The DNC (Philadelphia, York, King of Prussia: rent, homes, buy)

[asiandudeyo]

Originally Posted by 1ondoner

Why is it foolish to own a car if one lives in Center city?

For me personally it is foolish:
Because I barely used them.
I ended up using trains to go everywhere.
My cars were collecting dust. I ended up paying full coverage insurance for both my cars for no reason.
I probably used them once in 2 weeks for grocery shopping for snacks.
I eat out everyday due to my inability to cook.

[Pine to Vine]

I attended one of the caucuses yesterday at the Convention Center. While there, I noted countless volunteers wearing t-shirts with the words "ask me" written on them in big bold letters, so I'm unclear why any delegate would have trouble obtaining logistical info.

While the caucus room, I talked with a delegate from NC and asked how he liked the city. He shared that it is not easy getting from the Convention Center to the arena. I can understand that. Delegates have the option of taking designated shuttle buses, but as anyone in town has noted, Broad Street has been closed numerous times this each day by protest marches. And when Broad is closed, the warren of one way streets in CC can be close to gridlocked, so I think some of the comments are valid. I told him that the subway might be his best bet and he agreed. Now, this guy was youngish (mid-40s) and figuring out how to take the BS line to the arena might not be too daunting. But it's easy to imagine that a 70 year old delegate from Wyoming, having never been on a train his or her life, might not feel up to tackling a ride on the subway. I'm not saying the complaints about logistics are all valid, but am suggesting what might be the reasonable perspective of a first visitor here.

As an aside, if anyone wants to participate in the convention, the caucuses are open to anyone. I attended the LGBT Caucus and heard speeches by Wisconsin Senator Tammy, NY Governor Andrew Cuomo and former MA Congressman Barney Frank, among others. Here is a convention schedule which includes the remaining caucus times for today and tomorrow: https://www.demconvention.com/event-categories/july-27/

[1ondoner]

Why not sell one and keep the other? Why did you have 2 cars when you lived in Miami? What happens when you want to travel outside Center city? Say you want to go to KOP mall? What if you wanted to spend the day at New Hope or Lancaster?

It seems like you made your life more difficult. A car is for convenience. And convenience costs money. There are a lot of "foolish" things that people do for convenience. Like travel in private jets. Or watch the Eagles game from a private box.

If I could live in Center City, I would want to have a my building to have garage parking because it is convenient. That way, I would have a car at my disposal. Then I can make a choice of when to use it. If one doesn't have a car, their choices are limited.

When we got a house in Central London, I wanted a house with a locked up garage so that I can have a car. Even if I was not going to use the car because I could use public transport, I would have an additional means of transport to give me the freedom not to be limited to bus/train schedules and routes. This is what you call foolish.

Originally Posted by asiandudeyo

For me personally it is foolish:
Because I barely used them.
I ended up using trains to go everywhere.
My cars were collecting dust. I ended up paying full coverage insurance for both my cars for no reason.
I probably used them once in 2 weeks for grocery shopping for snacks.
I eat out everyday due to my inability to cook.

[mslhu]

Some better news on this front:

Delegates happy with SEPTA despite demonstration, weather delays

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelp...strations.html

Bruce Thompson, 49, a delegate and attorney from Raleigh, North Carolina, said he has been on the Broad Street Line all week. “I got here Sunday morning and took it down to a meeting at the Wells Fargo Center. Our delegation hotel is way north of town, so every night I’ve been taking it as far north as I can and it’s been a good experience.” Thompson said he has taken cabs or Uber to the Broad Street Line, but not all the way to the arena or convention center.

“I don’t want to get the driver in the middle of all this traffic and it’s been fairly easy to make it up to the top of the line,” he said. “It’s been really convenient and everybody, from the police to the [SEPTA] staff, has been pointing me in the right direction. making sure I get where I need to go."

[BK_PHL_DEL]

Originally Posted by asiandudeyo

For me personally it is foolish:
Because I barely used them.
I ended up using trains to go everywhere.
My cars were collecting dust. I ended up paying full coverage insurance for both my cars for no reason.
I probably used them once in 2 weeks for grocery shopping for snacks.
I eat out everyday due to my inability to cook.

