bch2014

One under discussed issue in this thread on the price/availability of housing is the role that NIMBYs play in stifling development. It is nearly impossible to develop a new neighborhood in the northeast these days... And God forbid you try to build new apartments... In the town I grew up in (Concord, MA), people get their panties in a wad if you try to build apartments or condos, claiming it will “alter the character of the town.” Of course, the same cranks bitching about development are the same ones who have BLM signs in their yard. Here in NYC, a development was just approved in my Financial District/Seaport neighborhood after years of red tape... The objection: it was “architecturally inappropriate.” So one would think it was replacing a building that the Dutch had built... Nope, it was replacing a parking lot. https://www.google.com/amp/s/champ.gothamist.com/champ/gothamist/news/smaller-plan-250-water-street-south-street-seaport-approved-landmarks-commission

I haven’t really seen much of an issue with chain restaurants forcing local spots to close. Reality (absent of Covid restrictions) is that Americans eat out more than ever so everyone, both chain and mom & pop, can get a piece of the pie. I do agree that Mom and Pop grocery stores and the like are failing...But I think Wal Mart, Target, etc are misplaced villains in that fight. But whatever, I’m just a shill for big retail/CPG. The company to criticize for decimating retail in truly small/economically depressed areas is Dollar General.

The "mom and pop" shops don't exist in brick and mortar settings anymore because they aren't economically viable! If you're going to offer the marginal consumer higher prices, less assortment, and a less consistent experience, they will shop elsewhere. That said, monthly business formation has grown in the U.S. compared to 15 years ago so the idea that there is less entrepreneurship in current times compared to years ago is incorrect. But maybe that business is happening on Etsy instead of Main St. https://www.census.gov/econ/bfs/index.html Out of curiosity, I pulled down the county level business applications dataset (on that page under "Annual County Data" header) and compared the business formation rate from 2005 to 2019 for some of counties that people hail from on this forum (plus a few others of interest): State County County Code fipstate fipscty BA2005 BA2019 growth rate TX Collin County 48085 48 085 7947 15872 200% DE Sussex County 10005 10 005 1943 3871 199% VT Chittenden County 50007 50 007 1196 2032 170% TX Dallas County 48113 48 113 24721 39228 159% MA Suffolk County 25025 25 025 6887 10866 158% MD Baltimore County 24005 24 005 7280 10757 148% ME Cumberland County 23005 23 005 2680 3479 130% NY New York County 36061 36 061 38028 47027 124% MA Middlesex County 25017 25 017 11786 14348 122% CT Fairfield County 09001 09 001 10705 12890 120% MA Norfolk County 25021 25 021 5167 6017 116% VT Lamoille County 50015 50 015 217 242 112% MA Plymouth County 25023 25 023 3415 3692 108% MA Worcester County 25027 25 027 4953 5242 106% NH Hillsborough County 33011 33 011 3257 3445 106% CT Tolland County 09013 09 013 759 760 100% NH Coos County 33007 33 007 195 166 85% Looks like you've been spending too much time in Randolph! Hopefully summer time in Delaware reinvigorates your hope in American entrepreneurship... Just be aware that they might not be brick and mortar stores!

Uhh, I lived in West Plano which is essentially the model for an upper-middle-class suburb. Sure, lots and lots of chains but also lots of small business, many run by immigrants (in the case of Plano-mostly Asian immigrants). The most chain-ified areas are lower-income, ex-urban/rural white areas. If your community's population is stagnant/shrinking and incomes aren't rising, what's the incentive to form a business?

1) Suburban Dallas has higher average incomes than rural Vermont. 2) There are plenty of boutiques in Dallas. 3) Am I the only one who doesn't mind shopping at chain Grocery stores? I much preferred shopping at HEB when I lived in Texas vs. the shithole mom and pop grocery stores here in the city... These larger chains generally have better assortment and better prices for the consumer while for employees, they pay higher wages and offering more career advancement than the smaller competition.

The assertion that there are all these lazy, college-educated 25-35 Y/Os sitting around, doing nothing, waiting on a minimum wage increase from the government isn't empirically true, at least compared to other segments of the population. The labor force participation rate AND the unemployment rate for college graduates is higher/lower than any other education subgroup. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm If you want to talk about work ethic-it's people at the lower end of the education spectrum who don't have it.

