The Rose Garden and White House happenings: Listening to voters’ concerns
It's a good thing no one ever asked Pence or Quayle what they did / were doing during their years as VP. The Cone of Silence would quickly drop on them if asked.
GoSlugs said:
Schools are great, city services are great but the real kicker is that our property taxes are $12,000 USD lower.
Winter lover, eh?
My in-laws, when they lived in Edmonton for a couple of years, marveled at all the lower (read: underground) pedestrian routes.
DaveSchmidt said:
Winter lover, eh?
My in-laws, when they lived in Edmonton for a couple of years, marveled at all the lower (read: underground) pedestrian routes.
Sadly, it’s less of an issue than it used to be. Our first real snow was in late November last year (which is unheard of) and we had a very early Spring.
The underground routes are neat though. You can walk from one side of the University to the other without ever going outside.
mtierney said:
For the non-resident American critic…
“The average home price in Canada is C$716,083 ($528,000; £426,000), according to the Canada Real Estate Association, though homes in Canada's most populous city Toronto average about C$1.15m.
“Home prices are the highest in Vancouver, British Columbia, where the average price tag for a property is around C$1.29m.
“Both Toronto and Vancouver consistently rank among the top 10 most unaffordable cities in the world.
“The average value of a Canadian home has more than doubled since 2011, when houses were valued at around C$352,000.
“As of 2021, Canada's household debt is 7% higher than the country's entire GDP. This is an increase from 2010, when household debt was about 5% lower than Canada's GDP.
“By comparison, household debt in the US fell from 100% of the country's GDP in 2008 to about 75% in 2021. The UK's household debt as a share of its GDP also fell from 94% in 2010 to 86% in 2021.
"While US households reduced debt, Canadians increased theirs and this will likely continue to increase unless we address affordability in the housing market," Mr ab Iorwerth said.
“Among major Western nations, only Australia has a higher household debt rate as a share of its GDP (119%).
“Canada's government has been under pressure to address the growing issue of housing unaffordability. Earlier this year, Canada enacted a two-year ban on foreigners buying homes in the country in an attempt to ease unaffordability.
“Some have also called on officials to enact measures that will increase Canada's housing supply, as the country's population has grown by a record of more than a million people in 2022.”
A different approach:
Imagine a Renters’ Utopia. It Might Look Like Vienna. (NYT)
I'd say that, realistically, in the US a Vienna model isn't too likely and instead most emphasis around housing should be around building more supply. Then again, I'm not sure if even that's especially likely -- although there does seem to have been a shift in recent years with cities and states more willing to tackle NIMBYism, they still have a lot of power (as seen most recently in neighboring NY).
Don't know enough about what's going on in Canada to opine there, though my general understanding is that Canada used to be bigger into various social housing initiatives but has become more like the US in recent years.
GoSlugs said:
You wouldn't favor us with a source would you?
I can only say that when we sold our house in SO and moved to Edmonton, we were able to buy a significantly larger house in a similar neighborhood for about 100k less what we sold our NJ house for. Schools are great, city services are great but the real kicker is that our property taxes are $12,000 USD lower.
Living in Vancouver is in many ways like living in SF and that goes for the cost of living as well. Beautiful scenery and you pay for it. That said, there are plenty of places like Edmonton if you are looking for great food, an awesome theater scene and a pretty good hockey team.
For house prices, here's a source:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/604228/median-house-prices-canada/
It looks like the average house prices went up almost 200,000 during the pandemic, and are currently falling again.
mtierney, I'd love to know which of your news sources got you posting about Canadian house prices and debt last night in the middle of DeSantis' Presidential announcement.
On PVW’s housing point, my Upper West Side son has not had “office space” since the lockdown and has been zooming his publication job and it doesn’t look as though that will change anytime soon. My daughter, also a writer, zoomed all through the pandemic and now puts in one day a week in the WTC office.
I asked them what do they think will become of the millions of square feet of empty office space in the city? Both suggested housing conversion. How will this reversal change our suburban lifestyle?
Any thoughts — other than knee jerk mt bashing - on how the world is turning?
mtierney said:
On PVW’s housing point, my Upper West Side son has not had “office space” since the lockdown and has been zooming his publication job and it doesn’t look as though that will change anytime soon. My daughter, also a writer, zoomed all through the pandemic and now puts in one day a week in the WTC office.
I asked them what do they think will become of the millions of square feet of empty office space in the city? Both suggested housing conversion. How will this reversal change our suburban lifestyle?
Any thoughts — other than knee jerk mt bashing - on how the world is turning?
