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One of the last third spaces. I wish I enjoyed books more. My wife goes all the time
go to a park and see a NO LOITERING sign
Then WTF is it FOR??
Yeah that’s for the wrong sorts of people. Don’t worry, it’s only selectively enforced, and the cops know you’re one of the good ones. /s
Punishing people arbitrarily, same as most laws.
Counter example: last week I saw a sign indicating one shouldn’t ride their horse on the interstate. This one is likely enforced.
Relevant Sarah Andersen:
Nintendo: “That’ll be $80.”
Sorry we have a copyright on blankets
“We’re not raising the price on Switch 2, just the accessories.”
Two hundred and forty five percent, vastly above the amount it was when Nintendo made their announcement.
Wait until retailers get their hands on it.
That’s not quite true. You can opt for adds instead.
Usually you pay and still get ads. Even if you pay for an ad free tier they show ads for their own stuff.
Well, yeah. But you don’t get ads in your dreams. No sirry!
and the only place where they dont ask for exorbitant amounts of money in exchange for self improvement.
Or just a place to escape abusive households, or avoid peer pressure, or just be alone for a while. And God forbid, learn something.
That’s why they kick out homeless people every hour on the hour
I used to renovate houses for an organization in Atlanta similar to Habitat for Humanity. We would buy derelict houses and renovate them to provide housing for homeless people. Unfortunately these houses always had people squatting in them already, so the first stage of any project was us going in with various threatening hand tools and rousting out the current occupants. We appreciated the irony of this but I doubt they did.
Here in Vancouver, Washington, the city shuts down nearly all public park restrooms and water fountains for 6 months each winter. Ostensibly it is for avoiding freezing water pipes, but I’m fairly sure it’s to increase land values of old single family housing that tend to be where parks are located by giving police an excuse to kick out homeless.
I saw a librarian kick out a homeless guy for sleeping in the library because “we have a rule that you can’t be unconscious in the library. It’s for your own safety.”
WTF? What kind of danger are you in when you’re sleeping? What made this even stupider is he didn’t need to cite some bullshit rule to kick the guy out, because he was snoring! He could’ve just said “Your snoring is too loud, and you have to be quiet in the library.”
The bigger question we as a society need to be asking is why does anyone needs to sleep in the library in the first place?
From my experience, politicians talk a lot about fixing that problem in order to get elected but actually do very little about it once they get in office.
Parks, too - which is why it’s OK that Republicans are trying to turn libraries into parks.
/s just in case.
I was just discussing with a friend yesterday that lots of moments in the Spider-Man 2 videogame that are presented as being “New York” things, like people playing chess in a park, paint a pretty bleak picture of the rest of the US.
At least looking from this side of the Atlantic it seems that most Americans spend all of their time between home, work, consumption places, or in a car between those places. So they basically switch between being prisoners in a form of house arrest and being customers, leaving no space to be actual free people.
it seems that most Americans spend all of their time between home, work, consumption places, or in a car between those places.
Accurate. Depending on where you live, there may be more third places available, but they’re often something you really have to make an effort to find.
A very large number of Americans spend a lot of time watching sporting events. These are ostensibly free (sort of, given that people usually pay for cable or streaming anyway) except that lots of people watch because they’re gambling. Gambling is of course also a fee and a monstrous one at that, but it at least has the advantage of not really feeling like a fee.
So much of that is about public transit.
When everyone travels by car, there’s not much space for walking around or standing around. Places where people walk around or stand around become places for buskers, artists, small vendors, etc. That turns that space from just a place you pass by into a destination itself.
The other half of the problem is winter. Most of Europe is fairly warm compared to most of the Americas. It’s only really the nordic countries where the daily average high is below freezing. In more than half of the US it’s below freezing for months on end. That means that public outdoor spaces are not really all that usable for just hanging out in the winter.
Part of the problem is cultural. Many of the colder places in Europe do outdoor Christmas markets. Those aren’t exactly consumption-free places, but you can walk around and browse without paying. The US doesn’t even do that, making the cold months a wasteland outdoors.
I don’t know if there’s anywhere in the world that does extensive consumption-free public spaces for use in winter. But, that’s what would really be needed in the northern US and Canada.
Most of Europe is fairly warm compared to most of the Americas.
All of these same issues are present in the warmer states as well, so that doesn’t seem to make much difference.
Some of the south has public areas that aren’t available to the north, like beaches.