Here's a response I posted on PP a short while ago:

"Okay, my wife and I each own a car and live near this site. Our house comes with 1 parking spot, and so the other car street parks (we both have the 25 on our rear window, so we paid the PPA for it). I work in Delaware and she works in Collegeville, hence the need for both of us to have cars. We are your typical reverse-commuter. We WANT to live in the city; is that such a bad thing? The location of our jobs makes it necessary for us to have cars. We can't just pick and choose our careers based on "do I need a car to get there or not".

What would you do in our shoes? Live in Ardmore or Media? No thanks, that was boring."

Hooray for you, you don't need to have a car. But WE do. We definitely do.

"- Why do people freak out about parking? Because a lot of households have/need cars.
- Why do they need cars? To drive to work outside of the city, reverse commuting.
- Why is 76/95/676/boulevard so damn congested? Because those are the only viable ways to get OUT of the city for all these said people to get to work outside of Philly.
- Why are all these jobs outside of Philly? Because of the wage tax. Good example given above - "It helps that EisnerAmper covered Philadelphia’s 3.9 percent wage tax for all their employees who made the move, increasing salaries to “make them whole.”

Lessen the wage tax so that companies and their jobs are not deterred from being in Philly. More jobs in philly = shorter, healthier commutes and less traffic."

Originally Posted by asiandudeyo

but on public transportation department Philadelphia and surrounding inner suburbs have one of the best comprehensive public transportation in the nation.

Really? Philly has TWO main subway lines. My subway stop growing up in Brooklyn has two lines by itself! The regional rail lines should really be operating at subway-level frequency, or on a subway fare itself. It's silly to have to pay the increased fare of the regional rail to go somewhere still in Philly, like Manayunk or the northeast.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by 1ondoner

I'm certain, most pedestrians would drive a ferrari if they were in a postion to buy one.

Should we start another thread about this because this is not so much about the DNC.

If I had owned a Ferrari I would have never driven it around here, city or 'burbs. Haven't you noticed how awful Philly area drivers are? My fear would be one of these folks running into my car!

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by 1ondoner

Why not sell one and keep the other? Why did you have 2 cars when you lived in Miami? What happens when you want to travel outside Center city? Say you want to go to KOP mall? What if you wanted to spend the day at New Hope or Lancaster?

It seems like you made your life more difficult. A car is for convenience. And convenience costs money. There are a lot of "foolish" things that people do for convenience. Like travel in private jets. Or watch the Eagles game from a private box.

If I could live in Center City, I would want to have a my building to have garage parking because it is convenient. That way, I would have a car at my disposal. Then I can make a choice of when to use it. If one doesn't have a car, their choices are limited.

When we got a house in Central London, I wanted a house with a locked up garage so that I can have a car. Even if I was not going to use the car because I could use public transport, I would have an additional means of transport to give me the freedom not to be limited to bus/train schedules and routes. This is what you call foolish.

It's fascinating how you continue to disbelieve those us who have forgone cars and that we're perfectly happy. You don't need a car to get to get to KoP or Lancaster. New Hope? Who cares? You're not going to convince anyone who no longer has a car to get another one if they are content as is. We've already compared pluses and minuses.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by mslhu

Some better news on this front:

Delegates happy with SEPTA despite demonstration, weather delays

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelp...strations.html

Hooray! Good for him.

[1ondoner]

Speaking of the DNC, the hotels are scre.wing delagates who have come for the convention. I met some of the delagates and they are being swindled even with the delegates group rates. No wonder some are staying in Valley Forge.

[mslhu]

Originally Posted by 1ondoner

Speaking of the DNC, the hotels are scre.wing delagates who have come for the convention. I met some of the delagates and they are being swindled even with the delegates group rates. No wonder some are staying in Valley Forge.

It's almost like the high demand for hotel rooms caused the prices to go up.