I don't understand the point of the question "How will this reversal [converting office space to houseing] change our suburban lifestyle?"
So far, the "suburban lifestyle" has been enhanced by people able to work at their jobs without commuting a full five days a week. The real impact has been on businesses in the office areas of downtowns - there is less demand for breakfasts, lunches, and services/shopping.
Converting empty office space to housing, or adding new housing instead of office space to these downtowns, will in turn help those businesses in the downtown areas, plus deal with the problem of a lack of housing in general.
Imagine, instead of the up to ten new office buildings around Penn Station in New York (a plan floated as part of the renovation of Penn Station), there were new residential buildings including more affordable housing. That's already a vibrant shopping and entertainment area, and it would be vastly improved - even for those of us who live the "suburban lifestyle".
RealityForAll said:
Your response proves that you can not provide evidence for your allegations. Most recent evidence requested: evidence to prove/demonstrate that NR supports white supremacy. I await a substantive response from you, GoSlugs.
it's easy to google "National Review" and "white supremacy." The first bunch of articles that surface are criticisms of anti-racism. The first one that comes up is a minimization of the threat of white supremacist terrorism. That's pretty decent evidence that the NR skews toward making apologies for white supremacists, if not giving them outright support. If you really wanted to learn the answer to your question and not just be argumentative, it was super simple to find.
and of course those articles fly in the face of what U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been saying for years.
DHS draft document: White supremacists are greatest terror threat
ml1 said:
RealityForAll said:
Your response proves that you can not provide evidence for your allegations. Most recent evidence requested: evidence to prove/demonstrate that NR supports white supremacy. I await a substantive response from you, GoSlugs.
it's easy to google "National Review" and "white supremacy." The first bunch of articles that surface are criticisms of anti-racism. The first one that comes up is a minimization of the threat of white supremacist terrorism. That's pretty decent evidence that the NR skews toward making apologies for white supremacists, if not giving them outright support. If you really wanted to learn the answer to your question and not just be argumentative, it was super simple to find.
Let's call them "White Supremacy curious", and we can all agree.
ml1 said:
RealityForAll said:
Your response proves that you can not provide evidence for your allegations. Most recent evidence requested: evidence to prove/demonstrate that NR supports white supremacy. I await a substantive response from you, GoSlugs.
it's easy to google "National Review" and "white supremacy." The first bunch of articles that surface are criticisms of anti-racism. The first one that comes up is a minimization of the threat of white supremacist terrorism. That's pretty decent evidence that the NR skews toward making apologies for white supremacists, if not giving them outright support. If you really wanted to learn the answer to your question and not just be argumentative, it was super simple to find.
Hey thanks for your response. I was more interested in a response from GoSlugs. As GoSlugs has a habit of making allegations without evidence.
RealityForAll said:
ml1 said:
RealityForAll said:
Your response proves that you can not provide evidence for your allegations. Most recent evidence requested: evidence to prove/demonstrate that NR supports white supremacy. I await a substantive response from you, GoSlugs.
it's easy to google "National Review" and "white supremacy." The first bunch of articles that surface are criticisms of anti-racism. The first one that comes up is a minimization of the threat of white supremacist terrorism. That's pretty decent evidence that the NR skews toward making apologies for white supremacists, if not giving them outright support. If you really wanted to learn the answer to your question and not just be argumentative, it was super simple to find.
Hey thanks for your response. I was more interested in a response from GoSlugs. As GoSlugs has a habit of making allegations without evidence.
sometimes it's really not necessary to provide "evidence." If one peruses the NR site it's self-evident what their stance is on race in the U.S.
nohero said:
ml1 said:
RealityForAll said:
Your response proves that you can not provide evidence for your allegations. Most recent evidence requested: evidence to prove/demonstrate that NR supports white supremacy. I await a substantive response from you, GoSlugs.
it's easy to google "National Review" and "white supremacy." The first bunch of articles that surface are criticisms of anti-racism. The first one that comes up is a minimization of the threat of white supremacist terrorism. That's pretty decent evidence that the NR skews toward making apologies for white supremacists, if not giving them outright support. If you really wanted to learn the answer to your question and not just be argumentative, it was super simple to find.
Let's call them "White Supremacy curious", and we can all agree.
that works for me.
RealityForAll said:
Hey thanks for your response. I was more interested in a response from GoSlugs. As GoSlugs has a habit of making allegations without evidence.
GoSlugs said you weren’t going to get a response from him, leaving you (and the rest of us) free to take, or reject, his opinions for whatever you (and we) think they’re worth as they stand.
mtierney said:
I asked them what do they think will become of the millions of square feet of empty office space in the city? Both suggested housing conversion.