To be honest, the most Covid cautious ski area I skied at this season was Magic... Which I wouldn’t expect given their “old school vibe.” They had people shouting at folks getting OFF the lift about pulling your mask up. Really annoying honestly, but the snow was good that day so I dealt with it. The most Covid “cavalier” was Snowbasin.. Which of course is a Vail/Epic partner. They were loading up full gondolas in January. All the Vail resorts were somewhere in the middle in terms of rules/enforcement.

I'd avoid True West in Acton. I think their beer (and food) is mediocre. Cool place to have if you lived in Acton, but not worth travelling for. In Keene, I think ModestMan has both great beer and a great ambience. Also in Keene is Branch and Blade-the ambience isn't as good (it's in an industrial park) but the beer is quite good and they've got a nice outdoor setup if the weather is nice.

Hail in NYC

Hail in the financial district.

What’s the earliest melt out of all time at the snow stake on Mt Mansfield? Was thinking we were going to see it this year but maybe the recent snow has saved it?

Just went and got a haircut and barber had his vaccine card taped on the mirror in front of the chair. Asked me if I was vaccinated, which I am, and said I could take my mask off... Gladly did because getting a haircut with a mask on sucks.

Got it. I remember skiing Pico not long after that storm and it was choked with snow. But yes-maybe there was something weird with it staying more snow the further south you went.

Call me crazy-But wasn’t there a massive event at the end of February 2010 that dropped 40-50 inches on the mountains? This was the storm that dumped like 70 inches in the Catskills in five days... But I think VT did pretty well?

Theaters were in secular decline pre-covid so it’s not surprising to see many of them fail. I rarely went to the movies in the first place so no big deal for me but I understand how many loved it.

Not sure why you’re attacking me when I posted earlier that many of the restrictions are nonsensical? I’ve also done my part in supporting the restaurant and travel industry. I eat out multiple times per week, have travelled to Utah and South Carolina already in 2021, and violated the quarantine rule in VT several times in order to ski! And before you say that I’m not feeling any economic hardship. It’s true that I’ve kept my job, have a reasonably high income, etc... But my company’s most profitable segment, our gum and mints business, is down 30% since Covid began due to the fact that people don’t like chewing gum while wearing masks. As a result, bonuses were reduced, we’ve laid people off, etc... Have I proved my Covid bona fides to you yet? (Not that I need to-but I’m not going to sit around while you attack me on here)

Yup. https://www.google.com/amp/s/boston.eater.com/platform/amp/2021/2/25/22301611/capacity-caps-removed-massachusetts-restaurants-march-1-2021

Correct, I’m 25 and single But agree that school issue is a big one, it just doesn’t personally affect me much (besides the fact that our GDP is probably constrained by 10-20 bps/yr on a 20 time horizon due to learning loss).

I mostly agree with you on the “open up” question-But some restrictions are just illogical at this point. For example, here in NY (and MA used to have this restriction), you must order food if you’re at a bar/restaurant. So, you can’t grab cocktails at a different place before going to dinner. Another example would be the subway shutdowns from 2AM-4AM for “deep cleaning” when we know the disease doesn’t spread efficiently on surfaces. Bringing it back to New England, why does Gov. Baker allow indoor restaurants to open at 100% but outdoor sporting events and concerts aren’t yet allowed to be open at anything close to full capacity? In my view, you either go really hard on restrictions (I.e. New Zealand) or no restrictions at all. This in between shit just makes everyone crazy, whether it’s the “Covid-Zero” types or the Clay Travis disciples.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wcvb.com/amp/article/new-hampshires-mask-mandate-to-end-friday-governor-says/36136123 Hopefully a sign of things to come here in the northeast!

Ground looks white on your cam?

Stratton cam has gone offline.

Can you point to an example of a vaccine trial where subjects are held in a hospital for 6-14 days (i.e. when these clots occurred) after dosing for observation? (There may be examples-I honestly don't know) Otherwise sounds like a straw man...

“Finding everything wrong”? All of the SA variant cases in the study you posted the article about came within 14 days of the second dose. Also, vaccines were never going to be 100% effective. But even a less effective vaccine can reduce the transmission rate to the point of the virus fading into the background.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/car-rental-shortages-183958570.html