> In the long run, yes, maybe things will be net better for all, when the $45M per year has had a chance to make alternative transportation methods to be not just policy enforced, but truly _preferred_ option.
The article highlights that was $45 million in the month of March alone:
"In March, the tolls raised $45 million in net revenue, putting the program on track to generate roughly $500 million in its first year."
Relevant to the first book, but last year and this year have been awesome for women's achievement in ultrarunning:
- Last year Courtney Dauwalter won the three most iconic trail ultras in a single season, when most professional runners will only target one. I've seen a lot of people consider this to be the single most impressive trail running performance by any athlete. https://run.outsideonline.com/trail/trail-racing/film-about-...
Right, I think it's helpful to define the most probable types of emergencies where having a non-electronic form of payment is useful. In the US that's likely some sort of natural disaster (hurricane, snow storm, blackout or brownout during the summer). Going to your local grocer and using cash won't raise any eyebrows where I'm not sure how likely anyone is to accept gold or silver in one of those situations.
I've spent the majority of the past decade in Nashville, first for university and the past four years working in tech here after a short stint in California.
In that time, the tech community here has expanded dramatically. Even when I graduated from school, very few people from the CS program stayed in town. There weren't that many decent companies to work for then. Now you have many more options and you're starting to see larger, recognizable names in town (Eventbrite, Lyft). At one point the Nashville dev community slack was the second largest in the country, and there's a vibrant culture of meet-ups.
One other great thing about Nashville is that there a large number of neighborhoods that each have their own character and have walkable sections. Depending on what's important to you and the sort of food/attractions/entertainment you enjoy, you can probably find somewhere to live and be reasonably close to things (at least in Nashville proper, I don't make it out to the suburbs much).
As much as locals love to complain about traffic, it's still miles better than most large cities and I think anyone who's spent time in NYC, LA, SF, or even Atlanta will see that. Housing is definitely far more expensive than it used to be, and also still very affordable compared to many other places.
I share a lot of the concern that other posters have mentioned about traffic moving forward, but hopefully if more people move here that are deeply invested in public transit and avoiding the fates of other cities the electorate will shift enough to see some real change.
Not the GP author, but I've been in Nashville for about 8 years total (with a couple year gap in the middle). It's got a lot to offer, but it's become such a 'hot' city for people that you've got lots of recent transplant and tourists and so it's not nearly as affordable as it used to be (still a bargain compared to SV and most coastal cities).
I will say that the tech community here is not great. There have been a few local "success stories" that almost no one outside of town will have heard of, and healthcare still dominates. You also don't have a lot of people experienced in the tech space - I think this is a double edged sword because people starting companies outside of SV is great, but I also think you see lots of companies not be as successful as they could be if they learned from people who have gone there before.
I now work remote and it's a pretty good compromise. I bought a few years ago and love my neighborhood. There are new restaurants and things opening all the time. There are more flights from the airport than ever because of the increased tourism. Traffic is getting worse (still nothing compared to LA, Atlanta, etc.) and it's definitely a popular place overall.
To elaborate on this, Nashville seized all Bird scooters until regulations could be put in place [1]. This is after two women were seriously injured downtown while riding the scooters [2]. I haven't used a Bird scooter yet although they seem like a good idea, however I have had close encounters while driving with people using them without helmets because of poor visibility and cramped roads here in town.
For what it's worth, I think attributing it to white flight is a little misleading. Davidson County is certainly more diverse than the other counties in the metro region, but most of the people I know who live outside of Davidson County do so because of the schools. I'm close friends with a few Nashville Metro teachers, and I think that issues within Metro stem mostly from lack of funding.
As for the support from outside Nashville proper, I think that all of my friends and coworkers who live outside the city have much more to gain from a transit system that extends outside the county. My commute is pretty reasonable, a consistent 15-20 minutes. My coworkers in Williamson, Rutherford, or Cheatham Counties all have significantly longer commutes. I'm not saying support is a given, but for all the people who talk about Nashville turning into Atlanta, it's not those of us who live inside Davidson County that have the most to lose.
I'm in Nashville as well, and was just talking about this yesterday with people. The past couple of years has seemed to be almost entirely luxury apartment complexes being built, and anecdotally most of the young people I know here can't afford them, or if they can will just buy a house instead.
I haven't seen anyone specifically comment on Nashville so I figure I'll chime in and give you my $.02.
I did my undergrad at Vanderbilt in Nashville, moved to Mountain View for two years to work at Google and moved back a year ago after realizing living in California didn't work for me.
