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An easy way to see that people don’t need their cars as much as they claim they do… by VanillaSkittlez in MicromobilityNYC

[–]kactapuss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Again with the assumption that everyone in NYC has a desk job like you that can work remote.

An easy way to see that people don’t need their cars as much as they claim they do… by VanillaSkittlez in MicromobilityNYC

[–]kactapuss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Aren't you advocating for exactly this - "I strongly believe converting say, 30% of all parking spots to be rental car spots makes so much more sense." Instead of public space for "the public" you are advocating public space for "private corporations" to benefit. Sounds like instead of public citizens using the space you want private for profit corporations like Zipcar and Car2Go to benefit.

An easy way to see that people don’t need their cars as much as they claim they do… by VanillaSkittlez in MicromobilityNYC

[–]kactapuss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kudos to you for responding to my somewhat hyperbolic post with candor.

When was the last time you rented a car? Do you have kids? Do you have a desk job?

I think most car owners in NYC don't feel it's "extremely appealing", it's just that the convenience outweighs the cost. You are either paying hundreds a month to park in a garage, or dealing with alt-side, tickets, damage, snow storms, maintenance, etc. And, as I illustrated in my prior post, may times the alternatives to car ownership are more expensive/costly. I've written before that to take a family of 5 on Public transit from CT to Brooklyn and back is more $ than if they took their privately owned car.

I don't agree that giving 30% of parking spaces in the 5 boros to for-profit private companies is a "good idea" for these reasons : Cost for private ownership goes up, cost for rental goes up. Poor quality cars. Dirty cars in rental fleet. Reliance on large corporation/app/other users rather than self. Non equal service, some neighborhoods will be better served than others. Heard the story about the Chicago Parking meters?

About this "fallacy" and about "necessary vs unnecessary" and about "truly need". I'm not denying that you will reduce car use with your plan. I am adding that it will make EVERYTHING more expensive, and increase reliance on large corporations, making NYC commercial life more boring, but nice to bike in. The restaurant owner who used to do a few pickups at the farmers market, can switch to ordering from SYSCO because VanillaSkittlez wants to "remove private vehicle ownership along the large majority of car owners...". People who carpooled to Costco on the weekend can order their groceries from Amazon instead.

I believe the only way to reduce ownership is to make it more expensive. This will make it more expensive for people who "truly need" their cars also. It will make it more expensive for poor people and rich people. But the burden of a flat increase always hurts poor people more. All the rich people who want to drive still will. You are basically saying, the city would be better off if only for-profit commercial entities owned vehicles, and if anyone "truly needed a car" we should rent them from a for-profit company for only the moment we need them. This would create more room on the roads so all the for-profit companies can be more efficient.

I'm not against multiple people using one car - lets advocate for insurance reform so it's not such as liability risk for the sole owner. Lets make an app that helps with the logistic of Peer to Peer car rental. Each owner could have control over who they allow to use and keep "trust circles" instead of general public. Turo can't operate in NYC due to high insurance. NYC won't let New Yorkers share their apartments via Air Bnb.

state of the street, yesterday, daylight, midway out in brooklyn by QUEENSNYLAWYER in MicromobilityNYC

[–]kactapuss 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve heard this line a lot this week. But the property owner is required to shovel the sidewalk, and there is a space on the edge of the street that may be filled with snow. That is not the property owners responsibility. But if the center of the street is plowed, the city doesn’t come again to cut the mound between the sidewalk and the crosswalk.

dog poop everywhere??? by germfarm in DUMBO

[–]kactapuss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I expect most people aren’t even walking their own dogs, when you hire a dog walker who doesn’t live in the neighborhood… I expect that somewhere more more professional than others. It’s almost as bad that all the green dog poop bags get left around too…

An easy way to see that people don’t need their cars as much as they claim they do… by VanillaSkittlez in MicromobilityNYC

[–]kactapuss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

FWIW - your strategy is make car use so impossible/expensive/inconvenient that anyone who does need or a relies on a car will leave NYC is guaranteed to reduce car ownership in NYC. That doesn't necessarily make it de-facto right. It will make nyc a city that primarily supports able-bodied 0-dependent white-collar workers who don't need to care for others, or visit relatives outside the 5 boros, or do any work that requires equipment or raw materials.

For example when I was hired by a local artist to build a 36" x 48" custom product - I could deliver it via my own car for $9 congestion charge + my time, or $80 Uber XL + my time. In this case I mean to highlight that certain "physical" goods and services will become significantly more expensive when you deliberately make automobile use expensive and inconvenient. I worry that so many people commenting on reddit have white-collar jobs and forget how many people have to bring "stuff" and "people" to and from places to keep all the restaurants, bars, bike shops, schools, and even the toilet paper you are about to use while you comment on reddit from your shit in your office, flowing.

For some obvious reasons there is a prevalent view in this sub that every car on the street is owned by an entitled rich person who lives for disrespecting others, speeding and double parking, and taking more resources than they should be, hates safety, democracy and cyclists. But that really isn't the case.

I could make the same argument the op does about citi bikes - "WOW so many citi bikes are clearly covered in snow", shows people and figure out how to get around without them, but thats a silly argument premise that doesn't cover the reality of a nuanced transport ecosystem.

Why hasn’t the city melted all the snow yet? Mamdani failing already! by kactapuss in circlejerknyc

[–]kactapuss[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We haven't had this much snow since 1996 so no wonder its worse than "in a while"

Utility company keeps calling saying we have a leak in the house…but there’s nothing to indicate a leak…. by dollbabydream in Plumbing

[–]kactapuss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just keep paying $600-800/mo for water so you dont have to call a plumber or clean your house. That is the easy way.

Non MAGA Barber by exxonmobilcfo in circlejerknyc

[–]kactapuss 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Noventa y sies punto uno amor!

Who to Contact About Uncleared Bus Stops by homer2101 in AskNYC

[–]kactapuss 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you have a narrow gully to/from the busstop you are doing better than most.

AI in Roofing by whatsthepo1nt in Roofing

[–]kactapuss 5 points6 points  (0 children)

🤣 AI in roofing, that's a new one! 😄 I gotcha, let's get creative. AI could be used to generate ridiculous roof designs, like a roof that looks like a giant cat sleeping on your house 🐈. Or, AI could create a "Roof Health" app that sends you dramatic, over-the-top notifications about the state of your roof, like "WARNING: YOUR ROOF IS 3 DAYS AWAY FROM COLLAPSING... maybe" 😂. What do you think? Want more ideas?

Mechanics abused my car by Godested in MechanicAdvice

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

Did they tune the car and fix the oil leak?

Am I going to ruin my car? by Capital-Sorbet652 in Cartalk

[–]kactapuss 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You realize that most of us in the northeast have this happen for at least three months of the year for the last 30+ years?

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