage systems that bad in Seattle? I was unaware, but will now be detouring to learn more (although I am a little hesitant to find out what problems could be arising on the sewage front).

bpodgursky 6y ago
The water quality is fine, and I haven't had sewage problems. But they are both pretty crazy expensive given how much accessible clean water there is in the PNW (https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/rain-soaked-seattle-has-nations-highest-water-bills/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/rain-soaked-s...). I'm not impressed with trash or recycling pickup, which are intermittent and expensive. Electricity is fine I guess, but we have solar and don't end up paying anything on net so I don't pay attention to the price.
- Cd00d 6y ago
  To be fair, it doesn't seem like you have many issues with municipal management, but don't like the cost. How can you know the cost is worse than a privatized version? Intermittent trash pickup does seem problematic.
- kn0where 6y ago
  I think the high cost of water is largely due to sewage treatment costs, which are higher because we’re surrounded by water. I think Seattle Public Utilities contracts out trash pickup to companies like Waste Management, just based on what I see on the side of the garbage trucks driving in my neighborhood, so if they’re not doing a good job perhaps the city should re-evaluate that contract.

NovemberWhiskey 6y ago

>I don't see any way this could be a meaningful survey, because the implication is that 60% of consumers would "not even consider" switching to a cheaper provider, which is ridiculous. Are you assuming municipal broadband would be cheaper? As discussed elsewhere on this thread, it's very difficult to have any sense of the meaning of the results without understanding the questions asked. If the question was literally just "would you consider switching from your current broadband supplier to a municipal supplier?" then it tells us very little other than people are making a bunch of assumptions that lead to mixed conclusions.

bpodgursky 6y ago
No, sorry, not making any assumptions. I'm using "consider" as "take a look and see if it's worth it". I agree it's useless without giving consumers actual numbers to look at.