General Boston Discussion

[type001]

Very Rifleman take you had there

Your comment doesn't really make sense as a response to that fact.

I think his/her comment did. It was actually your comments that were a few degrees off from what we were taking about.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Don't let this harsh on anybody's unhinged ideological bleating, but MassHighway's on it. . .

 

[Justbuildit]

The commonwealth is saved!!

 

[Blackbird]

Don't let this harsh on anybody's unhinged ideological bleating, but MassHighway's on it. . .

View attachment 50372

Thank God. I do commute via the stretch DZ’s talking about and will attest that the 3rd-from-the-right lane is bad to the point I’m surprised my 2006 Toyota doesn’t fall apart as I drive over it.

If the work was supposed to start in summer ‘23, do you know what might be holding it up?

 

[jklo]

Massachusetts is a place the rich want to live and invest.

But furthermore, who cares either way? Why have you spent the last 15 years lurking this site just to crap all over this place?

I think people are just that agitated over housing prices these days.

 

[DZH22]

Don't let this harsh on anybody's unhinged ideological bleating, but MassHighway's on it. . .

View attachment 50372

Am I supposed to be impressed that, as per your screenshot, paving is 2% complete since Summer 2023? It's been unacceptably torn to shreds for well over a year. I'm sorry, since when do only "ideologues" complain when basic services are not met?

 

[stefal]

The people that would be meaningfully contributing a substantial amount of revenue to the state though this tax do not care about pavement quality.

 

[DZH22]

The people that would be meaningfully contributing a substantial amount of revenue to the state though this tax do not care about pavement quality.

It never mattered that they cared. It mattered that their taxes paid for the roads. Where is this money now that we can no longer keep up with basic maintenance? Anybody who isn't rich and has to drive down this road is going to care. It's Route 93 inside of the 128 belt. There's a lot of people who need to use this road.

 

[Stlin]

I'm not going to comment on the entire ideological argument, but I will say that 4.5 years to repave 8.5 miles of highway makes absolutely no sense - on average that's 110 lane *feet* of paving per day. Nothing in that scope should take that long, nor is Holcim a small bit contractor.

 

[Wonk]

Nothing in that scope should take that long, nor is Holcim a small bit contractor.

It's not a resurfacing project. 93 (and 95/128) have been resurfaced multiple times in the past two decades. It's a rebuilding effort, which comes with a significantly greater LOE and cost than simple resurfacing. If you want some insight into the difference between working on interstate highway roads and bridges versus the street you live on, here's the spec which applies to all the states including the ones the wealthy are fleeing to.

 

[Stlin]

It's not a resurfacing project. 93 (and 95/128) have been resurfaced multiple times in the past two decades. It's a rebuilding effort, which comes with a significantly greater LOE and cost than simple resurfacing. If you want some insight into the difference between working on interstate highway roads and bridges versus the street you live on, here's the spec which applies to all the states including the ones the wealthy are fleeing to.

... I included the slide that describes the scope of work, and am fully aware that the interstate is different from your side street. But unless the scope has significantly changed since the contract was awarded it absolutely is a resurfacing project and not a reconstruction, it simply has minor bridge repairs and guardrail replacement baked in.

"The work under this Contract on Interstate 93 includes resurfacing of the mainline, selected bridges, selected ramps, and Salem Street Rotary from Shore Drive in Somerville to just north of the Reading/Woburn Town Line. These limits shall be fine milled to a depth of 2” and resurfaced with 2” of Superpave High RAP Surface Course."

 

[TallIsGood]

Population dropped during Covid (duh) but it began rising again in 2022.

Similarly, MA high lost high earners with WFH flexibility during Covid, but I haven't seen a solid claim that they are still leaving in significant numbers. Link to that Globe article?

