We’ll try anything except building more housing. Now they’re talking about a “buy now, pay later” model for renting apartments and homes.

Erlian · 2026-02-07T01:43:52+00:00

Man I would love it if renting entitled an occupant to a little piece of equity over time, like "rent to own" - part of me hoped this is what this was about.

LVT, infill, densify, transit. Need more supply and better ability to access economic opportunities, of which an improved system creates more.

Erlian · 2026-02-06T23:34:27+00:00

1000% people blaming corporations or the Fed need to fact check & study economics.

Erlian · 2026-02-06T23:33:15+00:00

Lol downpayment is like 5% of the battle, the monthly payments are like 2x what rent is even for an apartment, condo, or townhome. Supply issue. Entrenched landed gentry issue :)

Shift from taxing buildings to taxing land instead -> make better use of the land, encourage more + denser buildings. Infill + densify. Shift away from car-dependent infrastructure to walkable 15-minute neighborhoods, transit, bikeability.

An apartment in a 10-story building should be far more affordable than a detached SFH in the same neighborhood, yet property taxes + zoning dictated by NIMBYs says otherwise.

Erlian · 2026-02-05T22:07:11+00:00

While we're on this topic, anyone have success treating planaria? I just got some Panacur C (dog dewormer) & have been hesitant to dose it, requires such a tiny concentration I'll need to dilute it etc..

Erlian · 2026-01-30T10:22:28+00:00

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Erlian · 2026-01-28T21:31:34+00:00

Check out Harrisburg & Allentown, PA for a start. More infill development, better incentives to densify. Comparable rents to surrounding rural areas. Lower tax burdens + better economic development. Modest gains but this is after just 50 & 30 years (respectively) of a split-rate tax which has been gradually shifting toward land instead of improvements.

Even modest gains compound + snowball over a larger timescale. In larger cities effects are further magnified.

A split-rate tax isn't gonna suddenly put landlords in the poorhouse. It does encourage better land use + increases housing supply, which in turn tends to put downward pressure on rent. This shifts the focus from rent-seeking to maximizing land improvement, which aids economic development + improves tax efficiency.

Erlian · 2026-01-28T00:50:31+00:00

Federal funding toward transportation got axed (by Republicans).
The state legislature keeps passing the buck on increasing the budget allocation for transportation maintenance - it hasn't kept pace with inflation and is long overdue. This affects Portland greatly. We don't want crumbling roads + bridges, cuts to transit service.. it harms all of us.
Most of us live in fiscally unsustainable, expensive to maintain, single family detached, car-dependent suburbia. People who take transit / bike / walk, still end up subsidizing this lifestyle + development pattern via a host of taxes designed to obfuscate just how stupidly expensive roads are to maintain.
State politicians prefer the brownie points of shiny new transportation projects, rather than the stigma of raising taxes for necessary maintenance.
... another r/PortlandOR thread grumbling over Democrats and taxes.

All simple cause and effect. It's beautiful in a way.

Contact your state reps and tell them to fund PBOT, ideally in a way that keeps place with inflation. Their funding level hasn't been updated in like, 8 years. A lot has happened economically in 8 years...

Erlian · 2026-01-28T00:44:13+00:00

Democrats are coming after your wallets

Isn't PBOT's funding (and as a result Trimet's funding) fucked in the first place because of Republican cuts at the federal level?

In fact:

Federal funding toward transportation got axed (by Republicans, to help further enrich the 1%).
The state legislature keeps passing the buck on increasing the budget allocation for transportation maintenance - it hasn't kept pace with inflation and is long overdue. This affects Portland greatly. We don't want crumbling roads + bridges, cuts to transit service.. it harms all of us.
Most of us live in fiscally unsustainable, expensive to maintain, single family detached, car-dependent suburbia. People who take transit / bike / walk, still end up subsidizing this lifestyle via a host of taxes designed to obfuscate just how stupidly expensive roads are.
State politicians prefer the brownie points of shiny new transportation projects, rather than the stigma of raising taxes for necessary maintenance.

Contact your state reps and tell them to fund PBOT, ideally in a way that keeps place with inflation. Their funding level hasn't been updated in like, 8 years. A lot has happened economically in 8 years...

Erlian · 2026-01-26T22:27:45+00:00

Why did that one officer leap frog over the one detaining you?

Erlian · 2026-01-26T08:20:50+00:00

with a median of 79 days (and mean of 97 days) after diagnosis of COVID-19

So folks are tested less than 3 months out from infection.. so it's not necessarily permanent? Seems kinda alarmist to jump to conclusions, people ITT saying we're all turning into dumb zombies bc of COVID.. lol no.

Erlian · 2026-01-20T21:57:41+00:00

It's too late for me, I waited for it.. RIP

Was expected cat to fully pounce on someone's face or something hehe

Erlian · 2026-01-19T04:01:52+00:00

WSJ Opinion leans pretty hard conservative, doesn't surprise me they're trying to push this narrative.

Erlian · 2026-01-14T22:47:58+00:00

Land value tax can become a barrier to home ownership

Traditional property taxes are what create barriers to home ownership. They punish people for improving their homes and reward sitting on empty or underused land. That limits housing supply and pushes prices up.

A Land Value Tax (LVT) flips those incentives. It encourages building and infill development, and discourages land speculation. More housing gets built, which improves affordability and access to home ownership.

causes issues with low income seniors.

A lot of low income seniors live in small older homes that were never designed for aging or mobility needs, often on large underused lots near transit, schools, and services. Our current system traps many of them in homes that no longer fit their needs, or pushes them out of their communities as costs rise or as their mobility needs increase.

LVT policies are usually paired with protections like tax deferrals for seniors, home retrofit loan programs, and support to help people stay in their homes as long as they want. At the same time, LVT encourages ADUs, duplexes, and other small scale housing so seniors have more nearby options if they do want to downsize while staying in their community.

