Do ghettos exist outside of cities, or do they exist because cities take wealth from financially productive run-down areas and use it to attract newer but relatively unproductive big-box stores in middle-class neighborhoods?
If the latter, it would appear that breaking up cities as if they were monopolies would prevent the flow of wealth from the poor to the rich and thereby prevent ghettos from forming.
My refrigerator needs to maintain a consistent temperature to prevent spoilage.
It needs to be between 32F and 40F (0C and 4.4C). The ideal temperature is 35F (1.7C). So the idea is that you would set it for 35 and if there's an electricity price spike, the setpoint would temporarily change to 40 to save you money.
There's a neighborhood "liveability" metric called the Popsicle Test: can a kid get to a store on her own, buy a popsicle, and get home again before it melts?
Today, unlike before WWII, most residential neighborhoods in the USA probably won't pass this liveability test. What's worse is we simply aren't allowed to build neighborhoods like that anymore because small neighborhood corner stores violate single-use zoning laws, and because we've decided that moving auto traffic quickly is more important than pedestrian safety. (In fact, they removed roadside trees because motorists kept hitting them. Now motorists hit pedestrians instead. How's that for progress?) So we've legislated our own independence away.
"So this is how liberty dies...with thunderous applause."
Every commercial airport in the USA pays its own way...
Does any airport pay property taxes on land used for airport operations? In fact, did any airport pay for the land it sits on? Has an airline ever built an airport?
multiple studies have shown it will neither be economically viable
Those studies were funded by people who hope it won't be economically viable, so their findings aren't surprising.
nor a practical solution for its intended purpose of getting people off the highways
That's true. Creating an alternative to driving won't necessarily reduce driving. The real purpose of HSR is to be a vastly cheaper way of moving people around than highways and airports. For example, spending $68.4 billion on HSR will fulfill the same transportation demand as spending $119.0 billion for 4,295 new lane-miles of highway plus $38.6 billion for 115 new airport gates and 4 new runways.
Toll payers. We're talking about toll roads, remember?
given that the toll road will be paid for eventually by taxpayers
No, that's not a given.
and helping to drive the wedge deeper between the haves and have-nots?
de-industralization good? it is killing old people in Europe who can't afford the 'green' energy at three times the price
An adjustment period is to be expected when transitioning from an unustainable economy back to a sustainable one as people learn to wear sweaters indoors again, and to take in boarders to help share the bills as they did a century ago, etc. Unfortunately, people who are set in their ways are the most difficult to retrain, and that's likely why they are dying.
Many roads benefit taxpayers whether they use them or not
I don't think anybody doubts that. But the important question is whether each road is a net benefit. (A "net" benefit is when the benefit exceeds the cost.)
When we pay for roads with user fees, it's a simple thing to determine whether they are worth the cost (simply calculate revenue minus costs to the supplier), but it's almost impossible to tell when we pay for them with non-user taxes.
The other problem that occurs when we don't ask people to pay for things in proportion to the benefit each person receives from them is that people will overconsume that resource, and then we all pay more in the end.
Are you saying that broadband competition is a bad thing because Obama is a lame duck? Or is it just Obama's particular implementation that is bad?
If you need help understanding the issues timothy raised, I suggest reading "The Design of Everyday Things" by Donald A. Norman.
Ah, you're one of those people...using the wrong tape (such as the tape meat to mark an Express package on something you're shipping Priority or First Class)...
This is why smart people avoid rework by packing their stuff at the post office.
You're supposed to have everything packed up and ready to go before you walk in the door.
I guess you just can't please everyone all of the time.
No. Both factions turn into 'socialists' whenever it benefits Big Business.
So in other words, yes.
The optimum committee has no members. -- Norman Augustine
