There MAY not have been a May version of Al's Corner. People got by. They posted May stuff in April. We all lived.
June's Al's Corner will feature ketchup and mustard on top. Peace. Over & Out.
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Welcome to Al’s Corner – “Pouring Gasoline on the Dumpster Fire of Davis Politics” – June 2023
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101 responses to “Welcome to Al’s Corner – “Pouring Gasoline on the Dumpster Fire of Davis Politics” – June 2023”
It appears that the Vanguard isn’t going to post a subsequent response to Richard, either. I’ll go ahead and post it, below. (At this point, I was starting to resort to some mild sarcasm.)
Richard: Downtown Davis retail is struggling, but you may not have noticed since you don’t live here.
Me: Actually, Richard – I’ve never discussed where I live or what connection I have to Davis. Nor do I ever plan to do so.
I “probably” don’t live in San Francisco (unlike a certain UCD professor, who apparently commutes from there while constantly advocating on behalf of YIMBYism), but that doesn’t stop me from reading about the struggles they have there – including the loss of Nordstrom, and how Westfield is now pulling out as well.
Actually, San Francisco’s entire downtown (retail AND office space) is a disaster, right now. Some are referring to it as a “doom loop”.
But Davis is fortunate that University Mall landed Nordstrom Rack – which wouldn’t have happened if the city continued messing with that mall owner’s plans. As it is, they’ve already delayed those plans (and impacted revenue for the city).
Richard: How does walking to the Amtrak station from 5th and G displace other Amtrak riders? I’m missing a major logic step here.
Me: If parking and congestion is made more difficult, this isn’t a difficult concept to grasp.
Richard: These projects will have fewer cars per household compared to other developments, especially other developments that would be built instead in other communities to meet this housing demand.
Me: Are you comparing this to a campus development? If so, your conclusion is faulty.
Richard: And those cars will be driven less being downtown. (My own car use dropped more than two-thirds when we moved closer to Downtown.)
Me: What “happens in Davis, doesn’t stay in Davis”.
Richard: I don’t know how this project has any relationship to DiSC, nor do I see how building commercial development somewhere other than Davis gets people out of their cars. Again, there’s a major logic step missing here.
Me: There’s certainly a step missing in logic or cohesiveness regarding whatever point you’re supposedly trying to make.
Richard: OK, yet another misdefinition. Please provide a rigorous definition of a “megadorm” that is applicable across all multi-household housing projects.
Me: I’ll admit that I’m using the word “megadorm” very loosely, here – to describe a proposal that will be primarily student housing. And wouldn’t exist with demand from students.
Richard: The 4th & G project is replacing a closed movie theatre, and the Hibbert project is replacing a closed hardware store, neither of which will be reopened. In addition, these projects appear to be including ground floor retail.
Me: I don’t know what “4th and G” project you’re referring to, but I already miss Hibbert’s – as well as the ACE Housewares store.
And I truly doubt that any ground floor retail (appealing to students living “upstairs”) will hold much interest for existing Davis residents.
Richard: A building owner, who is often the developer, collects rents from tenants which is income accruing to the property.
Me: Really? I had “no idea” that rent is paid to a building owner who rents out their property.
Richard: When a landowner sells to the developer, the landowner captures a portion of that future rent as an upfront payment.
Me: That’s just a a completely false statement. There is no rent collected at point of sale. For that matter, there’s no “agreement” between a seller and a buyer regarding how a property might be used after sale.
Richard: But if the owner and the developer is the same entity then there’s no transaction with an upfront sales payment.
Me: Right – owners typically don’t pay themselves to continue owning land. Your point?
Richard: There’s no recorded sale to be taxed or to trigger reassessment.
Me: Dude, there’s a reassessment when a new building is built. You didn’t know that? And why is this important, anyway?