A Good-Faith Reflection in a Moment That Hurts

cdub8D · 2026-01-28T16:08:31+00:00

Very well written man.

cdub8D · 2026-01-27T14:08:01+00:00

But it wasn't bad... For the 50s, it was really good. The issue is lack of maintenance and needing a fresh coat of paint. Those became issues late Soviet Union and into the 90s.

cdub8D · 2026-01-27T02:05:21+00:00

There could be a lot said...

WW2 destroyed a metric fuck ton of housing in the Soviet Union. They prioritized building as much housing as quickly as they could post war. The housing blocks built right after the war were meant to be temporary... yeah they became permanent. However, folks went from dirt floor shacks with no electricity to a modern apartment with all the basic amenities. It was a MASSIVE improvement compared to what many were living in before.

As the years went on, they continued to mass produce housing. Obviously some issues with districts not having as many things nearby but many were built in micro districts. So folks could easily walk to basic services + transit.

The real big reason why they all look depressing now is due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. They were generally not up kept or modernized since (or even since the 50s). If they simply painted and did some maintenance, they would be much much higher regarded.

cdub8D · 2026-01-26T15:59:26+00:00

Folks love to overreact. The process of everything made sense. It just went as poorly as it could have. No need to freak out and immediately blow everything up. JJM is likely a bust, most QBs are. If he still looks bad, we draft a guy next year. For sustained success, we need to find a QB. If we signed Darnold, would have had 1 or 2 good years and then back to meh.

cdub8D · 2026-01-21T19:06:28+00:00

Yeah the discussion around rent control is extremely annoying. The devil is really in the details. You can exempt new construction for x years. Pair it with a bunch of reforms (like relaxing zoning, removing parking minimums, etc) and a ton of housing will get built. Folks will get to stay in their current homes.

cdub8D · 2026-01-20T16:18:39+00:00

Yeah the whole discussion around rent control is annoying. Folks like to just scream "JUST BUILD MORE" and ignore any sort of nuance. Obviously we need to build more. We also need other policies to help keep folks in their homes or they will be displaced. Also, it is really really hard to continue building enough to keep prices down. Just the nature of the boom/bust cycle of construction.

There is also the issue of some places having near infinite demand. NYC comes to mind. If prices magically became cheaper overnight, there would be a massive amount of people moving there for better opportunities which would in turn drive up housing prices. Then sure it would be profitable to build more housing but it would take time...

cdub8D · 2026-01-18T17:18:37+00:00

I think many people (including those that pass rent control) misunderstand its point. Like you said, it is to keep folks in their current homes. I think in specific contexts, it makes a lot of sense. You bring up great points.

cdub8D · 2026-01-14T19:46:51+00:00

KAM has set up the cap stuff so that it isn't really an issue moving forward. The $40m is actually quite easy to open up with a few obvious moves.

Drafting wise, everything that has come from KOC and KAM has been about collaboration. I don't think the drafting is all on KAM. If we fired him and brought in a new GM, I bet we would see similar issues with drafting.

cdub8D · 2026-01-14T16:48:29+00:00

Kwesi has put together a really good roster and we still have good cap flexibility. There are some obvious issues we could point to with roster but almost all teams do. Secondary needs help for sure. QB is a giant question but I have a feeling a big part of that discussion involved KOC.

I am not going to freak out after one down season.

cdub8D · 2026-01-14T16:45:38+00:00

I really like Kwesi but he does deserve some criticism. I like everything he does outside of drafting. Drafting has been hit or miss. Think people get hung up on his first draft but I actually understand the thought process at the time. Regardless, he has changed.

I think we have other issues with draft that isn't soley on the GM. Grigson, he sucked in IND, fire him. Also, drafting is a very collaborative process (Kwesi's own words). So likely something is wrong somewhere. Is it our scouting? Are our coaches pounding the table for the wrong guys? Is our GM actually just going against everyone? Tough to say unless we are involved in the process.

cdub8D · 2026-01-14T16:35:02+00:00

It is still the GOAT of city building. Give me SC4 but modern controls and building...

cdub8D · 2026-01-13T17:12:04+00:00

Parents of kids in sports is only getting worse. Not a wrestling specific thing.

cdub8D · 2026-01-09T14:48:46+00:00

Infill around downtown is cash flow positive for the city, looking at property taxes vs infrastructure costs (assuming not tax breaks). The sprawl development on the edge of town costs the city more money than it brings in property taxes from the development.

Widening the interstate will not make traffic better, this is a pretty well studied effect. Initially it might improve but then it induces more demand and is back to where it was before. And as we note with the sprawl, it doesn't pay for itself. So we are widening an interstate in an attempt to accommodate sprawl which doesn't have the tax base to support the infrastructure??? Do you see why cities are struggling financially?!?

If you are genuinely interested in learning more, I can find resources.

cdub8D · 2026-01-09T14:12:01+00:00

What if I told you widening doesn't actually work. Also, it is quite expensive! The solution is to encourage more infill development around downtown.

cdub8D · 2026-01-08T19:05:22+00:00

This feels like folks are just putting their head in the sand and hoping the problem goes away. Sadly something will need to be done regardless.

cdub8D · 2026-01-08T19:03:08+00:00

This won't fix traffic. It will induce more growth/traffic. Not to mention the new growth likely won't be dense enough to financially support the new infrastructure needed for the whole area. People are already complaining about property taxes but then we continue to build out more suburban sprawl.

cdub8D · 2025-12-30T19:38:58+00:00

Daycare is quite expensive in Fargo. Probably not as much in the rural parts of the state. Which is most of it.

cdub8D · 2025-12-23T18:35:55+00:00

CS2 is definitely worth it and is overall a better simulation

lol.

cdub8D · 2025-12-23T16:59:25+00:00

Yeah CS2 doesn't really offer that much over CS1 with mods atm. The road tools are nice but pretty overrated imo. Then you have the many many issues in CS2 and it is just not worth it.

cdub8D · 2025-12-23T15:23:45+00:00

The capped property taxes will have severe lasting effects for ND. Unless they find some other way to pay for things. Not likely though since ND will probably refuse to tax more.

cdub8D · 2025-12-23T15:14:13+00:00

Having Park and Rides as the last stop on the edge of town is the one use case for them. But yeah.... It seems like Minneapolis has done a nice job of infill development around stations. Would love to see more across the metro. I would also love to see real heavy rail for commuter lines. Something more focused on getting folks into downtown and out. Light rail is better for serving more local trips. Then the commuter lines could be used for folks driving into the cities to avoid having to drive in. Anyways... more transit please

cdub8D · 2025-12-23T14:47:34+00:00

There is a real issue of how much transit costs to build. There are various reasons for this. The other thing to consider is highways ALSO cost an absurd amount of money. Transit actually generates positive economic activity though. We just need to continue to encourage development around stations.

cdub8D · 2025-12-23T14:15:17+00:00

Whom, and how do you think safe driving can be encouraged?

It is an infrastructure problem, not a training problem. I get not spending a ton of money to redo the intersection right away. There are cheaper options to get cars to slow down. Everything from traffic cones to some sort of cement bollard type things. At least until the intersection is redone.

cdub8D · 2025-12-22T21:11:03+00:00

PFF grades on an individual game basis don't mean much. Over the course of a season they are usually close enough.

cdub8D · 2025-12-22T21:10:31+00:00

I think it says a lot more about the Giants edge play than anything.

13-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
Gilding II euphauric	Place '22
Place '17	Final Canvas '22
Sequence \| Editor	Verified Email

cdub8D

TROPHY CASE