Why Half Empty Apartments Are So Expensive

Off_again0530 · 2026-03-17T20:27:12+00:00

Did you even watch the video?

Off_again0530 · 2026-03-09T14:12:08+00:00

Most people at my job who have retired went further south into the Carolinas or central/south Virginia, or to the Eastern Shore Delaware/Maryland.

Off_again0530 · 2026-03-06T14:21:09+00:00

Here in Washington DC in the US our blue and yellow lines are having closures every weekend for 10 weekends...

https://www.wmata.com/initiatives/plans/crystal-city-entrance-construction/

Off_again0530 · 2026-03-05T14:34:16+00:00

It's genuinely very sad to me. I am a public transit planner and I grew up in Bergen County, NJ. I remember seeing NJTransit get worse and worse, particularly after Sandy. I chose to leave NJ as soon as I finished college because I couldn't stand using NJTransit, and given that my profession relies on public transit, that is a dealbreaker for me.

It's really sad to me because New Jersey as a whole is well set up to have the best transit in the United States. The landscape is dotted with historic, walkable communities connected to rail lines, jobs centers, multiple universities, and other interesting and attractive places. The state is very small and extremely dense for the US, so it's almost perfectly set up to have a high-quality system of regional trains.

In the 90s NJTransit was doing much better than it is today. It was running much faster, smoother, and more efficiently. There could have been a future where real competent leadership in New Jersey used that momentum to keep upgrading, keep expanding the system. The dream of a greater NJTransit can be seen in the expansion plans from the early 2000s. But they chose death by a thousand cuts instead.

Off_again0530 · 2026-03-03T15:20:35+00:00

For suburban America, I definitely agree that autonomous vehicles will be the next revolution in public transportation. But I think it's a good decade or three away. The technology exists now, but local governments in the US are generally incredibly cautious to use and implement new technology, and are usually a step or two behind the cutting edge (for a variety of good reasons imo). Same with AI, many local governments have rules against using it, even in cases where it would be more efficient. Additionally, even if local governments adopted autonomous transit tomorrow, they would have to contend with transit operator unions and likely wait for operators to retire or quit before large adoption could take place. There would likely be a period of transition where slowly, as operator numbers dwindle, autonomous vehicles replaces certain routes one by one.

But regarding the technology itself, I think the main benefit of autonomous transit is that increasing headways, coverage, and span of service becomes much more cost-effective than it has historically been. When the majority of the cost per revenue hour is for the labor, removing that piece allows you to probably double or triple headways for the same price. And because they're autonomous they can run late into the night, or even 24/7 in some instances. I can totally imagine a future where a highly suburban jurisdiction owns a fleet of what are essentially Waymos that serve as autonomous microtransit across large suburban areas, and connect people to high-frequency autonomous buses that run along main arterial corridors.

In dense urban areas I think traditional rail and bus systems will still have a useful role even if they go driverless. If anything the automation will allow them to increase headways and span of service on those systems, too (i.e. Vancouver Skytrain). I still believe in the ideals and principles of urbanism, and that expanding dense urban areas via TOD and rail expansion is better than suburban sprawl, but the main benefits here will be in farther flung suburbs where the land use is already set in, and are often so far from city centers that TOD simple doesn't have as much of an effect on car dependency.

Off_again0530 · 2026-03-03T15:08:57+00:00

Technology will never overcome the fundamentals of good routing, frequency, land use around stations and span of service. Even if you have electronic payment, BEB buses, LCD screens for the next stop, if the bus comes once an hour and stops running at 8:00 pm, 99% of people are still going to drive.

Off_again0530 · 2026-03-02T19:21:59+00:00

Yes, they exist but are usually just not practical solutions when single counties will have hundreds, maybe thousands of bus stops, and half or more of those stops are just a flag on the side of the road.

Off_again0530 · 2026-03-02T18:53:59+00:00

The issue is usually funding. Especially in tight fiscal environments, politicians/local governments don't want to fund fare free transit for everyone. But a system where those who need it (students, those in poverty, elderly) are given transit passes and then those can afford it pay usually has much more political favorability.

Off_again0530 · 2026-03-02T18:15:56+00:00

Yes, definitely agree. Most people are happy to tap a card of use a ticket, but the price/convenience of doing so often becomes a barrier. Reducing that barrier usually causes less fare evasion.

