Why are California roads SO screwed up?

[csandste]

Originally Posted by Imp4
Originally Posted by billt460
If you look at most of the liberal blue states, their infrastructure is falling apart and there is no money to fix it. Illinois, Minnesota, New York, California, Oregon, Washington, New Jersey, are all in the same financial mess. But they seem to have money to fund every give away program known to man. Pensions are also a big problem.

If you look at federal tax dollars flows, those same blue maker states send more tax revenue to the red taker states.
Maybe if the federal tax stream were turned off for the takers, the makers could keep their money and use it in-state.....


Referring to posted graph, not clipped quote:

Being a South Dakota native, I'm surprised that's a net donor. That's a cheap, red state. North Dakota makes a certain amount of sense because they're rolling in oil. Maybe because it's because South Dakota is rolling in credit card back office sweat shops-- no usury laws (slightly modified lately), and an economy that depends on screwing fiscal fools from the other 49 states out of their money.

"God Bless Denny Sanford"

 

[maxdustington]

Originally Posted by Imp4
If you look at federal tax dollars flows, those same blue maker states send more tax revenue to the red taker states.
Maybe if the federal tax stream were turned off for the takers, the makers could keep their money and use it in-state.....
Money is used to buy votes in those states, why do you think their infrastructure is so bad and taxes are so high there?

 

[zorobabel]

Originally Posted by Dave1027
It's because California voters are suckers. They voted down Prop 6 in favor of higher gax taxes and registration fees. They were told the roads would be fixed if they left the increases in place. They were lied to.

The registration increased to almost double within the past 2 two years.

The point of this thread is that when they fix a road, they do a lousy job. Sometimes I wonder if they go to Home Depot in the morning, hire some illegals for the day, show them the machinery, then: "Have at it muchachos, you'll figure it out! I'll be at Wendy's if you need me."

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted by Imp4
Originally Posted by billt460
If you look at most of the liberal blue states, their infrastructure is falling apart and there is no money to fix it. Illinois, Minnesota, New York, California, Oregon, Washington, New Jersey, are all in the same financial mess. But they seem to have money to fund every give away program known to man. Pensions are also a big problem.

If you look at federal tax dollars flows, those same blue maker states send more tax revenue to the red taker states.
Maybe if the federal tax stream were turned off for the takers, the makers could keep their money and use it in-state.....


This figure is skewed for various reasons. Namely Military and other Govt Agencies are located in the "green" states which also have smaller populations. The "red" states also have higher state income taxes. It's basically a useless metric.

 

[dtownfb]

Originally Posted by Ed_Flecko
I'm steering clear of any political inferences, and I mean this literally...why is the quality of our city streets SO poor? I've lived a few different places around the United States, and I don't think I've EVER seen anywhere that the streets and roads are in such bad shape.

I've heard on the radio that the average person in Sacramento spends something like ~$800 per year in road related vehicle repairs. When I DO see repairs of our local streets being performed, the streets, IMHO, are often only marginally better than they were before the "repairs" were undertaken. The surface of the street feels like you're driving on a Ruffles potato chip, sewer covers aren't level with the surrounding asphalt, and the list goes on. If that's not enough, the "repairs" will probably last, maybe, 2-3 years before they seems just as bad as before.

For those of you who are familiar with asphalt, concrete, etc., does the problem lie with the folks who are doing the "repairs"? Is it our weather that contributes to the degradation of the road surface, etc.? Thoughts?

I have long wondered why our (at least in Sacramento) roads SUCK?

Ed


You've never driven in the northeast or other state that uses salt in the winter. It's crater city driving the highways in upstate NY and PA. They will patch the roads but that only lasts a short while (normally next winter). There are so many roads in need of a complete re-paving that you never catch-up because of a) money; b) not enough workers; c) you can only have so many construction projects going to not disrupt traffic.

 

[MNgopher]

Originally Posted by billt460
If you look at most of the liberal blue states, their infrastructure is falling apart and there is no money to fix it. Illinois, Minnesota, New York, California, Oregon, Washington, New Jersey, are all in the same financial mess.


As a Minnesotan, I'm curious if you can tell me what financial mess we are in as a state.

The amount of generalizing and stereotyping is run amok on this board.

The original topic was why local streets in California are bad. That has morphed into a diatribe on distribution of taxes between states.

The general level of discourse on the board is dropping rapidly. Perhaps it just reflects society as a whole...

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted by billt460
If you look at most of the liberal blue states, their infrastructure is falling apart and there is no money to fix it. Illinois, Minnesota, New York, California, Oregon, Washington, New Jersey, are all in the same financial mess. But they seem to have money to fund every give away program known to man. Pensions are also a big problem.

Illinois property taxes are skyrocketing, trying to keep teacher pensions solvent. And they are failing. Chicago's credit rating is hovering at junk bond status. Many of these states are also experiencing mass exodus, as people are fleeing the ridiculous taxes and cost of living. It's all going to collapse. It's only a matter of time.


If you are looking at road vs population of course you will see worse road in high density state.

Florida has nice road, but if you want to go fast you are pretty much forced to use toll road. Also if you are building only 2 lanes instead of 5 of course you will save a lot of money now, because you will charge it just the right price so it will never be over used. And that's also the reason the area will never be developed in its industrial base

 

[Alfred_B]

Just go drive in Indiana and you'll see that your roads are not bad at all.

 

[fdcg27]

When we've visited Cali, the roads seemed pretty good as compared to most of what we have here.
We have actual winter throughout the state, and that wreaks havoc on the roads.
Each winter weather event brings a new crop of potholes which can be patched over but not properly repaired until warmer weather returns.
It costs money to maintain roads.
Forget all of the waste/fraud/corruption nonsense and accept that if you want to drive on nice roads you have to pay for them.
That, or wait for the next recession, when the feds will shovel out truckloads of fiscal stimulous money to the states which the states can then use to fix all of their roads.
This is what happened in the last recession and we had great roads here for a number of years after that.
Sadly, a decade on these same roads are now in a state of disrepair, hence the recently passed increase in the state's fuel taxes.

 

[vavavroom]

I blame poor quality road construction, patching rather than resurfacing and repaving, environmental factors, high traffic volume, and other factors I shall steer clear of.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by Imp4
Originally Posted by billt460
If you look at most of the liberal blue states, their infrastructure is falling apart and there is no money to fix it. Illinois, Minnesota, New York, California, Oregon, Washington, New Jersey, are all in the same financial mess. But they seem to have money to fund every give away program known to man. Pensions are also a big problem.

If you look at federal tax dollars flows, those same blue maker states send more tax revenue to the red taker states.
Maybe if the federal tax stream were turned off for the takers, the makers could keep their money and use it in-state.....



Your flawed argument did not include funding for SALT. Once this week is figured the funding more than evens out.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by Alfred_B
Just go drive in Indiana and you'll see that your roads are not bad at all.

Indiana roads are in far better condition than California roads not even close.