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I was thinking the cheap warehouse made sense if it were to be a warehouse/logistics operation. But then a makerspace, without a huge quantity of makers living

by toss1 3y ago

I was thinking the cheap warehouse made sense if it were to be a warehouse/logistics operation. But then a makerspace, without a huge quantity of makers living nearby - huh? Then after discovering that he is a far above average target, and getting a windfall and bringing all his gear and customer's property to the site, he gets no security? Definitely seems to be a few cards short of a deck and have more money than sense. I hope he doesn't get himself or his family killed if one of those robberies goes bad.

ryandrake 3y ago
None of his ideas make sense. It just sounds like he has this picture of a life in his head, but it's not even remotely his. The last line is particularly baffling: > “It'd be freaking fantastic to own a hotel, and like, have rooftop parties and turn the whole top floor into a penthouse for me. You know? Like, that's, like, how would I not want to do that? Dude? Who the fuck are you going to be partying with? The town is full of criminals who steal from you. A makerspace? Where are the makers? An art studio? Where are the artists? Your town is "MAGA, drugs and crime" as an HNer put it in the previous article about this saga. Where is all of this culture going to magically come from, besides your imagination? This guy seems like the true "If You Build It They Will Come" believer, but he's not even building anything. And even if he does Build It, the place seems like too much of a shithole for anyone to actually come.
- riehwvfbk 3y ago
  This particular town is majority Black, so I doubt the MAGA vibe is strong. Also, if you research the town, it looks like a big casino was just built there, at the cost of $350M. Which would suggest that the RE investments this guy made might just pay out, and that the town leadership was in fact maliciously trying to get rid of him (so that someone else would profit from the appeciation).
  - ryandrake 3y ago
    > This particular town is majority Black, so I doubt the MAGA vibe is strong. Yep, according to Wikipedia, you're absolutely right. Strike the "MAGA" part from my comment! But, plopping a casino into an already-crappy town is not going to make it less crappy. And, to be fair, if his plan was to help the city, plopping a makerspace or art studio, or a science museum isn't going to move the crappiness needle either. There's no silver bullet building that fixes poverty and misery. It's not like SimCity where you sprinkle your city with evenly spaced bonus-providing buildings and suddenly all your metrics start going up. If his plan wasn't to help the city, but to arbitrage the low property values into a profitable business, then he should have bought strip mall properties and installed the usual turnkey check cashing stores, liquor stores, payday lenders, and so on. Not easy businesses, but at least they are understandable to the city and have a chance at being profitable. If his plan was to just speculate on real estate and hope that some miracle happens that raises property values, that's just high stakes gambling. Good for him if it pays off and he can flip these properties to another sucker for a profit. If it wasn't any of these, then honestly I don't get what his plan was. I'm going to buy a bunch of random real estate in a dilapidated city and... then... do what? Sit there getting robbed every time you move anything of value into those properties?
    - riehwvfbk 3y ago
      I'm just saying he may still get lucky even though he had no plan at all.
- devilbunny 3y ago
  The town is 75% black. Not exactly MAGA central. Though in terms of openness to, say, LGBTQ, it definitely isn't going to be the most welcoming place.
  - justadolphinnn 3y ago
    Skin colour doesn't really have anything to do with with whether they are MAGA or not, statistically speaking. My family and most homies I know don't care for either Trump or Biden though that's obviously some first hand stuff but lines up with the stats. Obama was the last good one anyway.
    - IncreasePosts 3y ago
      Yes, it does. About 12% of black people voted for trump whereas 58% of white people voted for Trump. A random white person is about 5x more likely to be a MAGA-hat wearer compared to a random black person. https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/exit-polls/president/national-results https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/exit-polls/president/natio...
    - toss1 3y ago
      I've got to ask what is with those family and people you know -one candidate literally worked the first black VP, has a black VP, and is literally doing all he can to help lift POCs, and the other is blatantly racist, claims that elections were "stolen" by black people being allowed to vote, and with a party apparatus doing everything possible to disenfranchise black ppl. And they DGAF which one runs the country for the next 4 years? That is a serious question - what is their thinking or feeling that drives them to this?
  - Slava_Propanei 3y ago
    [dead]

