Writing Snake

The fertility bump detailed in the Economist is in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and Wicker Park, Chicago. These are precisely the kind of low-rise, high-density, fine-grained neighborhoods that everyone wants but no one builds anymore (thanks to anti-scientific building codes and misguided development norms)

D.C. transit ridership has recovered from the pandemic better than most U.S. transit systems, after falling further. Yet taxpayers who don’t take the train or bus are increasingly subsidizing those who do, and it’s not sustainable. 🧵

Easily one of my favorite lines in the whole world

Druk Yul is a cryovolcanic moon orbiting a Class I gas giant and the homeworld of the Druk species. Not much is known about its detailed characteristics, as permission to land on its surface is rarely granted to outsiders by the Druk Emperor

It should not cost me $600 to fly from houston to dallas. But everybody is rich so I guess that makes sense to yall.

The Japanese railway privatization of 1987 stands as one of the most devastating defeats ever dealt to statist transportation mythology. The government split the bloated Japan National Railways into seven regional companies, sold them off, and watched private ownership transform a bankruptcy-bound disaster into the world's most efficient rail system. JNR hemorrhaged money for decades before privatization. By 1987, the state railway carried debt equivalent to $200 billion in today's money while delivering mediocre service plagued by strikes and inefficiency. Politicians treated it as a jobs program rather than a transportation service. The predictable result: chronic losses, deteriorating infrastructure, and customer service that reflected government monopoly arrogance. Private ownership changed everything overnight. The new JR companies slashed operating costs by 40% within five years while dramatically improving service quality. JR East alone now generates annual profits exceeding $3 billion. These companies invest billions in cutting-edge technology, maintain punctuality rates above 99%, and operate the world's most advanced high-speed rail networks. They achieved this without a single yen of operational subsidies. The transformation reveals a core dynamic of transportation infrastructure: private companies must satisfy customers to survive, while government monopolies need only satisfy politicians. JR companies diversified into real estate, retail, and hospitality around their stations, creating integrated profit centers that cross-subsidize rail operations. Government railways never innovate this way because bureaucrats face no market pressure to generate returns. Meanwhile, Amtrak burns through $2 billion in annual subsidies while delivering third-world service across most routes, and European state railways require massive taxpayer bailouts every few years to stay solvent.

Cumberland, MD really has all the ingredients of becoming a Mid-Atlantic mountain city with its historic downtown, beautiful Appalachian mountain views, and a lot of outdoor activities. Just need some new age Hipsters to build an art, music and food scene.