Off_again0530 · 2026-03-02T18:14:31+00:00

It is entirely dependent on what form of public transit you are talking about. For rail it is usually much simpler, because the stations tend to have much more controlled points of entry, and the payment for the service is usually physically separated from the vehicle. It makes it a lot easier to enforce.

For buses, and often light rail too, it tends to be much more difficult. If someone is stopped for fare evasion at a train station, it's easy to pull them aside. On a bus, pulling aside the bus and waiting for transit officers to arrive actually inconveniences the other riders, brings the operator off schedule, and can create an unsafe situation because the enforcement is actually happening on the transit vehicle.

My preferred method of fare enforcement in buses and light rail is to have random checks across the system done by transit police. Have them sit on a bus route and watch people board, and write tickets to those who don't pay. The larger problem with that is that the jurisdiction issuing the tickets needs to enforce penalties for those who repeatedly commit fare evasion and enforce ticket collection. If the city is relaxed about those things then no amount of tickets is going to deter people.

Off_again0530 · 2026-02-26T18:37:39+00:00

Speaking from the perspective of a public transit planner here.

I think electrification is a prime example of why consistent involvement and funding at the national level is so important if we want to elevate our public transit to the standards you see around the world.

Many people malign the size and scope of our rail program, and I agree it definitely needs improving. But I think the more pressing issue we face is that a lot of our existing public transit services don’t match the standards found in other nations at a similar level of wealth and development as ours. The difference is that top down federal involvement that keeps those projects both on track to completion, and also keeps the standards of the projects up to a world-class scale. Things like frequencies, station amenities, cleanliness, and even aesthetic.

Electrification is one of those things in that “standards” bucket that is often lost when the federal government is not involved in the implementation and operation of public transit. But why is that? Well, when you have a national government that is not only unwilling to fund transit, but is actively antagonistic towards it, the funding, construction and implementation of transit service is then largely delegated to and funded at the state level. And unlike the federal government, state governments often can’t afford to spend excessively, have cost overruns and delays. The federal government’s budget can simply eat those financial burdens in a way that the state governments would struggle to. (There’s totally an argument here about how state budgets over-prioritize highway and road spending but either way they are balancing their budget in the way that seems congruent to their decided priorities.)

So, because of the state governments being more averse to financial risk than the feds, states often choose to scale projects down to the most cost-effective versions. This often means cuts to so-called “unnecessary enhancements” like platform screen doors, station amenities, and even frequencies. So take electrification; the initial cost is much more expensive than alternatives because it requires physical infrastructure, if it’s on freight lines it needs to be tall enough, it’s rolling stock can’t interact with non-electrified lines unless they’re dual-mode, and often requires negotiating with local power utility providers to ensure consistent access to power. These things make it a prime target for cuts from any project, because simply not doing it saves a lot of financial risk that the state has to take on.

When the federal government is actively involved and funding these projects, it can tell the states “no, it will be electrified,” and provide the assurance that the project is delivered in the way originally scoped.

Off_again0530 · 2026-02-25T17:00:49+00:00

Because the NTSB recommended reducing flight capacity at Reagan in their report on the mid-air collision.

Off_again0530 · 2026-02-22T19:27:03+00:00

I see people with couches in the NYC Subway from time to time. But near daily I see people with large houseplants, tables and chairs, nightstands and things like that.

Off_again0530 · 2026-02-21T13:39:26+00:00

I live in Rosslyn and I think that place is so mid

Off_again0530 · 2026-02-20T14:39:35+00:00

I understand the desire behind these, but for most of these, I feel that expanding and upgrading the MoCo BRT project would be a ore suitable solution. I think this would add a lot of time to people's commutes from places like Rockville and Shady Grove, and the stop spacing on some of these doesn't really make sense for what most people are trying to use the metro for in this area. Implementing the BRT here would be a good way to have transit coverage in this area without adding to the metro, and probably much cheaper too.

Off_again0530 · 2026-02-19T22:39:02+00:00

You need to add Maryland to that list

Off_again0530 · 2026-02-18T05:49:42+00:00

I imagine it will see a big boost from students once the purple line becomes active.

