How bad does it have to get! (Boston, Worcester: property taxes, live)

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by GeePee

Donate? HA! If those schools would just start paying taxes like the rest of us we'd be in good shape.

This really should happen.

[GeePee]

It's a little absurd that they don't. They just keep gobbling up land too. What a scam.

[Bridge781]

Why dont they pay taxes? Does it have to do with them being non profit?

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by Bridge781

Why dont they pay taxes? Does it have to do with them being non profit?

Yep. I remember a couple years ago when trump suggested we should tax endowments, everyone at Harvard freaked out for a solid 2 weeks. Apparently, that was a very stupid and regressive idea. Harvard needs that money to be able to buy allston!!

[GeePee]

https://www.wbur.org/bostonomix/2018...nts-fall-short
They are on some sort of honor based suggested payment system and they consistently fall way short of suggested payments.
Imagine you or any other business could optionally pay as much tax as they wanted?

[GeoffD]

So what is the most reliable railed public transportation in Boston? Is one of the T lines or commuter rail lines significantly better than everything else?

[GeePee]

I would say the orange line and blue line are close to 100% better than both green and red

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by GeePee

I would say the orange line and blue line are close to 100% better than both green and red

Blue is the best, rarely issues, good frequency, most modern fleet (which is why there are rarely issues), and the frequency leads to very little overcrowding. Orange will be very good when the fleet replacement is complete. More trains equals better headways equals more capacity on the line. Newer Trains means fewer mechanical issues.

[GeoffD]

Are any of the commuter rail lines clearly better than others?

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Are any of the commuter rail lines clearly better than others?

Clearly better? I don't know and I have limited experience with North Station routes. But Providence and Worcester are generally the most efficient and widely used as they have the best infrastructure/fewer grade crossings which require slower speeds. The Old Colony Lines (Kingston/Plymouth, Middleboro-Lakeville) tend to be slower and have to deal with plentiful grade crossings and a significant bottleneck coming into Boston. Old Colony Lines also don't have the benefit of stopping at both Back Bay and South Station (which is huge for connectivity onward). Greenbush also sucks because it bowed to community pressure and moved the stations to the middle of nowhere instead of town and village centers (Hingham literally has a "Station Street" and a large public parking lot next to the tracks downtown, but having the station there would "bring undesirables and be too noisy").

The new Fall River/New Bedford Line Phase 1 is essentially an extension of the Middleborough/Lakeville line and will suffer from the same problems/lengthy trip. Still, ridership should be decent (like it is on almost every line) because it's better than driving for most people. Phase 2 through Stoughton (especially if it's electrified) should be a marked improvement.

The Fairmount Line has the potential to be the best if improvements are made at South Station to improve headways. It has the highest population density around each of its stations and could essentially function as a new heavy rail line. But 40 minute headways at peak times is not cutting it.