dbmay.bsky.social
41 posts
33 followers
85 following
Getting Started
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Why just the affordable housing?
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i am surprised there isn’t a much better way to do traffic studies using cell phone location data. It’s 1) not anecdotal, 2) includes all modes bc your phone can tell walking, bus, biking and car driving apart, and 3) comprehensive. Yet everyone still pays kci to go count cars with clickers
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I agree that we shouldn’t need to put in tickets for things that are obvious and right downtown but 1) I’m sympathetic that government doesn’t have eyes everywhere, 2) love that when I submit tickets they often get fixed very fast, and 3) think it’s a reasonable ask of us as citizens to help
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Shouldn’t property taxes grow at roughly inflation + population growth where hopefully new building contributes as well? You could then make an affirmative decision to grow or shrink government, but this seems like the baseline. That has almost never been 6% per year.
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What? Who? Why?
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1) not according to the census bureau fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TNDAV...
2) Nashville job growth outpaces population growth bc we don’t have enough housing so people move to surrounding counties
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I’m not sure - US population growth projected to be much slower (+36m in next 25Y vs +60m in last 25).
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haven’t been at every meeting but I think quite positive. The neighborhood association has also been very supportive
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Why don’t we do this all over the place? This seems like an easy “quick build” way to catch up on sidewalks
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Do these work for stormwater in areas that don’t already have curb and gutter? 1k / foot makes it hard to build sidewalks.
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Lots of places in my neighborhood where a back street is safer, less hilly and more pleasant than the main road with a bike lane that Google maps tells you to take
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I leave debt strategy to a macroeconomic forecaster. My point is more to be skeptical of creating slush funds of money outside the control of normal politics. We set up a tax capture zone for the convention center not for whatever random projects we shoehorn into it.
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I just want there to be a train…
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That’s probably the right answer actually. Once the bonds are paid off the revenue reverts to the general fund and we can make a new decision about what to do with it
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Where does the extra convention center money go? I think the tax capture has meaningfully exceeded expectations. Could it fund a light rail from the convention center to the airport?
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What if we explicitly internalized the revenue - Eg create a tax capture zone around an upzoning and let some of the tax increment from the development get used specifically for infrastructure in the zone. I bet some residents opposed to density would like it better if it got their sidewalk built.
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2) Density creates incremental tax revenue that can help fund infrastructure. If we wait to approve any new housing until the infrastructure is done we actually make it harder to build the infrastructure!
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Why? 1) Development and density have real costs. Construction is annoying, change is hard, etc. But it needs to happen to keep up with Nashvilles growth. So we should reward neighborhoods that take on more of that burden by making sure that good things (sidewalks) come with it.
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They asked everyone the same question! Why did the high income people answer it so differently from the low income people? Was it flawed for one group but not another? Your argument would make sense if everyone answered it the same way.
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You can quibble with the question (though it was written by professional pollsters) but they asked the same question to everyone in the poll. People answered really differently by income, which contradicts your assertion that “money” is driving more density. Do you have some alternative data?
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I have not been elected to anything but here are some rules that seem maybe dumb:
- why is it necessary to read each item on the consent agenda in a world where meeting agendas are posted online well in advance?
- why do zoning bills have public hearings at both planning and council?
What else?
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Overlays would only impact the aesthetics of the homes in question. There are a ton of mansions in overlay neighborhoods.
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Two choices: build these houses or build fewer, larger units? Which is better for affordability? Clearly the former! It is important to think on the margins.
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Why is the price tag so high? It would be very helpful for connectivity into downtown and the gulch from the west side
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This is a good idea not just downtown but generally! Taking district CMs on a neighborhood bike tour and showing them what it’s like actually seems like a really constructive way to advocate for biking! I live in D24 - any interest @brendagadd.bsky.social ?
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Ok but re-zoning is a thing we can do right now that is not only free but actually creates incremental tax density to pay for other stuff we want (including subsidies for truly affordable housing!).
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700k ain’t cheap, but it’s in reach for a family in the top quarter of the income distribution. 2m is only doable if you’re in the top ~5%. Plus, it’s 3 families not competing for the next home. We need other strategies for true affordability but this is a small win!
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Can’t say enough good about K&S. Worth a treacherous left turn coming from the nations!
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Is the report online? I looked but couldn’t find it.
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Job growth numbers are amazing. Maybe more of those people would live in Davidson county and our population would be higher if housing weren’t so expensive!
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Traffic cameras are about efficiency! You could deter running red lights by parking a police officer at every major intersection but that would be super expensive! Red light cameras are a more efficient way of deterring people from running red lights
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I get objecting to FUSUS on the grounds that it trades off one of the other goals too much for too little efficiency. But that’s kinda Neil’s point - a thorough analysis of the efficiency gains would be helpful in informing the decision
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Efficiency shouldn’t be THE goal but it should be A goal. If using technology well lets our police clear more crimes with their current budget, that’s a good thing!! Clearly there are competing goals like policing equity, privacy, etc.