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And if you can't afford to move anywhere closer to where decent jobs are because of your lack of income.....? I'm not saying I disagree with anything you're saying, but it comes with built-in assumptions that everyone's lot in life is the same. It's not. You already mentioned selling your car after college to pay off a credit card debt, which actually showed that you were three steps ahead of people in the situations I describe - college, car, credit.
I'm not even talking about running bus lines to the middle of nowhere. But even covering more of Poole and Rock Quarry Roads in SE Raleigh (I hate to pick on them, but it's a good case study) would be a massive improvement. Plenty of people live there because it's cheap, but the area is an employment wasteland.
If you live in the middle of nowhere, and refuse to get up off your butt to get a job what is your solution? Call 911 for free pizza delivery? Do you realize in centuries past, humans actually migrated across continents in search of food and suitable living arrangements?
Bought the car in high school after delivering papers as a kid. Paid for it with cash I earned. Many years of waking up at 5:30 AM to deliver newspapers before going to school. I grew up in NH. The winters sucked. Had neither college or credit at that time.
So, those people living check to check... Do you judge them for their iPhones and big screen TV's like some might judge welfare recipients? Or is there a double standard?
Oh, and "Raleigh"
I have no idea what type of phones they may have. But I do know people who work as much as they can, live frugally and wait for their next paycheck to get groceries. Some that have Obamacare but can't use it because the deductible is so high. Raising the sales tax is a terrible idea. There's plenty of bloat if they have to have more $.
I have no idea what type of phones they may have. But I do know people who work as much as they can, live frugally and wait for their next paycheck to get groceries. Some that have Obamacare but can't use it because the deductible is so high. Raising the sales tax is a terrible idea. There's plenty of bloat if they have to have more $.
I guess my point was that if they can afford their iPhone (or if you prefer, if they can afford one Starbucks per week), then they can afford the $1 sales tax for a week's worth of groceries.
I am middle income, and worked my ass off to be relatively debt free (still have a mortgage) and have a decent life. It ain't easy, but I'm not dying on the back of a 0.5% sales tax.
We did our benefits meeting today for 2017. Our healthcare package is still pretty good. As bad as healthcare costs are rising, it is DOCUMENTED that they are rising at a lower rate now than before ACA went into effect. The core problems still exist. ACA didn't fix them, but it didn't create them either. Anyone who is being honest knows this. (Ignored regularly by BOTH sides)
I guess my point was that if they can afford their iPhone (or if you prefer, if they can afford one Starbucks per week), then they can afford the $1 sales tax for a week's worth of groceries.
I am middle income, and worked my ass off to be relatively debt free (still have a mortgage) and have a decent life. It ain't easy, but I'm not dying on the back of a 0.5% sales tax.
We did our benefits meeting today for 2017. Our healthcare package is still pretty good. As bad as healthcare costs are rising, it is DOCUMENTED that they are rising at a lower rate now than before ACA went into effect. The core problems still exist. ACA didn't fix them, but it didn't create them either. Anyone who is being honest knows this. (Ignored regularly by BOTH sides)
...."Apex"
You are absolutely right and thanks for putting this into context. I do agree that the tiny increase in sales tax, while it will impact the lower income folks, will most likely benefit them to a much greater extent giving them access to better bus routes.
Ultimately Raleigh's grow-with-seemingly-no-long-term-plans will continue to produce a hodge podge (sp?) of mismatched zoned areas and poor traffic patterns. That's big picture stuff. Getting public transit going is just slapping a bandaid on the problem. IMO.
If you live in the middle of nowhere, and refuse to get up off your butt to get a job what is your solution? Call 911 for free pizza delivery? Do you realize in centuries past, humans actually migrated across continents in search of food and suitable living arrangements?
Bought the car in high school after delivering papers as a kid. Paid for it with cash I earned. Many years of waking up at 5:30 AM to deliver newspapers before going to school. I grew up in NH. The winters sucked. Had neither college or credit at that time.
In centuries past, there weren't cars that could run you off the road while you migrated across those continents either.
And you keep mentioning "middle of nowhere." SE Raleigh outside of 440 is hardly middle of nowhere, but there is almost no transit coverage there. The way it is now, if you don't have a car in that area, you're pretty much hosed. (There are no nearby bike shops down that way either.)
All I'm saying is this... if Wake County really wants to serve its citizens through transit, then its priority should be to serve the ones that would benefit from it the most. Not the ones like me who have other options and would probably ride it primarily as a change of pace.
You are absolutely right and thanks for putting this into context. I do agree that the tiny increase in sales tax, while it will impact the lower income folks, will most likely benefit them to a much greater extent giving them access to better bus routes.