“It’s much easier to theorize about office-to-residential conversions than to execute and profit on them,” Moody’s analysts wrote.
Some reasons for that:
So You Want to Turn an Office Building Into a Home? (NYT gift link)
What Would It Take to Turn More Offices Into Housing? (Ditto)
DaveSchmidt said:
mtierney said:
I asked them what do they think will become of the millions of square feet of empty office space in the city? Both suggested housing conversion.
“It’s much easier to theorize about office-to-residential conversions than to execute and profit on them,” Moody’s analysts wrote.
Some reasons for that:
So You Want to Turn an Office Building Into a Home? (NYT gift link)
What Would It Take to Turn More Offices Into Housing? (Ditto)
There's still the option to replace proposed new office buildings with housing.
nohero said:
Imagine, instead of the up to ten new office buildings around Penn Station in New York (a plan floated as part of the renovation of Penn Station), there were new residential buildings including more affordable housing. That's already a vibrant shopping and entertainment area, and it would be vastly improved - even for those of us who live the "suburban lifestyle".
nohero said:
There's still the option to replace proposed new office buildings with housing.
nohero said:
Imagine, instead of the up to ten new office buildings around Penn Station in New York (a plan floated as part of the renovation of Penn Station), there were new residential buildings including more affordable housing. That's already a vibrant shopping and entertainment area, and it would be vastly improved - even for those of us who live the "suburban lifestyle".
Yes, I saw your comment. FWIW, the Penn Station proposal includes at least one residential building and as many as 1,800 apartment units, including 540 below market rate.
mtierney said:
Any thoughts — other than knee jerk mt bashing - on how the world is turning?
I don't think anyone is bashing you on this subject (housing). I merely posted my personal experience.
I would also point out that, however the cost of living in Vancouver may stack up in the Canadian context, it is still 30% cheaper than NYC.
Bear with me, if Manhattan becomes a bedroom community, does that mean everyone will continue to work from home, zooming their previous jobs, or going into startups in their kitchens, etc etc?
What happens to the suburbs and the people who live there?
Where will manufacturing, corporate headquarters, etc. move to?
Will those folks living in the converted office space travel in the city commute to the suburbs to work?
I read one source which suggests that office conversions in Manhattan might supply housing for a million migrants. Where will they find employment?
How might these futuristic possibilities affect New Jersey’s suburbs.
I am not looking for a fight here. I expect big changes to be a reality sooner than later and I am curious to hear some script possibilities..Most likely, I will not witness this new world, but “previews of coming attractions” would be interesting.
mtierney said:
Bear with me, if Manhattan becomes a bedroom community, does that mean everyone will continue to work from home, zooming their previous jobs, or going into startups in their kitchens, etc etc?
What happens to the suburbs and the people who live there?
Where will manufacturing, corporate headquarters, etc. move to?
Will those folks living in the converted office space travel in the city commute to the suburbs to work?
I read one source which suggests that office conversions in Manhattan might supply housing for a million migrants. Where will they find employment?
How might these futuristic possibilities affect New Jersey’s suburbs.
I am not looking for a fight here. I expect big changes to be a reality sooner than later and I am curious to hear some script possibilities..Most likely, I will not witness this new world, but “previews of coming attractions” would be interesting.
stay tuned for the “newsreel”….
mtierney said:
Where will manufacturing, corporate headquarters, etc. move to?
I can't see the future but it has been a couple decades since much serious manufacturing was done in NYC.
You can see for yourself how that has changed things.
Any candidate who says they will pardon Jan. 6 defendants is not qualified to be President.
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) May 25, 2023
mtierney said:
Bear with me, if Manhattan becomes a bedroom community, does that mean everyone will continue to work from home, zooming their previous jobs, or going into startups in their kitchens, etc etc?
What happens to the suburbs and the people who live there?
Where will manufacturing, corporate headquarters, etc. move to?
Will those folks living in the converted office space travel in the city commute to the suburbs to work?
I read one source which suggests that office conversions in Manhattan might supply housing for a million migrants. Where will they find employment?
How might these futuristic possibilities affect New Jersey’s suburbs.
I am not looking for a fight here. I expect big changes to be a reality sooner than later and I am curious to hear some script possibilities..Most likely, I will not witness this new world, but “previews of coming attractions” would be interesting.
I don't know why you continue to be so concerned with migrants. But roughly a third of the people in New York are immigrants now. The city has always absorbed millions of foreign born people who have made their living there.
With regard to where city dwellers will work, it's not likely many will commute to the suburbs.
