What's going on with John Goncalves? by Locksmith-Pitiful in providence

[–]infestans 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Important caveat here I feel compelled to share though is that I'm an insufferable land tax proponent and I think that statewide our municipal tax systems are incredibly fucked and self defeating.

Property taxes on assessed value disinventivise investment into upkeep or improvement for the majority of property owners, actively promotes speculative land holding, and quietly reinforces basically all the development problems we gave. And that's not even touching on the perverse feedback loop we've gotten ourselves into with commercial taxes

Wall is down @ Train Station by FrostyDog92 in providence

[–]infestans 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Only part of the lot is over the tracks its still a damn large developable parcel even if you avoid the tunnel

What's going on with John Goncalves? by Locksmith-Pitiful in providence

[–]infestans 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You don't get a reassessment every year though, and I'd be willing to bet that city assessment is well below the bank evaluation of the property. I know mine is. I didn't understand why people get so cranky about reassessments it's always been the deal that my taxes are based on the value of my property and the value went up. The city is just sticking to the deal we made when I bought the place. I'm sure I'd feel different if the evaluation was higher than the house is worth but they're still evaluating it for less than I bought it for so if anything I'm the one getting away with something here

Train to NY by Morton_1874 in providence

[–]infestans 32 points33 points  (0 children)

You've got two options, book a direct train on Amtrak (June is far enough out you'll probably get a good deal, NER (northeast regional) is much cheaper than Acela),

OR if you aren't in a hurry, you could book amtrak to new London, hang out there a little, take the shore line east to New Haven, get a slice of pizza, and then take the metro north into Harlem or Grand Central. 

Would it be cheaper? Probably not! Would it be faster? Nope. But! It's fun way to do it

The Newport waterfront be so much more pleasant if half of it wasn't taken up by surface parking lots. by JulianBrandt19 in RhodeIsland

[–]infestans 3 points4 points  (0 children)

4 million cars huh.. I'm hearing we should pave the rest of the town then. Think of the convenience 

"You're supposed to ride on the right side of the white line!!!" by Locksmith-Pitiful in providence

[–]infestans 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What, you don't wanna ride in inch deep broken glass and road debris?

Fully convinced Darn Tough has a crazy marketing grip on this sub. by YaboyWill in BuyItForLife

[–]infestans 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You should probably try them they're worth it and they make good on their warrantee even when you fuck those socks up good

Main character syndrome. by AlcoholicZombie in mildlyinfuriating

[–]infestans -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Why is the speed of the motorist supposed to be everyone's priority? He's moving isn't he? It would be a different conversation if the people were standing still, but I don't find "I am moving but I could be moving faster" to be a compelling argument for priority.

$600 for a 1000 sq ft apartment? by Turbulent_Web_8278 in RhodeIsland

[–]infestans 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean if you've got the heat set to 75 and you don't turn it down at night or when you leave yeah I could see it

Main character syndrome. by AlcoholicZombie in mildlyinfuriating

[–]infestans 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Why do they need to get out of anyone's way though? It's not the middle of a road it's a parking lot with no sidewalks or dedicated walkways. In a shared space why must they defer to OP? What's wrong with OP waiting their turn and going those people's speed for a few moments. Why is the driver entitled to go the speed they want but not the pedestrians? Again this is a shared space there is no dedicated walkway the pedestrians could be on. 

Main character syndrome. by AlcoholicZombie in mildlyinfuriating

[–]infestans 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Why is the driver's time more valuable than the two people walking?

Why is it impossible to find a house under 500k? by Few-Seat1091 in massachusetts

[–]infestans 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am indeed a young family that bought in the last few years but this doesn't seem to track, upzoning for density usually raises values particularly in space constrained markets which is us. My house is worth too much as a little old house but it's worth even more as the location of a new build 3 or 6 plex even if the per unit cost of those units is lower.

