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The people who say this are people who always want more taxes. I have been to high tax states like NJ and NY , didn't see stellar infracture. SC is not low tax anyway, most people with income tax liavilty are in the top 7 percent bracket which is the highest in Southeast. SC needs to broaden the income tax base, rather than tax current people more.
You cannot deny higheer city property tax is big reason most middle class and affluent people don't want to live in city. So you talk about increasing tax base while supportIng something that shrinks it. So now you want to throw big money at private developers in hopes a shopping center will bring tons of people back. You have a solution to a problem that you helped to create. Taxation stifles growth. You would have more taxpayers and thus more tax revenue if you simply lowered taxes. This is supply side economic theory. People do make decisions based on taxes, just like companies made decisions to drop insurance for employees after the law raised their costs.
I don't "want" higher taxes, but I do want sufficient infrastructure, police and fire protection. You can't pay for anything with pathetically low taxes. Many of the most affluent states have higher taxes. Where have low taxes gotten South Carolina? Poor education and infrastructure.
The article says the original estimated time was 20 years as he didn't expect that much interest and is now talking about less time possible half the original. Reading (ELA) is a core class in school...wonder how you passed it and started cherry picking things out of an article that backs up your view.
I don't "want" higher taxes, but I do want sufficient infrastructure, police and fire protection. You can't pay for anything with pathetically low taxes. Many of the most affluent states have higher taxes. Where have low taxes gotten South Carolina? Poor education and infrastructure.
If you relocate the bad students in SC to the so called good schools up north, they still going to be bad students. The education isn't poor in SC, just a lot of students who dont' care about academics. I went to a school in SC probably considered a bad school and I've done ok. Able to get a college degree in a challenging program. Schools can't make you put forth the effort.
Taxes aren't pathetically low in SC, again most SC who have income tax liability are in a 7 percent bracket which is the highest in the Southeast. Right now about 40 percent of SC residents hvae no income tax liability at all due to the brackets being based on 1950's income levels. We need to broaden the tax base rather than soak those already paying a 7 percent marginal rate.
Most of the so called affluent states aren't actually affluent once you factor in their confiscatory taxes and unreal cost of living. There is a reason why so many people in those states are moving down here. It isn't just the warmer weather.
I think the roads in SC are better than those in PA and NJ and the same as in MD and AL. The people who complain about roads in SC all the time live in the areas that get like 90 percent of the money for roads.
Nobody is stopping people with your beliefs from cutting a handsome check to the state government for roads and schools. Put yer money where yer mouth is, as the saying goes.
Last edited by SuperDad4; 11-28-2014 at 09:21 AM..
You're absolutely right if it's a success the taxes will pay for it. You sure don't seem to have a problem with tax payed for things up there if those are a blunder. Whether if it's a success or not it's going to happen so you're just wasting your finger energy and brain power.
Columbia Common is a risky development but it's a good development, especially for a developer trying to put his name on the map. I don't think you know how many risks developers or cities go through to try an reinvent an area. The Vista was a risk but it turned out great, we can only hope for the same with CC. The city invested money on Main and in Five Points and is now trying to connect all of them, all of these places were risks and used taxpayer money. But in the end they turned and are still turning out to be good investments.
Ha big city for life never moving to anything smaller then a metro of 2 million.
The vista wasn't a risk at all. lol It is right next to the university, the convention center, the colisieum, the museuems, the state house and state congress, and main street. The tourist and business area and college kid area. None of this applies to the Bull Street Boondoggle.
Cracks me up you are so passionate about this project if you are moving away in two years. I wonder how many people you know in Columbia, it is not even 1 percent of the population, yet for some reason being around even more strangers in a metro of 2 million plus people will make you happy? Just more traffic with no payoff that I can see. Then you'll be paying your own bills and paying taxes and you'll learn. lol
Last edited by SuperDad4; 11-28-2014 at 09:20 AM..
One big thing you're missing here is that for decades, governments subsidized the suburbs at the expense of city centers in a number of ways. That has put city centers at a decided disadvantage for a long time.
I don't think that is true outside of new roads and utitlities. Free market and demand was why suburbs took off. THe main factors in city dying off is people tend to want a yard, they want to live in safer areas, they want so called good schools, they don't want to be gouged on property tax, they dont' want to see any blight, etc. Right now governments are throwing a ton of money into downtowns to create a demand that isn't really there initially.
I don't think cities could have subsididized suburbs at expense of city because the suburbs tend to be supported by the county it is in rather than the city. The city and county are often at war with each other in many places due to political polarization.
