The law, in its majestic equality, forbids all men to sleep under bridges, in SROs, or on lots smaller than 10,000 sqft-the rich as well as the poor.

Philadelphia, PA
Joined June 2020
Can we do anything about Vermont's housing crisis? Most obstacles to affordable housing construction are local! Let's reform land-use regulations, allow denser infill construction in our town centers, and incentivize walk-able mixed use communities. brookings.edu/policy2020/big…
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"Should we fix the primary issues causing our GPD per capita to be $100k lower than NYC?" "No let's give some tax credits and put a bandaid on it"
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I guess Brandywine gets it.
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We're going to get some ok looking 20-30 story residential towers that in would fit in Flushing or Mott Haven in NY, a 35 minute subway ride away from the CBD and taxpayers are going to subsidize it. Meanwhile NYC is building office towers in Brooklyn, Long Island City, and JC.
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Do people have no conception of how potentially valuable the land around Jefferson Station could be if our city's economy wasn't so anemic? Have zero people in city government have read Alain Bertaud?
Of course the Mayor’s committee on Market Street is going to make the miraculous announcement that there should be residential housing on the vacant lots and the properties that Comcast now owns. Telegraphing the obvious just proves what a waste of time that planning group is.
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There's so much room for development here that all day 30 minute headways on the Paoli line would unlock.
"While the data show enough parking, the report acknowledges that 'parking is an emotional and highly subjective experience for most users,' and that just as important as data is 'how parking in a community is perceived.'” inquirer.com/news/pennsylvan…
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It would be so funny if after I moved from Vermont to Philly the AllEarth Rail RDCs follow me down.
On a whim, I went a looked around a bit as to what happened to AllEarth Rail's fleet of RDCs and according to the forums, they went up on Ozark Mountain Railcar and sold recently to an unknown (until railfans track them down) party
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Truly cursed business plan though. Guy had no sense of rail economics and wanted to compete with an interstate when the inner rail network would outcompete driving during rush hour and actually served population centers within walking distance of stations. Oh well.
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What if we actually used the NEC’s capacity, and ran 16 car Acelas and NERs?
ok foamers, what if SEPTA service to Newark Penn was restored via West Trenton with all trains running through to PHL via Center City
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Imagining carrying my suitcases up the stairs to the regional rail platforms at 30th street, for my 2.5 hour trip to NYC before we crawl at 10mph to Jefferson station.
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On second thought, this might be a good idea because it’s more likely and cheaper than a PATH extension to EWR.
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Why have one route that’s not time competitive with driving when you can have two?
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One option is increasing the property tax rate, which is dramatically lower than surrounding counties. We have a homestead exemption, so it would still be pretty progressive. Just have to bring back abatements if we don’t want to slam housing production.
Honest question: if you are repealing BIRT and wage tax, where are you going to collect all that lost revenue? (Please don't say 🪄 The Market 🪄 I've had a rough day)
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An alternative to abatement would be a renter’s rebate at the same level as the homestead exemption. Renters living in a $200k apartment effectively pay double the tax rate as someone in a similar condo or rowhome today.
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This is one of the last large developable surface parking lots along South Broad. Housing prices have gone up 27% over the past 7 years, while rents have increased 40%. Pretty soon the easily developable sites will be gone, as will the new construction release valve.
A new apartment building proposed for South Broad Street is shorter, and smaller, than might be expected (the property is within walking distance of two subway stops). It also has one parking spot for every two apartments: inquirer.com/real-estate/hou…
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Of course neighborhood groups can only think about parking, and tall buildings not fitting in. However, elected officials should be thinking about how to maximize housing options for the tens of thousands of South Philly renter households.
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René Livas estimates replacing Philly's wage tax with a land value tax would bring 26-78k jobs back from the burbs. We'd get similar boosts from replacing BIRT and the building portion of the property tax with LVT. This and other things Philly needs will be in @5thSq's platform
Legitimately, what is the answer here? Philadelphia is a city with incredible heritage, placed smack dab in the center of the universe, with a big collegiate population, low cost of living, and strong suburbs. It’s getting lapped by Pittsburgh, Boston, Austin, Tampa, Nashville. Why?
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