Here is the article - https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/04...lation-leaving-domestic-outmigration-housing/

An older article from a year ago - https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/05/15/business/exodus-mass-accelerated-2021-pioneer-analysis-shows/

Mass population is up from 2022 to 2023 (latest data) but still down from 2020. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/MA/PST045222

City of Boston population has decreased each year from 2020 through 2022 (no 2023 data yet. Expected next 2 weeks) - https://www2.census.gov/programs-su...2022/cities/totals/SUB-IP-EST2022-ANNRNK.xlsx

 

[kdmc]

Here is the article - https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/04...lation-leaving-domestic-outmigration-housing/

An older article from a year ago - https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/05/15/business/exodus-mass-accelerated-2021-pioneer-analysis-shows/

Mass population is up from 2022 to 2023 (latest data) but still down from 2020. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/MA/PST045222

City of Boston population has decreased each year from 2020 through 2022 (no 2023 data yet. Expected next 2 weeks) - https://www2.census.gov/programs-su...2022/cities/totals/SUB-IP-EST2022-ANNRNK.xlsx

That article defines "high earners" as $138k+ houshold income. It cites high housing costs, not taxes as the primary reason working-age adults are leaving. It also says that this trend has existed since 2006.

massbudget uses $200k+ houshold income as the starting point for "high earners", and finds that this group is outmigrating at lower rate than middle earners are. Their takeaway is that high earners are not leaving due to taxes, but middle earners are leaving due to housing prices and other cost of living concerns.

 

[kmp1284]

That article defines "high earners" as $138k+ houshold income. It cites high housing costs, not taxes as the primary reason working-age adults are leaving. It also says that this trend has existed since 2006.

massbudget uses $200k+ houshold income as the starting point for "high earners", and finds that this group is outmigrating at lower rate than middle earners are. Their takeaway is that high earners are not leaving due to taxes, but middle earners are leaving due to housing prices and other cost of living concerns.

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/PNR-521-TaxReality-PB-v03.pdf

 

[jklo]

That article defines "high earners" as $138k+ houshold income. It cites high housing costs, not taxes as the primary reason working-age adults are leaving. It also says that this trend has existed since 2006.

massbudget uses $200k+ houshold income as the starting point for "high earners", and finds that this group is outmigrating at lower rate than middle earners are. Their takeaway is that high earners are not leaving due to taxes, but middle earners are leaving due to housing prices and other cost of living concerns.

Makes sense - 130k is definitely not enough to buy an SFH.

Property taxes are an issue though.

 

[Justbuildit]

A conservative think-tank's white paper relying on 2021 numbers and bemoaning the punitive SALT provision in (the conservative-drafted) TCJA? Shocker. Again, opportunistic overinterpretations of spurious data from the midst of the pandemic flux is unreliable at best.

Tax receipts don't lie, and the housing market remains and absolute barrier to most people experiencing the best of what Boston can offer.

 

[jklo]

Tax receipts don't lie, and the housing market remains and absolute barrier to most people experiencing the best of what Boston can offer.

I think the issue with the tax receipts is that the people coming in are poorer than the people going out... plus WFH killing commercial real estate.

 

[kmp1284]

A conservative think-tank's white paper relying on 2021 numbers and bemoaning the punitive SALT provision in (the conservative-drafted) TCJA? Shocker. Again, opportunistic overinterpretations of spurious data from the midst of the pandemic flux is unreliable at best.

Tax receipts don't lie, and the housing market remains and absolute barrier to most people experiencing the best of what Boston can offer.

Just some food for thought and something to counter KDMC’s lefty think tank.

 

[kmp1284]

What is WFH?

Work from home

 

[Johnnyrocket891]

Report: Boston traffic is the fourth worst in the world. The WORLD​

Boston’s average time lost to traffic spiked 72% over 2021, but it was still 10% below 2019, when INRIX declared the city’s traffic congestion the worst in the country for a second year in a row.

Report: Boston traffic is the fourth worst in the world. The WORLD.

The average Boston driver lost 134 hours — more than five days — to traffic last year, according to a new report. Read more on Boston.com.

www.boston.com

Tax dollars seem to be misallocated in Massachusetts.
Infrastructure for the MBTA is a disaster
Infrastructure for the bridges/Highways is a disaster