Posted on 08/28/2023 10:28:01 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
They were already dying before WW2 gave them an economic boost.
Technology innovations, in communications and transportation in particular, made cities less feasible for industry. Other than possibly being congregation points for health care, cities are relegated to industries such as government or the Grievance Industry.
Totally agree. Firefighters are relics of a bygone era but get paid because they’re union.
Wherever democrats run things the doom loop is inevitable.
20% police department vacancies should result in the same "savings". It also contributes to the urban "death spiral".
Since George Floyd/"Defund the Police"/BLM, urban police departments have had problems retaining and recruiting police officers.
Why wouldn't they? And the police officers that they do retain/recruit are going to be less likely to police.
Urban homicides have increased significantly, and urban traffic deaths have also increased, because traffic laws in cities aren't being enforced, either.
(This has been called "The Retreat to the Donut Shop")
The doom loop started BEFORE The pandemic. This article attempts to rewrite history.
10 acres with a pond, more than 1 day's walking distance away from any city.
You either pay for firefighters through taxes or through increased insurance premiums on your mortgage.
Firefighters in recent decades have also picked up the additional duties of EMTs to offset their costs.
I worked in an engineering office in DC for 9 years. I don’t know why they had stores and shopping, I went to work on a train not the Metro, I got on a shuttle went to my office spent the bulk of the workday in the building and left my office to reverse my commute. I never shopped downtown, I never got out for a decent walk went out to eat a couple times for some going away luncheons, that was it. Pretty sterile if you ask me.
The train commute was nice got to socialize because trains are totally different than the Blank Stare metros and people actually like to talk... and I got to catch up on the news because I had time to read the paper.
A path I see is for the vacated commercial space to be turned into housing which would allow workers to live near their jobs. Other space could be made into parks and the like that would make the city a decent place to raise a family.
This plan would counter the time consuming, expensive commutes, clogged massively expensive freeways, gasoline consumption, and for some the CO2 emissions.
I never once paid extra on a mortgage because of no firefighters (back when I had a mortgage). That must be newer. Taxes pay for firefighters in the city but being in the city is why they’re union. They do seem to have other duties now. Where I live they show up at auto accidents.
Your mortgage holder that requires you to have insurance knows what fire protection your town has.
Like I said it must be newer. I moved from a town with a taxpayer fire department to a rural area with a volunteer one 15 miles away. The mortgage rate was the same (same credit union did both).
bkmk
Spot on.
And it gets worse.
Just wait until the retirees from state and local governments discover that their pensions have been taken over by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), and that their “defined benefit” pensions will be capped at $12,780 a year.
I agree with the sentiment, but the target is much too small. Don’t start with the salaries. That’s the last car on the train.
Start with the programs and activities. At least 40% of the people employed by the average city are in make-work or jobs or programs that are not core functions for a US city. Anything that is not physical infrastructure or health and safety related should be eliminated.
My guess, from experience with the federal government, is that payrolls could be cut 50-60%, and essential functions could still be done.
I am for doing both to useless government parasites, fire at least half of them and then cut the salaries of the remainders.
p
That works for me!
I have a small piece of God’s country too.
Portland maine has turned into a sh++hole. Was a great small city and the leftists took it and ruined it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.