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I noticed a lot of Canadian plates in the area. When I got gas in LaFayette, I was the only US plate there.
I didn't get a chance to mention the positive aspects of Syracuse on the Syracuse forum, because you jumped down my throat for mentioning bad neighborhoods.
Other positives included the best drinking water I've had in a while. Nice and soft. Much better than NC, whose water is ok but not as crisp tasting. Water here in the hills of NJ is also very hard and not good for showering.
Another thing I'll say about Syracuse is the lack of smokestack pollution. Some cities still have giant coal plants right next to them / within them. The air quality seemed good too, for summer.
Most beautiful churches in the US are in NYS and New England. NYS might even have the edge here.
Friendly people, at least on this trip.
None of this matters, anyway. I'm outta here. On to shiny new places in 8 hours and hopefully they will be more permanent. I know, who cares, right? Just thought I'd mention it. Peace out.
San Jose had a population of 95,000 in 1950. It now has 950,000. I'm a map nerd and the 1950's map of San Jose looks like a 2014 map of Burlington Vermont. Raleigh (the city, not even the metro) is gaining 100,000 people, on average, per decade. Buffalo is down 200k since 1950 and other cities like Rochester and Syracuse are also down significantly.
Population growth at 0.1% per year is heralded on this forum like a meteor just missed the planet. When other areas are growing at 1% per MONTH or more.
We can sit here and argue semantics and tax incentives and whatever. Its not working for NY. 10 years for a company is nothing. Its not going to attract business when there's going to be a Sword of Damocles hanging over their head in 10 years. And most intelligent people know that after 10 years is up, and all your infrastructure is in, and your client base is right there, they got you by the balls to extort almost as much as they want from you.
I liken it to apartment living, which I'm well accustomed to these days. They give you a nice introductory rental rate, and once you move in and get comfortable, they jack the rate to the point where its almost cheaper to find another places, rent a truck, and move all of your stuff out. Almost.
Americans aren't stupid and no one in their right mind is going to invest in a state with crumbling infrastructure, cold and cloudy weather for 8 months a year, and a declining population. Especially when there are warm, vibrant, growing places that people actually want to live in. In the 1950's there was no choice because there was no air conditioning down South or in states like Texas. Now there is.
NY and NJ are still stuck in the 1980's mentality of building giant malls outside of city centers (destiny usa), rather than fix the cities. NJ invested $2.4 billion in a casino thats set to close in Sept. NY is trying their hand at casinos and commercials to dupe people into bringing business there. You see none of this in NC. A sign goes up for a shopping center, and 2 months later, its built and its nice. Trees are left behind and flowers are planted. A new paved road is put in to get there, complete with a center median with trees and flowers, not potholes and weeds.
Hey NY, tear down your high rise ghetto apartment complexes that make the cities look like 1970's Siberia against the cloudy sky, pave your streets, LOWER taxes when people fix their homes instead of raising them, powerwash your buildings to get the grime off. Buffalo, like Bethlehem PA have these huge hulking factories all along their riverfront that they keep to remember the good old days. Damn, I'd be scrapping that rusted heap of metal for $$ to beautify and clean up the cities!
When I look at lower tax states, I ask myself, what exactly am I paying for in New York State? The roads are about the same, trash gets picked-up, kids still go to school, police and fire department still respond...
When I look at lower tax states, I ask myself, what exactly am I paying for in New York State? The roads are about the same, trash gets picked-up, kids still go to school, police and fire department still respond...
Some amenities, especially in many newer developments more often in other regions, are paid for through HOA's and the county school systems may also consolidate a lot of school based services. If you notice, the biggest percentage of property tax bills is the school tax portion. So, that is why I've been saying for years on here that if there was a bigger push for county school districts, which you can still zone without changing too much, you may be able to bring property taxes down for everyone due to consolidating services and having more people to pay for those services.
When I look at lower tax states, I ask myself, what exactly am I paying for in New York State? The roads are about the same, trash gets picked-up, kids still go to school, police and fire department still respond...
Of course, but when you're business and tax climate is New York, I guess greedy politicians think it makes more sense to have corporate welfare than the more rational thing in making it more competitive for everyone.
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Of course, but when you're business and tax climate is New York, I guess greedy politicians think it makes more sense to have corporate welfare than the more rational thing in making it more competitive for everyone.
I hear you. That's why I go back to the post about consolidation of school systems(and some other government entities). That can come down to what the people want and if they see how that benefits the greater good. You can have resistance to such changes, but a choice has to be made or there needs to be an alternative plan that can reduce costs/taxes.
Another thing that people may not think about in terms of the consolidation of schools, especially in highly populated counties, is the aspect of the segregation of NYS schools. While a lot of this is due to diverse demographics concentrated in NYC relative to the rest of the state, I'm surprised that this hasn't been used to have districts consider consolidation to not only reduce taxes/costs, but to give an opportunity to decrease school segregation like many Southern states did 35-50 years ago. For them, it wasn't something that went forth easily, but when they saw the cost/tax reduction due to the consolidation of services, the benefit of doing that was realized. So, that may be something to consider.
I hear you. That's why I go back to the post about consolidation of school systems(and some other government entities). That can come down to what the people want and if they see how that benefits the greater good. You can have resistance to such changes, but a choice has to be made or there needs to be an alternative plan that can reduce costs/taxes.
Another thing that people may not think about in terms of the consolidation of schools, especially in highly populated counties, is the aspect of the segregation of NYS schools. While a lot of this is due to diverse demographics concentrated in NYC relative to the rest of the state, I'm surprised that this hasn't been used to have districts consider consolidation to not only reduce taxes/costs, but to give an opportunity to decrease school segregation like many Southern states did 35-50 years ago. For them, it wasn't something that went forth easily, but when they saw the cost/tax reduction due to the consolidation of services, the benefit of doing that was realized. So, that may be something to consider.
No arguments on this, I agree. It's ridiculous how small some school districts are.
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