What Eyesores Near Downtown Hurt Pittsburgh's Looks The Worst? (Washington: arena, horse)

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

But we have to have that huge military budget we must have in place. You know the one that is more than the rest of the world combined.

In fact the artificially bloated military budget is quite deliberately one of the ways in which taxes are taken from prosperous urban areas and spent for the economic benefit of poorer rural areas.

The good news is that it is in fact possible for the military budget to shrink as a percentage of the economy, because it actually happened in the late 1990s. As we all know it then expanded back in the 2000s, but I don't think those political conditions are permanent.

Seems out taxes don't pay enough to our governments, since they are both running WAY into the red. We don't have any money here really, it is all held by other countries.

We did in fact cut taxes too much in various ways. But merely restoring them to the levels of the 1990s would largely fix the revenue-side problems. In fact a lot of this could be done merely with tax reforms that would eliminate distortionary loopholes and exemptions.

Such tax reforms and a return to rational tax policies overall will also take political developments at the state and federal level, but for good or ill, the same people who are pushing anti-urban spending priorities are also the people who are opposing tax reform, and so if you win one of those political battles you will necessarily win both of them.

[gg]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

In fact the artificially bloated military budget is quite deliberately one of the ways in which taxes are taken from prosperous urban areas and spent for the economic benefit of poorer rural areas.

The good news is that it is in fact possible for the military budget to shrink as a percentage of the economy, because it actually happened in the late 1990s. As we all know it then expanded back in the 2000s, but I don't think those political conditions are permanent.

We did in fact cut taxes too much in various ways. But merely restoring them to the levels of the 1990s would largely fix the revenue-side problems. In fact a lot of this could be done merely with tax reforms that would eliminate distortionary loopholes and exemptions.

Such tax reforms and a return to rational tax policies overall will also take political developments at the state and federal level, but for good or ill, the same people who are pushing anti-urban spending priorities are also the people who are opposing tax reform, and so if you win one of those political battles you will necessarily win both of them.

Run for office on this and you might have a chance. Of course the military budget is driven by fear and fear is VERY hard to beat as a political platform.

[pman]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Run for office on this and you might have a chance. Of course the military budget is driven by fear and fear is VERY hard to beat as a political platform.

its driven by good old fashioned cronyism, fear is sometimes used to justify it...not thay we have any choice really.
highways slicing the north side still equals eyesore. im sure even the biggest hayseed will see past the highways once they park...afterall no one seens detroit as more bustling than ny or dc.

[SammyKhalifa]

Originally Posted by pman

highways slicing the north side still equals eyesore. im sure even the biggest hayseed will see past the highways once they park...afterall no one seens detroit as more bustling than ny or dc.

Yeah. Things can be ugly and serve a purpose at the same time. Happens all the time, actually.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Of course the military budget is driven by fear and fear is VERY hard to beat as a political platform.

So this takes a while, but if you can keep military spending level in nominal terms, then it will gradually shrink as a percentage of the economy, without the need for dramatic cuts. That's how it got done in the 1990s.

I agree even this won't work in a climate of fear, but I also think that most of the U.S. is not so fearful any more. It is like all these other issues--there is a very vocal minority which is highly fearful, but the relative size of that minority is steadily declining. In fact, without 9/11 they would never have gotten a chance--again, it wasn't like people didn't try to make an issue out of the gradually diminishing military budget in the 1990s, but most people weren't concerned.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

There may be a few people who truly love the sight of an elevated highway

It's not that I don't have imagination, it's that I find a certain exhilaration and vibrancy in elevated roads when they're part of a downtown--especially the older ones.They may not be pretty but the movement on them adds a certain sense of "life force of the city". Remove them, and the buildings might be prettier but the overall picture would lose a little zest, IMO.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

First, as I previously noted, you'd still have your ramps and such anyway around the bridges.

Second, that theory of what impression that image creates makes no sense to me, because people from rural areas and small towns see big highway interchanges all the time.

Finally, I again think this reflect a failure to properly imagine the alternatives. Instead of a mess of highway ramps, imagine instead a dense collection of buildings, people walking around, and so on. THAT'S uniquely urban. Not highway ramps, which are a feature of non-urban life as well.

Originally Posted by Caladium

It's not that I don't have imagination, it's that I find a certain exhilaration and vibrancy in elevated roads when they're part of a downtown--especially the older ones.They may not be pretty but the movement on them adds a certain sense of "life force of the city". Remove them, and the buildings might be prettier but the overall picture would lose a little zest, IMO.

While it is true that most Americans have seen highways, not as many have seen the web of elevated highways that some big cities have. I agree with Caladium, there is definitely a feeling of vibrancy that comes from driving under a highway elevated 100 feet above you, with another highway ramp to your side dipping underneath the road that you are driving on. It's a very neat scene driving across the Liberty bridge and taking all of the ramps towards Bigelow.

I'm not advocating highways; I think that the highways separating the north "shore" from the north "side" are terrible -- but I don't think that the highways have a negative impression on visitors.

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

I don't think there are too many of our highways that could be modified due to where our bridges and tunnels our located. For example, the Fort Pitt Tunnel and bridge are pretty far up the face of Mt Washington and the Ft. Duquesne Bridge is also quite high. Returning 65 to street level would require an awfully steep grade as it makes the bend from the split w/ the Parkway North.

The road crying out for the most attention is the Crosstown. I wish there was a way it could be modified to repair the cut it creates through town. It doesn't seem possible given that it traverses so many grades (below street level at the Bluff and ~ the Civic Arena and above street level at Forbes & at the rivers). I think the best that can be done is what they are proposing now, covering a block or two around the Civic Arena site.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Remove them, and the buildings might be prettier but the overall picture would lose a little zest, IMO.

Before:





After:

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

While it is true that most Americans have seen highways, not as many have seen the web of elevated highways that some big cities have.

Those are the product of multiple highways meeting. I'd actually argue that many central cities don't have anything to match some of the truly massive cloverleafs you can find in less dense areas.

I'm not advocating highways; I think that the highways separating the north "shore" from the north "side" are terrible -- but I don't think that the highways have a negative impression on visitors.

Again, I'd just direct you to the before and after pictures I posted.