Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
With magic wand in hand, clicking heels three times, I would timewarp everything back to the pre-automobile urban paradigm.
Mixed use development. Pedestrian friendly. Local and express subway trains (4 track preferably). At grade streetcars / trams / light rail - but lightweight aluminum (like Talgo).
95% of all needs would be within walking distance.
Minimal cars, so children won’t be at risk.
With magic wand in hand, clicking heels three times, I would timewarp everything back to the pre-automobile urban paradigm.
Mixed use development. Pedestrian friendly. Local and express subway trains (4 track preferably). At grade streetcars / trams / light rail - but lightweight aluminum (like Talgo).
How about the tenements that were needed to fit all that people?
And without cars and trucks, do we bring back the horses that were used to carry stuff and people, while defecating (and sometimes dying) on the streets?
Quote:
95% of all needs would be within walking distance.
More accurately, most people would have to make do with few amenities because they can't walk fast enough.
I'm not an economist, I have no idea what economists think about what the unintended consequences would be, but I would really love to set some restrictions on buying up condos and houses for speculation. That seems pretty clearly net-negative for the average person. It's a lot worse in Canada than it is here but it still feels like a big factor in the unaffordability crisis.
Besides that, it may not be the sexiest option but I'd like more cities to encourage the construction of micro-units. We have them in the Seattle area, and renting a small basic room for $1050/mo was the only way I survived when I came here making $57k. San Francisco at least has a lot less of those.
Just curious: did you get a kitchen in that unit, TimidBlueBars?
This is just doctrinaire thinking. I had a relative who worked as a civil engineer in the Atlanta metro for a decade. The stories he would tell about the lack of planning that went on, and how it screwed up traffic patterns, made the provisioning of utilities more difficult than it needed to be, and how the problem kept snowballing as the metro continued to grow.
Just as a thought experiment, I think you can appreciate that there are economies of scale with power generation. That's why we have huge power plants rather than generators in every house. When you have a technology that favors scale and natural monopolies, you design your infrastructure with that reality in mind. It makes sense to reserve rights of way for transmission lines decades in advance of free market development, because the power plant isn't going to be downsized or relocated.
There's a place for planning, and there's a place for free markets. The problem is striking the balance.
This is just doctrinaire thinking. I had a relative who worked as a civil engineer in the Atlanta metro for a decade. The stories he would tell about the lack of planning that went on, and how it screwed up traffic patterns, made the provisioning of utilities more difficult than it needed to be, and how the problem kept snowballing as the metro continued to grow.
Just as a thought experiment, I think you can appreciate that there are economies of scale with power generation. That's why we have huge power plants rather than generators in every house. When you have a technology that favors scale and natural monopolies, you design your infrastructure with that reality in mind. It makes sense to reserve rights of way for transmission lines decades in advance of free market development, because the power plant isn't going to be downsized or relocated.
There's a place for planning, and there's a place for free markets. The problem is striking the balance.
The central planners virtually always fail at that too. You seriously trust the same people who have a vested interest in not striking that balance to properly strike that balance?
How about the tenements that were needed to fit all that people?
And without cars and trucks, do we bring back the horses that were used to carry stuff and people, while defecating (and sometimes dying) on the streets?
More accurately, most people would have to make do with few amenities because they can't walk fast enough.
Are you objecting that high demand for housing encourages unscrupulous owners or are you objecting to high population density?
- - -
You may have forgotten that the electric traction rail network (streetcars, trams, interurbans) carried a substantial amount of freight. That's no surprise, thanks to the anti-rail hegemony in operation since the 1920s.
- - -
If you mean DISTANCE from home to source (not speed), that is a valid objection. However, in many instances, retailers came to one's neighborhood. (Ex: Farmers markets, vegetable vendors, and so on)
- - -
There is no reason to assume that a rail system moving 90% of all surface cargo and passengers, means that there are no automobiles, trucks and buses. Between 1890 and 1920, urban rail was the dominant mode of transportation.
Far cheaper than private automobiles, owned by less than 10% of the public.
The original point was pre-automobile centric DEVELOPMENT ("paradigm") - not the absence of automobiles.
In many "old" cities that had prospered before the 1920s, there were downtown shopping districts, robust streetcar networks, and a more healthy culture (IMHO). Often, if one checks old photographs, there will be single streetcar track in the middle of the road, and hardly anything else on the road. Today's suburban sprawl is due in part to the streetcars providing transportation for workers, who could live much farther from their jobs.
I dont have any wonderful original ideas of my own but I would basically set everything up similar to Prague, Czech Republic. I thought it was very well planned, easy to get around and not overly crowded in the residential areas. A car was not necessary at all.
Get rid of the dregs and blight Dwight. Our cities should resemble Singapore in terms of safety and appearance.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