There's around 20 million migrants living in the NYC metro currently. I imagine that will continue to grow going forward -- NYC is the anchor for one of the most economically vibrant regions in the country and the world.
As for how things will look as our region continues to grow, I imagine that depends on how well we're collectively able to adapt. There's some troubling signs -- see the long fight to get the new Hudson river tunnels built, or the suburban revolt against Gov. Hochul's initiative to get more housing built -- but also promising signs -- see the fact that the pretty centrist governor of NY made the push for housing in the first place, and of course the long history of NY adapting to all the changes since 1620.
Off topic after a day of rest…
If you can pull up your big boy pants and actually read that NR post, you may learn a thing or two. ..
as well as this one:
Question of the Day: How did he, she, or it, get an appointment for job with the federal government in the first place? Do not say that what this person does in their private life is of no importance.
What did they do while on the federal payroll before they were nabbed stealing luggage at an airport?
from the link….
“The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group based in San Francisco, were initially invited by the Los Angeles Dodgers to participate in the team’s Pride Night, then uninvited due to pressure from Catholic groups, but then re-invited, with the Dodgers organization promising in a press statement to “better educate” themselves. The Sisters often engage in activities that mock Christianity and the church, such as pole-dancing on a cross.
“As the head of the D.C. Sisters, Brinton reportedly organized various events, including drag brunches, White House protests, and even a “high heel race.” He was also present at a San Francisco Easter gathering of the Sisters in 2019. As described in a Mission Local report, the event included children among the attendees, raising questions about the appropriateness of exposing them to the group’s provocative activities.
“Brinton’s selection for the nuclear-waste policy position by the Energy Department was initially hailed by the Biden administration as a groundbreaking move for nonbinary individuals. However, Brinton was dropped from the role following the luggage-theft charges.”:
mtierney said:
Off topic after a day of rest…
If you can pull up your big boy pants and actually read that NR post, you may learn a thing or two. ..
as well as this one:
Question of the Day: How did he, she, or it, get an appointment for job with the federal government in the first place? Do not say that what this person does in their private life is of no importance.
What did they do while on the federal payroll before they were nabbed stealing luggage at an airport?
I am not going to pull my wallet out of my big boy pants to give the NR my credit card number. So posting links behind a pay wall is a waste of your time.
That said the headline alone on the first article is strong evidence that I don't need to read it to know at best it's a pack of false equivalencies and at worst a pack of lies
ml1 said:
RealityForAll said:
ml1 said:
RealityForAll said:
Your response proves that you can not provide evidence for your allegations. Most recent evidence requested: evidence to prove/demonstrate that NR supports white supremacy. I await a substantive response from you, GoSlugs.
it's easy to google "National Review" and "white supremacy." The first bunch of articles that surface are criticisms of anti-racism. The first one that comes up is a minimization of the threat of white supremacist terrorism. That's pretty decent evidence that the NR skews toward making apologies for white supremacists, if not giving them outright support. If you really wanted to learn the answer to your question and not just be argumentative, it was super simple to find.
Hey thanks for your response. I was more interested in a response from GoSlugs. As GoSlugs has a habit of making allegations without evidence.
sometimes it's really not necessary to provide "evidence." If one peruses the NR site it's self-evident what their stance is on race in the U.S.
Do you have a definition for "white supremacy" that you use when examining NR?
RealityForAll said:
ml1 said:
RealityForAll said:
ml1 said:
RealityForAll said:
Your response proves that you can not provide evidence for your allegations. Most recent evidence requested: evidence to prove/demonstrate that NR supports white supremacy. I await a substantive response from you, GoSlugs.
it's easy to google "National Review" and "white supremacy." The first bunch of articles that surface are criticisms of anti-racism. The first one that comes up is a minimization of the threat of white supremacist terrorism. That's pretty decent evidence that the NR skews toward making apologies for white supremacists, if not giving them outright support. If you really wanted to learn the answer to your question and not just be argumentative, it was super simple to find.
Hey thanks for your response. I was more interested in a response from GoSlugs. As GoSlugs has a habit of making allegations without evidence.
sometimes it's really not necessary to provide "evidence." If one peruses the NR site it's self-evident what their stance is on race in the U.S.
Do you have a definition for "white supremacy" that you use when examining NR?
minimizing the threat from white supremacy that U.S. security agencies are warning about is enough for me. It's pretty easy to be anti-white supremacy. But the NR can't seem to bring themselves to do that.
Is there a level of acceptance of white supremacists that you think is OK?
I would add that our over all taxes ended up being a wash but we don't have to pay for health care.