bodhipooh wrote:
I love reviving this thread every year, as annual data comes out that clearly repudiates the narrative pushed by Dolomiti and other so-called progressives who think you can continue to raise taxes on people year after year and that people will continue to take it.

From the thread below, the idea that taxes can spur people to leave NY/NJ was dismissed as a myth. Too bad the data does not fit that characterization.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-florid ... he-tax-relief-11578501325

https://nypost.com/2019/12/30/new-york ... -an-alarming-rate-report/

dmark526 wrote:
Lol. You sound like a typical Millennial. I have no experience, but I want to start at the top. Wouldn't we all like to have things given to us before proving ourselves.

MartinM wrote:
I attended New Jersey City University's Arts and Culture Breakfast Symposium on last Thursday morning with a wide array of artists and arts leaders representing arts groups from all over Jersey City and representing all different media in the arts. It is encouraging that NJCU is playing the role of a facilitator of communication.

Unfortunately, I was dismayed and frustrated by the lack of awareness, inability to articulate, and tone deaf comments by the government officials in attendance. No personal offense intended - but the arts are a highly sophisticated and educated field that requires individuals who possess knowledge, contacts, and education in the areas of arts and non-profit management. Beyond the individuals on the panel with specific experience in arts management, I heard nothing but more platitudes about Jersey City's "great arts scene". One official, at a loss for describing his familiarity with Jersey City arts, spoke about his passion for karaoke. Another seemed to be swimming in gibberish, incomprehensible to anyone in the room. A third trotted out the same tried and true excuse: we are fixing everything the prior administration did wrong. (Isn't there a statute of limitation on that one?) None appeared to have a grasp of the challenges facing arts and arts groups in Jersey City nor ideas for remedying the crisis that arts in Jersey City are facing. Are these officials aware that there is not one arts organization in Jersey City with even marginally adequate funding for operations in spite of our location in the most economically active region in the state?

Last week's meeting conveyed no confidence that the city possesses the will, awareness, or expertise to address the underlying issues of: negligible arts funding, lack of professional arts performance/exhibition space, inclusion of arts in city planning decisions, enforcement of arts provisions in zoning and other ordinances. At today's panel discussion the tension in the room between the official "party line" about support for the arts - and the reality that Jersey City arts groups face in Jersey City - was so thick you could have cut it with a knife.

I hope local government will prove me wrong about their commitment to the arts. Or perhaps these pols, in their campaign year calculations, will decide that providing real policy and leadership in the arts is not as cheap and easy as highly publicized window dressing: murals, public arts events barely discernible from poltical rallies paid for by the tax payers but with the mayor's face front and center.

bodhipooh wrote:
[

Dude, you are making a fool out of yourself: those two specific examples (Mazda CX5 and Acura RDX) are VERY short by SUV standards. In fact, they are both shorter than the average mid size sedan, certainly shorter than a Ford Fusion.

I am not trying to argue or defend the ownership of SUVs (people can own whatever they choose!) but your stance just comes across as petty and misguided when your justifications are based on misconceptions.

You can keep spouting your crank, but it is nothing more than shaking your fist at the sky: you will accomplish nothing because your argument and logic are not based on facts, just feelings and misconceptions.

srs7191 wrote:


I agree with you that most people own a larger vehicle than they need, but I don't see how it's a "suburban mentality".

Every major US city that I have visited is rammed full of SUVs. All of Hudson county, Newark, NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Wilmington, DC, Boston, LA, and Vegas - full of SUVs.

I mean, I lived in Hong Kong for three years, which doesn't even have suburbs in the American sense (even its "suburban" areas are more dense than most US cities) and that city had plenty of SUVs.

I'm originally from the UK, where SUV ownership is much lower - not because people don't want them, but because people can't afford them. They're a status symbol, and where do you see the most SUVs in the UK? The place where more can afford them - London.

bodhipooh wrote:
[

Thankfully, you are not in charge of public policy. Here is the problem with your stand: some SUVs are so compact as to be smaller than most mid-size sedans. Heck, of the top 10 SUVs sold in the US last year, almost all are about the same length as a Ford Fusion, with only two being about a foot longer.