I’ll start

Local: Extend the south shore line to go through more cities and add cycling paths. I hate car culture with a passion.

State: make Indiana more environmentally conscious. Our state government too often gives up protecting our land for corporate interests.

32 comments

  1. Obviously the people, 80% of politicians and bureaucrats suck both at their job and as human beings.

  3. Our town has a setup where one person on city council is assigned as mayor for a certain time period, so in essence we don’t really have a mayor. I feel like it was supposed to prevent one person from having too much negative influence but it seems in practice to just be a diffusion of responsibility.

  5. I’m honestly not sure where to start… My local government isn’t an issue, our state government is a mess.

    I’d probably hire outside auditors to see where all of our money is going, the state leadership is extremely corrupt, and so is the leadership in our capital city. I’d be looking to clear house and start over.

  6. Better public transportation, and nationwide high speed railways. Getting around the USA without a car is far too inconvenient.

  7. A huge focus on a long range public transit network with emphasis on keeping options open for future expansion

    …and no, express tolled highways don’t count. Neither do dedicated bus lanes if there’s no enforcement/separation whatsoever.

  9. State: Rewrite the state constitution (currently the longest in the world) to something more functional that allows for greater local control. I’d also abolish the grocery tax and implement a lottery so we can get some of those sweet, sweet education bucks.

    Local: Revamp the local transit system so it isn’t completely terrible and add some freaking sidewalks. Seriously, why are there so few sidewalks here?

  11. Approve the northern pass power lines to bring clean cheap Quebec hydro electric energy into New England.

  13. Local: encourage more regional cooperation between local governments in the Triangle, especially when it comes to public transit

    State: Citizen-imitated ballot initiatives, instead of the legislatively-referred amendments we currently have, more rail investment at the state level, and a more influential PBS, just for the hell of it.

  14. For NJ: Stop the proposed highway expansions and use the money that would have gone to it to buying up right of way and expanding out the rail network in preparation for the new rail tunnel under the Hudson (which will hopefully allow for increased throughput of passenger lines).

    Especially with things like DeCamp (local bus company) stopping service to NYC, there’s a demand for increased public transit into and out of the City, and there’s only so much land that can be used for parking lots at existing bus stops. More walkable, reliable, and fast public transit options are needed. It also, ideally, should be possible to use public transit inside the state for trips to places like the airports and malls without needing to make tons of connections.

  15. Our state is sitting on a huge cash surplus. The governor/legislature wants to save it for a “rainy day.” Um, guys, it’s been raining for a while.

  17. Removing the signature requirement for minor parties to even appear on the ballot. Or at least either lessening them.

    Hell, maybe make everyone put in the legwork and increase the signature requirement for major parties so it matches what the minor parties have to do.

    I’d also nix most of if not all the blue laws around alcohol.

  18. Id wipe out zoning laws. Fuck those idiotic autocrats that think they know how to plan a city.

  19. Repeal parking minimums. Allow commercial inside of residential zones. Actually, repeal euclidean zoning altogether.

    Create a catalog of high density buildings that can be built by right instead of having to create each project from scratch.

  21. I’d rename the Florida Department of Transportation to the Florida Department of Roads because it is what it is

    I’d probably do at least a dozen other things but I’d start there.

  22. I would increase their power. One of the main problems is a mathematical paradox of democracy. The more people get enfranchised the less power any of them have (I.E. thirty each have more power than any one of three hundred million). I would want more control over local lives which we actually have some possibility of. As a footnote, that would also defuse a lot of factionalism by letting people vote with their feet.

  23. I second all the people who want it to be easier to build in their location.

    In my city in Oregon we have greatly relaxed zoning laws but that has not magically created a lot of new construction. “Change the zoning” is not a panacea although it’s important. Zoning and permitting etc are not solely responsible for making high density housing difficult or impossible.

    I guess if money was no object, I would want the state to allocate literal billions of dollars to get the pipeline of new housing un-stuck, and on the same general topic, to do other things related to permanent supportive housing, and shelter, and other services for unhoused people.

  26. Send my governor on a one-way trip to the moon. Or Martha’s Vineyard but take away every dime he has along with his ability to speak or otherwise communicate. Good fucking luck Ronnie.

    In my city:

    Create a functional, viable public transit system.

    Destroy 1/3 of the gross strip malls in my city and replace them with 5-over-1 multi-unit housing including micro-apartments. Developers of luxury apartments and SFHs can either set aside a % of rental units at low-income rates or pay into a fund that provides housing subsidies.

    Expand Medicaid and KidCare.

    Offer vocational training at high schools, community colleges and in the correctional system. Full-time government employees are eligible for tuition vouchers worth 60 CC credits (or an associate degree) if they maintain a minimum GPA; their dependents are eligible for 50% tuition discounts.

  27. Substantial Universal Child welfare credit. We made such an impact on child poverty during Covid by expanding the child tax credit, only to let it expire. We can and should keep it, or even something better.

  28. More cycling paths, more public transit, roads that are actually more road than pothole

  29. Locally I would tear down these shopping centers built in the 1980s and build a town square and strip designed for walking and shopping rather than fast food and driving.

    Put it within walking distance of the dark and amphitheater at the park.

    Then I would replace all traffic lights with roundabouts.

  30. State: switch redistricting to a non-partisan board. We should have a fairly split D to R ratio in the legislature and Congress. As many competitive districts as possible. Raise teacher pay, decrease student-to-staff ratios for counselors and other support staff, fund more school construction.

    Local (Concord NC): switch to form-based zoning. Allow duplexes and triplexes in most areas, and allow small-scale commercial near more residences. Shrink set-back and side-clearance requirements in most parts of the city to allow new development to be more walkable. Work with Charlotte to extend light rail into town, at least as far as the speedway or . Make the city bus system better. More sidewalks and protected bike lanes. Finish the planned citywide greenway system.

  31. Washington

    It would be fun to do a revenue neutral 100% shift from fees and sales tax based funding to income tax with 25,000 state level standard deduction. Maybe brackets every 10k above that. Maybe keep some fees but cap them at $30. Gasoline excise tax should just be a carbon tax. I honestly do not care enough about alcohol and cannabis excise taxes to change them. Property taxes seem okay but I’m open to forcing AirBnB and VBRO properties into the hotel business tax we have, we might need a primary dwelling designation for those hosts who live on site. They can have just normal taxes.

    (currently state ID is almost $60 up front for eight years of identification, not a license but just ID)

  32. I’d put in bike lanes and get rid of that stupid bitcoin mining operation across Seneca Lake. It’s killing our fish.

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