But, I think it’s a bad combination of multiple factors. Cities designed after cars became popular, vs. European cities where they tried to adapt cars to existing roads (while often keeping public squares etc.) Cities designed by European immigrants who came from warmer climates, and didn’t plan for winter spaces. Cities designed by people who worship capitalism, vs. cities designed around a balance between capitalism and socialism.
Towns and cities built up before cars are more conducive to more people-centric activities and are likely to have more such traditions. Many cities in the northeast are like this, more “European”.
However most US cities and towns had large growth spurts after the car, all that new construction built up as car-centric. Basically 80 years of growth that we’re now seeing wasn’t the best choice. We have that 80 years to make back, 80 years of construction in the way, and it’s no longer fueled by fast growth.
I think it as somewhat similar to Europe rebuilding after the world wars. Both had huge building booms. The different choices were more from a point of privilege from not being bombed. Intact infrastructure and greater wealth from wartime industry and intact manufacturing tended toward different choices that were starting to regret
All of the cold places I’ve lived in the US have holiday pop up markets. Some but not all of the warm places.
Even Detroit! I’m not surprised that they did it but they showcased the progress they’ve made turning things around to have a downtown worth visiting again!
Boston always has, my whole life. But yeah as the cities get smaller it may be less likely
What are your third places that don’t require money?
(Don’t say parks. Yes, we have parks. Everywhere I’ve ever lived, red or blue, has an abundance of parks. Yes within walking distance.)
Sidewalks. If I have leisure time out of the house I’m probably walking my dog. It’s amazing how talkative my teens get when you’re out walking for an extended period!
My Spring goal is the dog gets at least one walk longer than 2 miles every day, longer than 3 miles on weekends.
Ironically it’s the park that’s expensive. Part of the tradition is to grab takeout to eat on a bench on the town common, and we’re lucky to have restaurants from many different culinary traditions. Our favorite since Pandemic is a Pakistani kebab place but our second is a Turkish kebab place for contrast
That’s why conservatives hate it
Well that and a few of the books are supportive
Give it a minute.
It’s happening. The funding for libraries across the US is getting clawed back, and I suspect many (the majority) will eventually close permanently.
Here in the EU, the vibe in libraries is decidedly “get your books and GTFO”. The old timey welcoming vibe and friendly librarians are a thing of the past.
Here in the EU
I wish people would stop painting their experience as the default for 500M people in 30-ish countries across an entire continent.
For my part I’d prefer if y’all stopped doing the same to the US, but neither of us is going to get what we want so just move on.
That’s a bit too generalising. The libraries where I live do a lot to make libraries also a place for reading and socialising
Wish I could say the same. In the last few years almost all small libraries in my region closed. I used to have one in my own village. Now I have to visit the nearest town. Lack of budget… just like what will kill the US libraries.
Where? My small library in rural France has book clubs, story time (on site and at the public pool), vintage and modern gaming consoles, art shows, craft workshops, and more.
Flanders.
“Hi-diddly-ho, librarinos! Get your books and GET THE FUCK OUT!”
Only if you don’t pay taxes. Nothing is free.
Yes, if you torture the definition of “free” enough, then nothing is free.
There’s no need to torture the definition. You are paying taxes, thus the services you’re getting are not free.
Typically it is the city taxes that pay for libraries, sometimes state. therefore just purchases goods in a different city and live where the state doesn’t charge income tax and you avoid paying for the library, happy?
Wut? It doesn’t matter what you do - you still pay taxes (unless you’re Bezos). Thus everything is paid by you in advance. Also, which shithole has different taxes between cities?
city’s have different sales tax in America, I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two states force them to have the same, but most states allow cities to do whatever they want with sales tax.
Lol, that’s insanity. No wonder you chose Trump to lead you, lol.
don’t worry, it can get more complicated, there are cities with different summer and winter taxes, different sales tax rates on different items, and sales tax limits per purchase.
Only if you make sure to bring your books back on time.
Los Angeles got rid of late fees
Many many libraries did away with fees during covid. They stuck with it because they are more likely to get the book back.
But it costs money xd
Thanks for the opportunity to point out that most libraries also value community support. They can always use volunteers and donations but a great way to help your library is to look for book sales!
When a library has too many of certain books less popular than expected or books that have gotten a fair amount of use they need to replace them. A community book sale gives you the opportunity to buy books at a huge discount and the library the opportunity to get a little of their investment back to support more current needs.
What is this “money” you talk about?!
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