It is Black Friday so I'm going shopping at the Greenville Mall in Pickens now. lol . It is only like 1 hour from here. lol Not sure why they located all the way over there but that is the upstate. we are a little different. lol
Last edited by SuperDad4; 11-28-2014 at 09:39 AM..
The vista wasn't a risk at all. lol It is right next to the university, the convention center, the colisieum, the museuems, the state house and state congress, and main street. The tourist and business area and college kid area. None of this applies to the Bull Street Boondoggle.
Cracks me up you are so passionate about this project if you are moving away in two years. I wonder how many people you know in Columbia, it is not even 1 percent of the population, yet for some reason being around even more strangers in a metro of 2 million plus people will make you happy? Just more traffic with no payoff that I can see. Then you'll be paying your own bills and paying taxes and you'll learn. lol
Ha the convention center wasn't around then. The coliseum is how many blocks away from the vista? What does government offices have to do with the vista? Students from USC as us Columbia residents know go to Five Points to hang out. Main Street was nothing when the vista was started, it had highrises and that was about it that emptied at 5. All these apply to the "Columbia Common boondoggle" as you call it. All these were risks taken to better Columbia and you will not get anywhere in life without risks. So if Columbia Common becomes a boondoggle then we'll just say you were right and we were wrong. If it becomes a success which is more likely to happen since there is a lot of interest and we have expected construction by years end then we were right. But please do go back to Greenville and let people who this apply to discuss this project.
Ha the convention center wasn't around then. The coliseum is how many blocks away from the vista? What does government offices have to do with the vista? Students from USC as us Columbia residents know go to Five Points to hang out. Main Street was nothing when the vista was started, it had highrises and that was about it that emptied at 5. All these apply to the "Columbia Common boondoggle" as you call it. All these were risks taken to better Columbia and you will not get anywhere in life without risks. So if Columbia Common becomes a boondoggle then we'll just say you were right and we were wrong. If it becomes a success which is more likely to happen since there is a lot of interest and we have expected construction by years end then we were right. But please do go back to Greenville and let people who this apply to discuss this project.
As far as restaurants go, Main Street is still pretty much nothing. lol The point is there are people working on Main Street, the restaurants on Gervais are there to serve those people. the government people, the tourists, the business people in town for conferences , the university students. Bull Street Boondoogle is away from the business/tourist/college/government corridor.
Pretty sure lot of uni stunets prefer Vista over 5 points b/c 5 points is lot less safe. A bar is a bar.
You guys always talk about connecting all the areas of Columbia's downtown but then you support another area being developed away from the others. lol You keep creating the problems you then want to fix. Sucessful downtowns don't try to develop all over, they focus on one area so you get lot of people down in that area. Greenville downtown seems lot more vibrant because all the people are on Main Street.
I'm surprised you guys aren't for central planning. lol
I expect a letter of apology from each of you when the Bull Street Boondoggle ends up being a empty baseball stadium, a Hampton Inn, a small Target and a Subway and Bojangles. lol
Last edited by SuperDad4; 11-28-2014 at 09:41 AM..
I lived in both Greenville and Cola.. Main Street in Greenville is a lot busier than the Vista. I like the Vista, it just doesn't have as many people most of the time. I'm not a downtown SuperFan and I make fun of hype on Greenville's downtown and other downtowns so have estabilished my objectivity.
You are counting on the B ullStreet Boondoogle being a destination in its own right that people will drive to. The success of the other areas is direct function of its location near other things, the Vista and 5 points and Main Street are just supplying the demand from people who are in the area for other things, business, college, governmnet, tourism, etc. FOr some these areas are a destination in their own right but they aren't only counting on those people.
If Columbia had my vision, it would be out of this world today.
I don't think that is true outside of new roads and utitlities. Free market and demand was why suburbs took off. THe main factors in city dying off is people tend to want a yard, they want to live in safer areas, they want so called good schools, they don't want to be gouged on property tax, they dont' want to see any blight, etc. Right now governments are throwing a ton of money into downtowns to create a demand that isn't really there initially.
I don't think cities could have subsididized suburbs at expense of city because the suburbs tend to be supported by the county it is in rather than the city. The city and county are often at war with each other in many places due to political polarization.
It is Black Friday so I'm going shopping at the Greenville Mall in Pickens now. lol . It is only like 1 hour from here. lol Not sure why they located all the way over there but that is the upstate. we are a little different. lol
ABSOLUTELY not. Do some basic research on this and you'll find that American suburbia is the absolute epitome of social engineering.
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