BS: London & New York, no poor allowed?

Subject: BS: London & New York, no poor allowed?
From: InOBU
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 07:21 AM

Well, following London's lead New York is thinking about an $8 toll to get into mid-town, it already costs a few bucks to get onto the island. So, the question is, is the center of our town, only for those who can afford to go there... more and more of my city is becoming exclusively for those who can afford it. Well, when the city is so expensive that artists cant afford the place, the rich can have it. It will be a grey dead peice of concrete.
Larry

Subject: RE: BS: London & New York, no poor allowed?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 11:23 AM

The London toll is only on cars, so it's not as bad as that. I don't think I know anyone who would dream of driving into Central London anyway.

Is that New York thing a toll on cars or an entrance charge?

Subject: RE: BS: London & New York, no poor allowed?
From: Kim C
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 01:10 PM

I thought artists already couldn't afford New York! ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: London & New York, no poor allowed?
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 02:48 PM

Some years ago, I rented a car and drove all over northern England and Scotland. But when I saw the conditions around London, I cancelled my rental and used public transit- which I found to be very good.

Subject: RE: BS: London & New York, no poor allowed?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 03:21 PM

What's the $8 toll for, Larry? If it's for cars, I can't say I'd disagree. I'm still a little peeved about two tolls I paid in New York, thour. I was trying to park in the Battery Park garage, which is built over a tunnel entrance. The sign said, "Parking, next right." The next right was the tunnel entrance, and there was no place to turn around. I had to pay $3.50 each way for an unwanted trip to Brooklyn and back.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: BS: London & New York, no poor allowed?
From: InOBU
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 03:22 PM

No just cars... but at times one needs a car, or a van, to move a band, for example... so once again another basic right, the right to roads in ones village, goes by the boards, we are not talking about the highway, we are talking about roads in my town. PELs, Pole Tax, next they will tax each breath you draw.
Larry

Subject: RE: BS: London & New York, no poor allowed?
From: Kim C
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 03:53 PM

Does the toll not allow you to keep those village roads in good repair?

Subject: RE: BS: London & New York, no poor allowed?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 03:56 PM

Don't you get a concessionary pass if you live in the citty?

With the London scheme people who live in the directly affected area get a 90% reduction. (And it's £10 to cover a complete year, for people with mobility disabilities, wherever in the country they come from.)

Subject: RE: BS: London & New York, no poor allowed?
From: Kim C
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 03:58 PM

We don't have to pay a toll in Nashville but if you want to park downtown, be prepared to fork over $10. And that isn't a tax, that's private enterprise.

Subject: RE: BS: London & New York, no poor allowed?
From: Ebbie
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 05:42 PM

Crowded streets and insufficient parking are a problem even here in little (30000) Juneau, Alaska. Because we are between the ocean and the mountains (in very few places is there even a mile between the two), our streets are narrow. Because we are the capital of Alaska, there's an annual influx of legislators during the winter adding to the congestion and because we are in a gorgeously scenic area, in the summertime we have boatloads of visitors with others arriving by air or bringing their vehicles on the ferries, so parking is frustrating, to say the least. When I had a car, I got to the point of not even wanting to use it because I knew it meant that I had lost my parking spot.

The city is trying to motivate the people, especially office workers, into using public transport. One of the things being bandied about at the moment is issuing a free bus pass to each office worker then for those who insist on bringing their cars downtown there would be a charge for parking in parking garages. (Currently parking garages are free to the worker; each agency pays the monthly fee.) The resulting leftover parking spaces would be open for shoppers and visitors.

That would be a good start. Juneau is a linear town, extending up the coast about 45 miles. I would like to see a Park and Ride spot about 5 miles out of downtown (Downtown is where the Capitol is and where almost all the offices are) whence shuttles would make 15 or 20 minute loops, delivering people to the office door and back again. That way, on the days you needed to run errands after work, you could take the shuttle back to your car and not have to go all the way home before setting off again.

Speaking of not being able to afford to live in your own town, a few years back Aspen, Colorado, set up a dormitory system in town for the workers who serve the populace who come to play or to visit their second homes. That appalls me- it seems such a third-world concept.

Subject: RE: BS: London & New York, no poor allowed?
From: jimmyt
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 06:23 PM

I really don't think it was meant as a form of oppression, Larry. It seems that anything they can do in NYC to eliminate any unneeded vehicles in favor of public transportation would be welcomed by anyine who is environmentally conscious

Subject: RE: BS: London & New York, no poor allowed?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 06:30 PM

I think my bald-headed kid said that the last time he took a semi load to NYC the only way to get to the drop off dock was by one of the toll bridges - at about $300 CASH toll. The cars could use other routes, but trucks are/were limited to the routes where they can apply their little bit of extortion.

Unfortunately, NYC is not really an exception.

With the prevalence of "special fees" (Taxes) on "people who aren't really as good as us" it's quite obvious that these fees are being used as a backdoor to limiting the freedom of "them."

But I have difficulty believing that there isn't a better way to control traffic. The bottom line IS "the bottom line."

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

John