Ultimately Raleigh's grow-with-seemingly-no-long-term-plans will continue to produce a hodge podge (sp?) of mismatched zoned areas and poor traffic patterns. That's big picture stuff. Getting public transit going is just slapping a bandaid on the problem. IMO.
That up there. ^
I remember that Raleigh was doing a comprehensive rezoning at some point too. I don't know when that's supposed to take effect.
I was talking about the past 10 years or so. In that time we've had tax increases,bonds and more coming up. Over this period nothing but more traffic and more sprawl.
Wake County's tax rate has gone down from 67.8 cents in 2007 to .6005 cents in 2016. Raleigh's has dropped from .435 to .4183. I'm sure property values have increased over that time, but that's not something to complain about.
After 30 years I don't consider myself a transplant. What percentage of Raleigh citizens (or even Wake County citizens) has been here 40 years or more? I would guess, less than 10%. I'm not saying that what you think does not matter, but in the big picture, political control has passed to "transplants" as you put it. We are the norm and you are the outlier. C'est la vie.
The problem lies not with transplants, but with smugly superior transplants who are dissatisfied (or perhaps make this claim in order to demonstrate their level of high-maintenance sophistication). I came here a long time ago, having grown up in a much larger city, and liked Raleigh immediately. It was a pleasure to live here. I appreciated the goodness I had found, and made an effort to assimilate into the community rather than look down my nose at it. Your proposition that Raleigh was barely livable 30 years ago is an absurdity, and probably says a lot more about you than about the way we were then.
Regarding your statistic: the question is not how long one has been here. Rather, it is a question of birthplace and early development. You and I are both transplants, whether you like it or not. Your kids (assuming you have any) are not, if they were born here. That's what "transplant" means. Generally, the term "transplant" applies to adults who move here from another part of the country to work.
The problem lies not with transplants, but with smugly superior transplants who are dissatisfied (or perhaps make this claim in order to demonstrate their level of high-maintenance sophistication). I came here a long time ago, having grown up in a much larger city, and liked Raleigh immediately. It was a pleasure to live here. I appreciated the goodness I had found, and made an effort to assimilate into the community rather than look down my nose at it. Your proposition that Raleigh was barely livable 30 years ago is an absurdity, and probably says a lot more about you than about the way we were then.
I can see why you would be insulted. I don't know what Raleigh was like 30 years ago so I will make no comments about that but in my opinion, Raleigh is a pretty cool place to live now a days when compared to other cities it's size. Obviously, every city undergoes growing pains with people and locals being left behind and it's unfortunate. Luckily I'm not in that position......yet.
The transit plan is not about forcing something down locals throats that they don't want that transplants want from other cities, it's just accepting the reality that Raleigh is no longer the small Southern city that it was 30 years ago and learning from the mistakes other American cities have made when it comes to public transportation. In my opinion, it's just a nice thing that I had in Boston that I wish we had here in Raleigh, it's a necessity here and the sooner it is expanded, the better everyone living here will be.
The problem lies not with transplants, but with smugly superior transplants who are dissatisfied (or perhaps make this claim in order to demonstrate their level of high-maintenance sophistication). I came here a long time ago, having grown up in a much larger city, and liked Raleigh immediately. It was a pleasure to live here. I appreciated the goodness I had found, and made an effort to assimilate into the community rather than look down my nose at it. Your proposition that Raleigh was barely livable 30 years ago is an absurdity, and probably says a lot more about you than about the way we were then.
Regarding your statistic: the question is not how long one has been here. Rather, it is a question of birthplace and early development. You and I are both transplants, whether you like it or not. Your kids (assuming you have any) are not, if they were born here. That's what "transplant" means. Generally, the term "transplant" applies to adults who move here from another part of the country to work.
I've been in NC since '77, and in the triangle area since late '92. I've always liked it.
That being said, I like it FAR MORE now, than then. IMO, a great area has gotten infinitely better in the last 10 years. Now we have:
Better and more diverse places to eat
Still have lots of old-school places to eat (Allen and Sons, Orange County)
Better roads, even if more crowded
Better bike paths (they have improved biggly!!!!)
Improved museums
More to do at night
WAY more to do all spring, summer and fall in DT Raleigh and Durham (Festivals, etc.)
American Tobacco Complex
New and more diverse shopping options
Costco in Apex (I couldn't resist)
Decent Pizza (Still can't resist)
improved airport
sooooo much more
Much of this is tied directly to the population and demographic changes we've experienced in the same timeframe.
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