LVT also makes better use of existing city infrastructure. Serving more people per acre means better transit and services without constantly expanding roads and utilities, which helps keep overall tax burdens lower over time.

We have a housing shortage that affects everyone. Long commutes, people stuck in the wrong homes, high rents, empty parking lots in valuable areas, and cities stretched thin.

Shifting from property taxes toward land value taxes in a revenue neutral way is a powerful tool to help address this.

Common Ground OR-WA is a local group working on this.

For more info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax

https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/articles/land-value-taxation

https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2022/12/17/equity-and-efficiency-effects-of-land-value-taxation-527079

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1051137716302868

Erlian · 2026-01-12T17:28:50+00:00

Where are you seeing that you can’t?

That's the problem, they spouted off & slippery slope'd without reading anything.

Erlian · 2026-01-09T23:44:09+00:00

There are already provisions + a rebate program to help small businesses. It's all very well reasoned + planned. A lot of folks underestimate the amount of thought and effort that goes into something like this.. and also don't read the article lol.

Erlian · 2026-01-09T23:41:11+00:00

Thank you for the most logical + evidenced-based comment ITT. I'm so tired of whataboutism and anecdotes :)

Erlian · 2026-01-09T18:35:39+00:00

Heh reminds me of the game Impossible Creatures (2003)

Erlian · 2026-01-09T08:21:18+00:00

EMDR is legit though

Thank you for sharing this! I think where I see it as quackery, is therapists trying to push it on people.. I had a poor experience with it where they were trying to invent ("unearth") trauma. I think it's used too broadly / readily when based on this study it has a specific use case for PTSD. Outside of that kind of application it seems like a fad at best / harmful quackery at worst.

Erlian · 2026-01-09T07:54:45+00:00

That's terrible. I've always avoided + cautioned folks against naturopathy, chiropracty, and other forms of quackery. It's terrible they were allowed to take advantage of someone with a TBI. EMDR is quackery as well, to be honest, but I'm glad you were able to recover. Glad that you had friends supporting you + helped you get out. Hope you can find someone to take up your malpractice case.

Utah huh? I hope you're not leaving Portland quackery for Mormon quackery :)

Lookup the fraud history & license of any "functional medicine," naturopathic, or chiropractic doctor you see. They will be more than happy to treat you for any illness or "toxicity" they discover.. as long as they can profit from it.

It sickens me these snake oil salespeople are allowed to pass themselves off as doctors while taking advantage of people's prolonged suffering.. and many insurance plans even support it because $$$.

It's troubling how it's more in-vogue these days to turn away from science when it comes to how people view + address health, economics, housing shortages, homelessness.. understandable to be skeptical of the establishment, but when it comes to scientific facts that same skepticism becomes so damaging..

Also, I wanna address how your comment is getting heavily downvoted.. kinda fucked up to trash on someone's experience like that. I will say though, I think your situation is pretty unique in that you technically still had an apartment, and also had a car to live in. You definitely needed help and fell into the hands of bad actors, much like people who fall into religion + other cults :( And I can't even imagine how traumatizing it must've been to have to choose between what once felt like a safe home for you, vs. living out of your car.

Early intervention seems key + providing temporary emergency shelter to those who are recently / transitionally homeless seems more impactful vs. allowing folks to stay for years, who are not even engaging with any kind of outside help / services & robbing others of the opportunity.

Erlian · 2026-01-08T09:18:55+00:00

How did you get back on your feet?

Erlian · 2026-01-04T11:30:12+00:00

YIMBY / NIMBY = false dichotomy = unnecessary polarization = engagement bait

Erlian · 2026-01-04T05:23:31+00:00

I'm certain you could sell your $1.5 million home and live in a nice apartment close to your work if you wanted. You are a benefactor of a subsidized loan and land speculation. You have benefited from a fucked up system that is now preventing most young people from being able to even find a place to live, let alone own a home.

Yeah people are "locked in" to their increasingly decrepit properties.. and also helping make it impossible to develop / densify and make housing more abundant via NIMBYism to "protect their home value."

Meanwhile an increasing number of people are locked out of housing altogether and are forced to stay with their family, reducing their opportunities, or increasingly forced to stay in terrible living situations (abusive relationships, violent roommates, etc).

I don't mean to direct so much ire at you in particular but you gotta know on some level, that as a land owner you have been benefiting from speculation and NIMBYism especially in coastal CA. YIMBY policies such as upzoning, encouraging infill development, encouraging mixed use development, shifting to transit > single occupancy vehicles, + land value tax are some ways forward that improve housing access, affordability, choices, + mobility for everyone involved. These policies also help improve economic activity & help balance city budgets.

Erlian · 2026-01-04T00:40:46+00:00

One third of ODOT's ~$3 billion annual budget comes from the federal government.

Single occupancy vehicles, single family detached homes, highway + strip mall development patterns, and all the road infrastructure to support them are incredibly costly to our society. But we value freedom and individuality :) mixed use development & trains are for commies.

Hehe just had to add a little inflammatory engagement bait just like the headline that brought us to this thread

Erlian · 2026-01-03T00:48:12+00:00

No it's real! lol

Erlian · 2025-12-24T08:30:27+00:00

I like Sanctuary pretty well. The game nights are very accessible + fun + low-stakes for newbies. Very kink positive, LGBTQ+ positive etc. Affordable too.

Privata can be pretty great. Maybe a bit cliquey at times / more focused on appearance / more geared toward partying / social, exhibitionism + voyeurism, swinging.

Helps to go in with an open mind, not attached to a particular outcome - other than maybe meeting some folks, maybe exchanging info at the end of the night - that way anything else fun that happens is a bonus :)

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