A very small percentage of people in the city use public transportation. Here taxpayers even have to subsidize our busses otherwise they would go out of business. Up north, there is nothing worse than standing at a bus stop at 5:30 am in a snowstorm waiting for your bus that will likely be late.
I live on the east side of the greater Cleveland area but I work on the west side about 20 miles from my home. I would have to transfer to two, three or even four busses to make it to work, and then have to do the same going back. In my car, I make it to work in 25 minutes. If I had to use public transportation, just going to work would take me an hour and a half. That's why few use public transportation, so yes, people need cars to get to work on time.
Of course well kept yards keep property value up. That's why most cities have laws about how to maintain your property. They have maximum grass length, maximum hedge height, time limits on when you can take your garbage out and when you have to retrieve the garbage cans, house colors, fence height restrictions, all kinds of regulations to keep the property value up in a city. Even if you have an eye on a very nice house, if the neighbors house next door has busted windows, paint peeling off, grass a foot high, and the color of the neighbors house is bright green with pink shutters, you are not going to want to buy there.
Nothing abstract about it. Colleges have been charging more and more every year because they don't need to attract students--students need their acceptance to get in. In fact for profit colleges have a 20% profit margin. If you have a for sale sign on your car window because you want to sell it for $15,,000, and people are knocking your door down to buy it, you would be able to sell it for much more than $15,000. That's what's happening with our colleges today.
No, I don't want government running anything. But if government is going to pay for investments, it's only fair that they pay for all investments.