Pros:
- No state income tax in Tennessee
- Tons of stuff to do. There's way more than just Honky Tonks and country music. Professional football and hockey teams and a decent minor league baseball team. People go to the symphony and see shows at TPAC regularly. The Frist usually has interesting art exhibits, as does Cheekwood (also a botanical garden). If you prefer to be outdoors, there are plenty of places to hike, climb, kayak, etc. It might not be quite as striking as Yosemite or Marin, but the nature here is still quite beautiful.
- Housing is cheap (relatively). A lot of people (short and long timers) have taken to complaining about housing prices recently, and to be fair they have gone up quite a bit from where they were. It's not as cheap as Chattanooga or other smaller cities but it's still _very_ affordable compared to California. I recently closed on a house just using money I saved from working in CA for my down payment.
- Growing tech scene. It's really night and day even from when I graduated 3 years ago. Tons of meet ups and the community is really awesome. A growing number of companies - and the companies here tend to be more focused on actually growing a business instead of just hitting a valuation.
- Food. Awesome restaurant scene. Obviously more BBQ and Southern focused though.
- Friendly. People in Nashville are very friendly. I think this is immediately noticeable, but I enjoy having conversations with random people I run into.
- Centrally located. They've added direct flights to the Bay Area recently, and you're a day's drive from a good chunk of the eastern half of the country (you can get to Chicago, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Orlando, or Buffalo within a day's drive).
Cons:
- Davidson County schools aren't great. Lots of people with kids live in other counties and commute in to get better schools.
- Traffic. This isn't as bad as other major metro areas, but depending on where you live it can be significant.
- Not very walkable. There are a few areas that are walkable (12 South, Hillsboro, places in East Nashville) but you need a car. Public transit is pretty bad.
Neutral:
- More conservative state politics. Nashville is fairly liberal, but there's definitely still a conservative bent at the state level. I put this in neutral because I don't think it's all bad (remember, no state income tax) but you may end up getting upset about state legislation.
- Weather. Really hot summers. Winters aren't too bad. Occasional snow, and it can actually get chilly. Lots of rain (compared to CA). I don't think this is bad because I actually enjoy having seasons.
- Big healthcare focus (both small and large companies).
tl;dr - Nashville is awesome, and I'm really happy I moved back. It's not as easy as the Bay Area to job hop, but I'm not worried about finding work when I do decide to make a jump.
I grew up in Buffalo and I would not recommend this for a lot of reasons. There are plenty of other cities with affordable housing (including lower property taxes) and much more pleasant weather.
Although this is the first time something like this has been found in competition, I can remember a few prior allegations or instances that many people have found suspicious. So I don't personally find this to be a complete shock.
One thing I find interesting, for road cycling at least, is that the UCI mandated weight minimums could make it easier for a rider to attempt something like this. Many of the bikes need weights in the seat tubes to bring them up to the minimum weight, so the extra weight of a motor and battery wouldn't stick out as much. If they were to lower the 6.8kg minimum, a bike with motor and battery might end up weighing noticeably more than the average bike in the peloton.
This is something that is definitely overlooked in these discussions. I'm in the US, not living in SF or NYC but in a city growing fairly rapidly and closing on a house in a few weeks. I know that my mortgage won't increase (property taxes excluded), and I don't have to worry about a landlord deciding he wants to redevelop the property or just raising the rent enough that I'm forced to move - both of which are happening with regularity in my area.
I don't think home ownership is a decision to be made lightly and I disagree with the idea presented in the article that it should be done to make money, but there are definitely numerous benefits and the idea of a mortgage being somehow evil just because it's debt is extreme. As another commenter mentioned, debt is a tool which can be used poorly or wisely.
You could also make a similar point as the podcast by looking at the experiences of modern lottery winners. So I would say I'm pretty skeptical that something like this would be effective for the vast majority of people.
I find they're actually quite good gifts for smaller or more casual situations - as a thank you for someone who did you a favor, or when you don't know someone all that well. Or even for people who just like coffee.
According to this site http://planet--earth.ca/ (Go to Electro-L Images, then Image Gallery) the full image is too expensive to host and he's providing a torrent soon.
Even worse, as the article mentions, is having another set of credentials that you can't ever delete. I don't want hundreds of different websites all with an account for me that I'm not ever going to use.
The article highlights that was $45 million in the month of March alone:
"In March, the tolls raised $45 million in net revenue, putting the program on track to generate roughly $500 million in its first year."