Comments on: A few things that bug me to start….

By: toby

toby — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 22:16:07 +0000

There have been times when I didn’t read the fine print and wished I had. I purchased a new laptop from Staples, and the friendly salesperson talked me into buying the expensive warranty plan. He told me that it would take away all the hassles of sending out my laptop if it broke because the store would fix it in-house if I purchased the warranty. When the computer broke I found that the salesperson had lied to me. Staples forced me to go through the manufacturer’s warranty. I had to send my laptop out and go for months without it. Was this my fault? Yes. I didn’t read the fine print, but I still feel that Staples should instruct their employees to tell the truth. This is why I simply no longer shop at Staples, a place which I used to give a lot of business. I think that people often donâ€™t read the fine print because itâ€™s pages long and the sometimes less than honest salespeople assure them they donâ€™t need to.

By: jitgos

jitgos — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 06:11:37 +0000

We could just get rid of all signs. http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,448747,00.html

By: Julia

Julia — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 04:31:10 +0000

Why don’t you like yield signs? I see them as a nice replacement to stop signs.

By: jitgos

jitgos — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 20:54:38 +0000

From what I understand most downtowns around the country were becoming ghost towns before all these socialist revitalization plans started.

What irks me is, for instance, in Elkhart, IN where I am the city has used tax dollars to buy up buildings and businesses and then demolished them to put parking lots in so that businesses in the area have more parking. It seems that the businesses should have had to do that themselves.

So could we start a campaign to privatize Keene parking areas? Not sure how it would work…just thinking of how to free Keene. If it was linked to a specific property tax reduction maybe businesses would support it.

By: Eric Scott

Eric Scott — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 20:03:56 +0000

In theory, the parking revenue goes toward policing of parking areas. However, it seems to me most of these schemes operate at a loss. I like the idea of private parking spots where business owners can choose whether or not to charge a fee to offset the property tax and upkeep expense of the spaces.
As far as business artficially placed downtown, I would think small businesses locate there because they can rent space relatively cheaply.

By: jitgos

jitgos — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 19:37:29 +0000

The parking spots should be private property so that the owners could set whatever prices or policies they want. My tax dollars should not go toward policing of parking for a private business. Sounds like business welfare to me.

It’s very possible and probable that the forced revitalization plans that cities are putting together have artificially put businesses downtown when in a free market the businesses would be outside of downtown with more room and a private parking lot.