I understand the logic but I still hate it. I’m old enough to have seen the tail end of transatlantic ocean liners and actually visited the Michelangelo to see off relatives.  

Just as cars with lower centers of gravity generally look better than tall and ungainly ones, it’s the same thing with ships. Ocean liners had such trim lines partially to keep their CG low to allow them to handle stormy seas without capsizing. Cruise ships don’t have to worry as much about storms they might find on…

You can’t park housing in San Francisco bay because in the 1950s there were full ass plans to pave the entire bay, people were like, ‘can we not?’ and environmental legislation was invented. Anyway, some stuff happend since then, but floating housing is still illegal.

And SF real estate is only limited because of extremely restrictive zoning. There’s no shortage of land, it’s just that a lot of the land that’s there is not allowed to be used to its potential. We’re talking about spending a lot of money to convert a cruise ship into rather shitty apartments in order to save maybe a…

The Queen Mary is 86 years old and has been sitting in salt water her whole life. I’d think the hull maintenance would be fairly reasonable for a new ship for the first 20 years, then a drydocking would probably be required. Expanding the rooms for full-time living is a valid point, however.

OK: Capitalism is the best distributor of resources.

Welcome to the Metaship. Here is your stateroom connected to Meta’s servers 24/7 so you can work late into the night. We will be deducting from your base salary room and board. Meals will be served at one of the many dining rooms on board please use the Metaship app loaded to your phones to determine meal time. There…

No I got you. I was just temphasizing your point which is that nobody wants to move to these cities, whether from other parts of China or from other parts of the world because China has made it a very inhospitable place. And yes these “ghost cities” are a problem, and even more so, indicative of the much deeper…

I was going to say. Regardless of his capability, people with intent to carry out something drastic or devastating don’t call the police to explain their plan and give ample time and opportunity for the Walmart to be evacuated. They don’t stay on the line, nor are they able to be talked down.

I was referring to cities that were financed by the Chinese government to artificially prop up their economy by giving construction companies work, and by extension, the population.

But no property tax. And every building needs maintenance. But you’re right - boats need more. It’s probably not a permanent solution to SF housing problem but it could help bridge to one.

I don’t know about that. Let’s do some math: the ship carries up to 9000 passengers, and these boats typically have space for a crew about 25-33% so total capacity is let’s say 11,500. The average price of a studio apartment in San Francisco is $2,500. Market rate rent would generate about $29 million a month, or…

Yeah, in the underworld, people who enjoy making puns are pecked apart by vultures and ravens.

Those ghost cities (for the most part) aren’t the result of displaced Uiygers bruh. China has lots of fucked up shit goin’ on.

They didn't. Customer was the Hong Kong company that owns the yard.

Park it in San Francisco harbor and give teachers and other civil servants an affordable place to live.

The buyer went bankrupt.

Nah, just move everyone to mainland China.

Some more detail on the challenges: https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/mv-werften-liquidator-still-seeks-buyer-for-global-dream

Hong Kong really could use some new apartments