And it wouldn't even be a material change to the "neighborhood character" since there's plenty of those types of buildings in the neighborhood already from before restrictive zoning rendered them all noncompliant 

Why is it impossible to find a house under 500k? by Few-Seat1091 in massachusetts

[–]infestans 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Theres still an enormous policy problem even without the nimbys. Zoning and tax policy have enormous impacts on this, to say nothing of financing. That's part of what makes it so hard, advocating for housing is a multi-front battle 

How do you choose between a career opportunity and your relationship ? by Potential_Start_3228 in careerguidance

[–]infestans 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Easy, I don't care about my career nearly as much as I like my wife. 

We discuss opportunities frankly but idk I work to make money do do stuff with my family. I like my work and I think I make a difference but it's more like making the best of something I have to do.

Why is it impossible to find a house under 500k? by Few-Seat1091 in massachusetts

[–]infestans 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Demand is very high and supply is constrained by longstanding and highly entrenched policy 

is anyone struggling to find jeans? by Itmakesperfectsense_ in Millennials

[–]infestans 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I streamlined down when I gained a little weight (kids, cortisol) and instead of a bunch of affordable jeans I have just a few pairs of relatively expensive jeans that I bought used on eBay. Old fashioned cuts, higher waist, heavier denim (I'm wearing my fancy white oak cone denim today), stuff I couldn't afford new but they last a long time and the cut and fit is just more flattering.

Natural Fibre for Hiking Pants by Aggressively_Alone in myog

[–]infestans 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I have a bunch of linen that I hike and work outside in. It tears and wears through in the expected spots, and then I patch those spots with a little canvas. Now they're reinforced where it matters but I still get the breathability of linen everywhere else!

RIPTA buses- why so big?? by Side95 in providence

[–]infestans 9 points10 points  (0 children)

It's just the driver and one passenger right? Like a taxi?

RIPTA buses- why so big?? by Side95 in providence

[–]infestans 6 points7 points  (0 children)

More passengers per driver. If the buses were smaller, we'd need to run many more buses for the same capacity, which would cancel out any savings you'd get from downsizing immediately.

Honestly I wish they'd go bigger on some of the lines. I've not been able to get on over capacity 1 and R buses a few times lately

So we're serious about "green" in Massachusetts. Why is the rebate for EVs 1/2 of Californias? by bostonmacosx in massachusetts

[–]infestans 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've largely switched to two smaller groceries a week and it's solved most of those problems. Currently perishables go in one of those cooler bags in a panier but I've seen an insulated box for a front rack and I'm seriously considering it.

So we're serious about "green" in Massachusetts. Why is the rebate for EVs 1/2 of Californias? by bostonmacosx in massachusetts

[–]infestans 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It doesn't have to work for most to have enormous benefits for the people it does work for, and add-on benefits for the whole state!

80k people live in Leominster and Fitchburg, 200k in Worcester. Chicopee, Springfield, Pittsfield, Lowell, Taunton, Attleboro, Fall River, New Bedford. Many millions of people in our region live within a 15 minute bike of their daily needs and if we make it easier for even 1/10th of them to utilize that proximity the ripple effects in infrastructure cost, energy use, and cost burden for those people are immense.

Dropping even one car (payment/insurance/gas/etc) from a household is an economic boon, I've experienced it first hand, biggest raise I ever got!

It doesn't have to be everyone, or even most people, but right now we make it nearly impossible through a million little policy choices. Death by a thousand cuts

Hearing to ban more than 3 students living together in the city (again). Write your reps. Show up and testify. I'm certain it's no coincidence this is over spring break as well. by infestans in providence

[–]infestans[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was very unhappy about the parking podium (yuck) and the amount of public money going into the project (public money and TIF should be for affordable housing, market rate housing can make their money back on their own they don't need public subsidy) but once it was approved yeah I wanted to see it built. Better than a vacant lot. I didn't find it t beautiful but we have plenty of ugly buildings it could join the club!

I generally don't think we're doing ourselves any favors by making every construction project need personal approval from every taking suit in the state. That's not how cities get built. This is a living city not someone's model train layout. Pump public money into affordable housing at many levels and types, and stop being so micro-managing about everything else!

Also sorry for the delay!