Recent posts

#1

General Highway Talk / Re: Freeways / Expressways giv...

Last post by Techknow - Today at 09:07:15 AM

California's usage of Parkway can be pretty variable too:

Arroyo Seco Parkway (former US 66, now Route 110) fits the New York definition - which makes sense, given its 1943 origins.  Limited-access, trucks not allowed.

Guadalupe Parkway in San Jose (Route 87) is a freeway that is pretty much Interstate-standard and allows trucks, and had SPUIs added to it in the last decade and a half.

Richmond Parkway (approximate corridor of planned Route 93, but not a state route) is a expressway with some intersections and interchanges.

Los Patrones Parkway in Orange County is very much "Yeah, this is a Route 241 full freeway extension, but let's not say it is", kinda like how Presidio Parkway in San Francisco is an 2010s Interstate-standard upgrade of the old US 101 Doyle Drive freeway, but with excessively slow speed limits near the tunnel segments.

Then we have stuff that is straight up surface road (Guadalupe Canyon Parkway in Brisbane/Daly City, Paseo Padre Parkway in Fremont)

Also Westside Parkway in Bakersfield, which is full freeway before and after it became a part of CA Route 58!

SF has brought up but it hasn't been mentioned San Jose Avenue becomes an expressway for one mile from I-280 to Randall St with 4 lanes plus bike lane, a 45 MPH limit, and one at-grade intersection northbound. This is the remnant of the Mission Freeway

CA 152 is signed as Ave 23 in Madera county yet it is a 4-lane expressway, the name conforming to the county's horizontial grid.

#2

Off-Topic / Re: Mortgage Payments should b...

Last post by SEWIGuy - Today at 09:00:31 AM

So, how do you view mortgage in general? Right now, it's a loan with certain financial terms - interest rate, payoff period etc. Real estate component is just backing the loan for bank's "peace of mind". Risks of property ownership are still on a borrower, abet insurance is required.
You propose to tie in real estate much deeper into the equation. Can you describe full legal framework? What are the right of the bank in this scheme?

It would turn mortgages into a more equity-like product, the value of them would rise and fall with the value of the underlying asset.

If a borrower defaults, then the bank forecloses, sells the house and makes a profit or loss equal to their share of the equity. 

A mortagage should not be an "equity like product." A house should be. A mortage is just a loan.

Any financial advisor will tell you that you need to have a diverse portfolio. Having hundreds of thousands of dollars tied up in a single asset is not a diverse portfolio.

But you are suggesting that it would be better to create more uncertainty around that asset because you don't know what it will ultimately cost you. You are suggesting that people should commit to paying for an asset for as much as 30 years without any knowledge of the true cost of that asset when you make that commitment.  No financial advisor would think that is a good idea.

And you are also overlooking the fact that part of why you take out a mortgage is because you are paying for a place to live.

This is just a really bad and impractical idea.

#3

Off-Topic / Re: Minor things that bother y...

Last post by JayhawkCO - Today at 08:59:52 AM

Airbnb cleaning fees.

Or at least the cleaning fees not being included on the price you see when you first search. I've seen $79 places with $100 cleaning fees. That's effed.

Tips

Not the same thing. When you eat at a restaurant, you can mentally add 20% to the price. When I look at an Airbnb, I can't begin to guess what the cleaning fee will be - somewhere between 2 and 200%.

#4

Off-Topic / Re: Mortgage Payments should b...

Last post by kernals12 - Today at 08:52:09 AM

So, how do you view mortgage in general? Right now, it's a loan with certain financial terms - interest rate, payoff period etc. Real estate component is just backing the loan for bank's "peace of mind". Risks of property ownership are still on a borrower, abet insurance is required.
You propose to tie in real estate much deeper into the equation. Can you describe full legal framework? What are the right of the bank in this scheme?

It would turn mortgages into a more equity-like product, the value of them would rise and fall with the value of the underlying asset.

If a borrower defaults, then the bank forecloses, sells the house and makes a profit or loss equal to their share of the equity. 

A mortagage should not be an "equity like product." A house should be. A mortage is just a loan.

Any financial advisor will tell you that you need to have a diverse portfolio. Having hundreds of thousands of dollars tied up in a single asset is not a diverse portfolio.

#5

Off-Topic / Re: Mortgage Payments should b...

Last post by SEWIGuy - Today at 08:48:16 AM

So, how do you view mortgage in general? Right now, it's a loan with certain financial terms - interest rate, payoff period etc. Real estate component is just backing the loan for bank's "peace of mind". Risks of property ownership are still on a borrower, abet insurance is required.
You propose to tie in real estate much deeper into the equation. Can you describe full legal framework? What are the right of the bank in this scheme?

It would turn mortgages into a more equity-like product, the value of them would rise and fall with the value of the underlying asset.

If a borrower defaults, then the bank forecloses, sells the house and makes a profit or loss equal to their share of the equity. 

A mortagage should not be an "equity like product." A house should be. A mortage is just a loan.

#6

Northeast / Re: What is it with I-95 & bri...

Last post by MikeCL - Today at 08:34:17 AM

#7

Northeast / Re: New York

Last post by vdeane - Today at 08:30:05 AM

Is that a state road? That would be the determining factor re: what agency erected the signal.

It's also a matter of whether HSIP was used for the project, which would require Region 4's traffic engineer to sign off on that fund source's usage.

That is a Monroe County DOT install. City of Rochester project but all non NYSDOT signals in Monroe County are owned by the county.

EDIT TO ADD: I should say most non NYSDOT signals are owned by Monroe County. There are some signals in East Rochester that are owned by that village and I know of a village owned signal in Brockport.

Main Street is federal aid eligible, so it could be what we in NYSDOT call a "local project" using federal funds, which does have NYSDOT involvement (although not to the same extent of capital projects on our system).

Speaking of Main Street, I'm curious if NY 31 is going to be moved there when the upper deck of the Broad Street Bridge is removed.

Question for all of you, The small portion of I-287/NY-17 that isn't on the thruway mainline in Rockland county, is that portion NYS Thruway Authority or NYSDOT owned?

I can't imagine there's any NYSDOT portion, since the interchange ramps basically go all the way to the state line.

#8

Northeast / Re: NYC Roads

Last post by vdeane - Today at 08:27:59 AM

Plus it's not just congestion in Manhattan... a decent amount of congestion on the BQE is the result of people shunpiking the tunnels, so there's hope that this will put a stop to that and provide some relief there.  Then again, you also have to add in the traffic from people no longer shunpiking the MTA crossings between LI and NJ.

#9

Traffic Control / Re: Most absurd VMS messages

Last post by epzik8 - Today at 08:27:56 AM

"ONLY SCRUFFY LOOKING NERF HERDERS LITTER" -- Boston area on the Pike.

TIL nerf herders are a thing in Star Wars.

#10

Off-Topic / Re: Mortgage Payments should b...

Last post by kernals12 - Today at 08:27:16 AM

So, how do you view mortgage in general? Right now, it's a loan with certain financial terms - interest rate, payoff period etc. Real estate component is just backing the loan for bank's "peace of mind". Risks of property ownership are still on a borrower, abet insurance is required.
You propose to tie in real estate much deeper into the equation. Can you describe full legal framework? What are the right of the bank in this scheme?

It would turn mortgages into a more equity-like product, the value of them would rise and fall with the value of the underlying asset.

If a borrower defaults, then the bank forecloses, sells the house and makes a profit or loss equal to their share of the equity.