Post AyhMcoPnUdyM9kXnfM by rlstone4dems@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by rlstone4dems@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #AyhIq0aP9YLfqtXi2i by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-29T11:52:24Z
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“take our parking spaces to make secure, trash collection centers? no that’s oppression!”This same person is confused why there are rats. Observe: a garbage bag with a hole chewed in it on the sidewalk, a cucumber just sitting there like we are running a health food restaurant for rats. A very healthy and cute rat doing a bad job hiding after being chased out of an empty lot where there is construction. The trash collection sites are the one good accomplishment of our mayor.
(DIR) Post #AyhJdTREfcN7WbqC3c by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-29T12:01:22Z
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Landlords who own empty lots or hold empty buildings waiting to flip them are also a big factor in the rat problem. The very cute and doom rat in the photo came out of a construction site that had been sitting fallow for at least three years. We ought to have a tax on undeveloped lots. A nasty tax that grows by two percent a year. We don’t have the time or space to wait for these investment types who just want to hold property not live on it.
(DIR) Post #AyhJre4xu9qOa5BJse by Lyle@cville.online
2025-09-29T12:03:54Z
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@futurebird we have been struggling with this in Charlottesville for decades. Limited progress. https://c-ville.com/mall-rats-does-the-downtown-mall-have-a-rodent-problem/
(DIR) Post #AyhKeVmdXJYX2fuSyu by Smoljaguar@spacey.space
2025-09-29T12:12:44Z
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@futurebird land value tax would fix this (and as a bonus, also disincentivise building massive parking lots)
(DIR) Post #AyhLOBKXudoKveY1NQ by david_chisnall@infosec.exchange
2025-09-29T12:21:00Z
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@futurebird In the UK, we have a thing called 'Council Tax', which is kind-of a property tax but done in a maximally convoluted way (it's based on the value of the property at an arbitrary point in the past, which makes no sense for properties built after that point and not much more for a lot that were built before).For a long time, you got a discount on a second home and paid nothing on an unoccupied property, on the basis that the tax existed to pay local-authority services and you used these less if no one lived there or if you were living there only some of the time.One of the few good things our last (Conservative) government did was to invert that. Councils can now charge double for second homes and for properties that are long-term unoccupied. The rules appear to have changed slightly since I last looked, after a property has been unoccupied for one year they are allowed to charge a premium and this gradually increases up to 4x for ten-year-empty properties.
(DIR) Post #AyhLSSnmtZeyH5GcFM by paulc@mstdn.social
2025-09-29T12:21:46Z
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@futurebird There is a long established line of thinking that land needs to be taxed at 100% (not the building or other improvements). This would encourage land to be kept in use and not held for 10 years waiting for it to be more valuable and then building on it. Sprawl partly happens because land goes undeveloped as the owners wait for increased land prices. And buildings go unmaintained if you expect to tear them down in 5 years.
(DIR) Post #AyhMcoPnUdyM9kXnfM by rlstone4dems@mastodon.social
2025-09-29T12:34:47Z
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@futurebird The poor little rat looks so scared...
(DIR) Post #AyhMxZaFpa3AEsKp96 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-29T12:38:32Z
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@nev @Smoljaguar I love this idea. Parking lots are a blight and they encourage driving which is something the majority of NYC residents never do but which is something that gets us killed more than anything else.
(DIR) Post #AyhNpUpPjBWp7y8dOq by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-09-29T12:48:22Z
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@rlstone4dems Poor thing was having a bad day. It’s one of the cutest rats I’ve ever seen and I’m not a big fan. The creature has no idea why any of this is happening but when we have a buffet right on the street and dark buildings without anyone using them to hide in how reasonable is it to be mad at the rat? It’s sad.
(DIR) Post #AyhOaFpJJyysD9NzDk by gbargoud@masto.nyc
2025-09-29T12:56:45Z
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@futurebird On a similar note a few months ago:https://masto.nyc/@gbargoud/114366097925738860
(DIR) Post #AyhRd5mdPxWrnIBAWm by JessTheUnstill@infosec.exchange
2025-09-29T13:30:55Z
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@futurebird well, that only hurts them if they think the property appreciation isn't going to be increasing by less than 2% per year. Or else they basically hire temporary residents that agree they can be kicked out any time or something the moment a tenant is interested.I know other cities have tried vacancy taxes to mixed results to actually encouraging the behavior they want.
(DIR) Post #AyiIVAYl4TftrRnOK0 by anabollocks@masto.nyc
2025-09-29T23:23:19Z
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@futurebird it's his "even a stopped clock is right twice a day" policy.