by toss1 3y ago

ryandrake 3y ago

None of his ideas make sense. It just sounds like he has this picture of a life in his head, but it's not even remotely his. The last line is particularly baffling: > “It'd be freaking fantastic to own a hotel, and like, have rooftop parties and turn the whole top floor into a penthouse for me. You know? Like, that's, like, how would I not want to do that? Dude? Who the fuck are you going to be partying with? The town is full of criminals who steal from you. A makerspace? Where are the makers? An art studio? Where are the artists? Your town is "MAGA, drugs and crime" as an HNer put it in the previous article about this saga. Where is all of this culture going to magically come from, besides your imagination? This guy seems like the true "If You Build It They Will Come" believer, but he's not even building anything. And even if he does Build It, the place seems like too much of a shithole for anyone to actually come.

riehwvfbk 3y ago
This particular town is majority Black, so I doubt the MAGA vibe is strong. Also, if you research the town, it looks like a big casino was just built there, at the cost of $350M. Which would suggest that the RE investments this guy made might just pay out, and that the town leadership was in fact maliciously trying to get rid of him (so that someone else would profit from the appeciation).
- ryandrake 3y ago
  > This particular town is majority Black, so I doubt the MAGA vibe is strong. Yep, according to Wikipedia, you're absolutely right. Strike the "MAGA" part from my comment! But, plopping a casino into an already-crappy town is not going to make it less crappy. And, to be fair, if his plan was to help the city, plopping a makerspace or art studio, or a science museum isn't going to move the crappiness needle either. There's no silver bullet building that fixes poverty and misery. It's not like SimCity where you sprinkle your city with evenly spaced bonus-providing buildings and suddenly all your metrics start going up. If his plan wasn't to help the city, but to arbitrage the low property values into a profitable business, then he should have bought strip mall properties and installed the usual turnkey check cashing stores, liquor stores, payday lenders, and so on. Not easy businesses, but at least they are understandable to the city and have a chance at being profitable. If his plan was to just speculate on real estate and hope that some miracle happens that raises property values, that's just high stakes gambling. Good for him if it pays off and he can flip these properties to another sucker for a profit. If it wasn't any of these, then honestly I don't get what his plan was. I'm going to buy a bunch of random real estate in a dilapidated city and... then... do what? Sit there getting robbed every time you move anything of value into those properties?
  - riehwvfbk 3y ago
    I'm just saying he may still get lucky even though he had no plan at all.
devilbunny 3y ago
The town is 75% black. Not exactly MAGA central. Though in terms of openness to, say, LGBTQ, it definitely isn't going to be the most welcoming place.
- justadolphinnn 3y ago
  Skin colour doesn't really have anything to do with with whether they are MAGA or not, statistically speaking. My family and most homies I know don't care for either Trump or Biden though that's obviously some first hand stuff but lines up with the stats. Obama was the last good one anyway.
  - IncreasePosts 3y ago
    Yes, it does. About 12% of black people voted for trump whereas 58% of white people voted for Trump. A random white person is about 5x more likely to be a MAGA-hat wearer compared to a random black person. https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/exit-polls/president/national-results https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/exit-polls/president/natio...
  - toss1 3y ago
    I've got to ask what is with those family and people you know -one candidate literally worked the first black VP, has a black VP, and is literally doing all he can to help lift POCs, and the other is blatantly racist, claims that elections were "stolen" by black people being allowed to vote, and with a party apparatus doing everything possible to disenfranchise black ppl. And they DGAF which one runs the country for the next 4 years? That is a serious question - what is their thinking or feeling that drives them to this?
- Slava_Propanei 3y ago
  [dead]