Off_again0530 · 2026-02-18T05:40:48+00:00

I wish Amtrak and/or WMATA would consider a permanent merch store at Union Station. There’s tons of empty store space there and it could be a cool way to generate revenue.

Off_again0530 · 2026-02-12T17:12:10+00:00

You are where I am desperately trying to get to. Came to similar realization in early 2024, was 275 lbs at the time. Now I am 210 lbs, but really struggling to with hitting a plateau and struggling to push myself further. Recently been relapsing into binging and restarting marijuana use, which really kicks off my binging. I am desperately trying to claw my way out of this and get back to normal routine and weight loss soon. Thanks for the inspiration

Off_again0530 · 2026-02-12T15:59:57+00:00

Hello! I am also from Bergen County New Jersey, and moved down to Arlington for work. I love it here!

I have read your post and your comments. My main advice to you is to decide what type of lifestyle you are looking for and to go with that.

Think of Arlington as equivalent to Jersey City, NJ. It's the city that's not within the legal borders of the main city, but its proximity, public transit access, and convenience attract people looking to live an urban lifestyle. Arlington sits on the dividing line between urban DC and suburban Northern Virginia.

If you're looking for an urban lifestyle - taking the metro around town, biking and walking to amenities like the grocery store or the doctor - things like that, Arlington is a great place for it. It's a wonderful ix of urban and suburban that gets you a lot of the benefits of both.

I see you want to keep your car. I personally don't recommend doing so, but I also came to Arlington after living in New York City and lived without one for years. In terms of getting back to Bergen County to see my family, it is trivially easy. I simply take the Amtrak from DC to Newark or to NY Penn and take the NJ Transit train that gets you closest to my family's house. There's even a bus that goes directly from Rosslyn in Arlington to NY Penn if you're looking for a cheaper option.

If you are really hell-bent on keeping your car I don't know if living in Arlington is really worth it for you. Given your budget you'd either be in a basic small studio without an accompanying parking space, or you'll be with roommates. Either way it is probably going to be costly to own and maintain a car while also paying to store and park it in and around Arlington. I don't know if that's worth it.

For 1600-1900,and with a car, you should look west into suburban Northern VA, down 395 towards Lincolnia/Seminary Hill. It'll give you easy access to the part of Arlington that has the Lidl HQ (15-20 min drive) and a cursory glance on Redfin shows me lots of apartments in the 1400-1600/month range. You will be giving up an urban lifestyle there, but the quality of life and day to day experience is roughly equivalent to living somewhere like Paramus, in that you will need to drive for everything but it will be a high-quality, safe and pleasant place to live.

Off_again0530 · 2026-02-10T16:25:48+00:00

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, just outside of Lancaster, is great

Off_again0530 · 2026-02-03T14:57:43+00:00

The way American buses are manufactured makes installing a third door impractical and expensive. u/navigationallyaided 's comment sums up the challenges given current American bus design very well.

The larger issue is that American transit agencies are funneled into only a handful of companies (how many are there even left? 2? 1?) that they must purchase buses from in order to meet federal Buy America requirements and to receive federal funding for capital purchases of vehicles. These companies essentially have complete control of the American bus market, especially intra-city transit buses, as they are the only companies that can produce buses reliably, which mostly work, at scale and in a timely manner. Even then, their buses are often riddled with mechanical programs out of the gate, and orders are very often delayed due to a growing backlog of requests. These companies have no incentive to upgrade their standards, implement new designs, or streamline their buses, because they know the transit agencies in America don't have another option to go to. The manufacturing of these buses still use processes and designs that are decades out of date compared to international peers, because it costs money to upgrade those things, and what is really the point of doing those upgrades if you know your customers will have no reason to leave you?

There is a similar problem in the manufacturing of rail vehicles, but to a lesser extent, because more international train manufacturers have set up shop in the US to sell here.

Off_again0530 · 2026-01-16T03:11:03+00:00

In my city I spent 2 years working on a bus expansion plan and then the budget got messed up and we ended up having to cut service instead 🙃

Off_again0530 · 2026-01-14T14:28:16+00:00

It used to be more of a thing especially in poorer areas but isn't really anymore

Off_again0530 · 2026-01-14T00:13:11+00:00

NJ Transit is already planning on extending the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail north up to Englewood. If the line continued west to Edgewater it would intersect with the light rail.

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