Urban Sprawl From Hades!

[IsaiahX]

If cities become more compact, numerous benefits will ensue, including:

• Walking will become more prominent due to increased closeness of buildings. This will result in less carbon emissions due to less automobile use and incresed fitness and wellbeing.
• Less vehicle use will result in less space being used for parking lots, which could make room for a whole host of different structures. These could include anything from community centers to charities.
• Reduced urban sprawl, leaving more space for the environment and reducing pollution.
• Easier distribution of resources and services.

I imagine that this goal will mostly result in maximum building heights being raised and city layouts becoming more compact, leaving less need for suburbs.

I would enjoy hearing additional thoughts on the matter.

 

[Revoltingest]

If cities become more compact, numerous benefits will ensue, including:

• Walking will become more prominent due to increased closeness of buildings. This will result in less carbon emissions due to less automobile use and incresed fitness and wellbeing.
• Less vehicle use will result in less space being used for parking lots, which could make room for a whole host of different structures. These could include anything from community centers to charities.
• Reduced urban sprawl, leaving more space for the environment and reducing pollution.
• Easier distribution of resources and services.

I imagine that this goal will mostly result in maximum building heights being raised and city layouts becoming more compact, leaving less need for suburbs.

I would enjoy hearing additional thoughts on the matter.

Good luck.
I've done some development, & discovered the biggest impediment
to higher density is government itself. And why? Most people who
vote want politicians to enforce zoning laws & building codes which
reflect what they personally like, ie, single family homes on too much
land.
I like high density. It makes mass transit more cost effective, reduces
energy costs, reduces commute times, increases access to services,
& keeps more land rural/natural.

 

[IsaiahX]

Good luck.
I've done some development, & discovered the biggest impediment
to higher density is government itself. And why? Most people who
vote want politicians to enforce zoning laws & building codes which
reflect what they personally like, ie, single family homes on too much
land.
I like high density. It makes mass transit more cost effective, reduces
energy costs, reduces commute times, increases access to services,
& keeps more land rural/natural.

Alas, perhaps things shall be better in Revoltistan.

 

[Revoltingest]

Alas, perhaps things shall be better in Revoltistan.

Revoltistan is small & insignificant.
But we try for as much density as we can get
while under the thumb of Washtenaw County.
(Secession has yet to be realized.)

 

[Stanyon]

A cabin in the woods for me.

 

[Duke_Leto]

Good luck.
I've done some development, & discovered the biggest impediment
to higher density is government itself. And why? Most people who
vote want politicians to enforce zoning laws & building codes which
reflect what they personally like, ie, single family homes on too much
land.
I like high density. It makes mass transit more cost effective, reduces
energy costs, reduces commute times, increases access to services,
& keeps more land rural/natural.

This is the same as my experience. I especially agree regarding public transport and commute times. Public transport in my city is horrible, especially around the area where I live. There's a stereotype that the west part of the town is wealthy, which I believe is the reason the bus system doesn't extend that far, and while the wealthy do live in certain select neighborhoods here, they by no means make up even most of the west parts -- I live in an OK part of the town myself in the west (that is, middle-of-the-road, not wealthy), but I can't afford a car, so if my girlfriend is busy I have to walk two miles to the nearest bus stop if I want to go into town -- for school or anything else -- and where I work is two miles in the other direction. And it's not just me; less than a mile away, the town becomes obviously worse -- poorer, a lot more crime, and whatnot.

I once visited NYC and blown away by the fantastic subway system. Ever since I've wanted my city to put one in. There have been talks for years, and plans have even been drawn up to make one, but it's never materialized -- probably because a functioning subway would cut the city's obscene revenue from its wheel tax.

 

[Trailblazer]

A cabin in the woods for me.

Likewise.

 

[Brickjectivity]

If cities become more compact, numerous benefits will ensue, including:

• Walking will become more prominent due to increased closeness of buildings. This will result in less carbon emissions due to less automobile use and incresed fitness and wellbeing.
• Less vehicle use will result in less space being used for parking lots, which could make room for a whole host of different structures. These could include anything from community centers to charities.
• Reduced urban sprawl, leaving more space for the environment and reducing pollution.
• Easier distribution of resources and services.

I imagine that this goal will mostly result in maximum building heights being raised and city layouts becoming more compact, leaving less need for suburbs.

I would enjoy hearing additional thoughts on the matter.

There are, possibly, some much better building materials on the way. Its conceivable that high rise apartments will become a lot less expensive, someday. Additionally if the self driving cars ever really start to work properly then transportation could become much different.

Another thing is that it could be possible to get rid of asphalt roads and instead use smart vehicles that can switch rails as easily as cars today change lanes. There's no reason why the world must forever be grey. We can use rails instead. In fact it might be possible to have vehicles that only use one rail instead of two. This would have tremendous benefits for nature, restore a lot of water flow across the country. A third positive would be that much wider vehicles could potentially travel on rails, so you could break the current limiting size of pallets. That would lower the prices of many things and also make construction cost less.

Something like this bicycle but with an AI brain that lets it traverse on rails.

 

[Cacotopia]

Have you ever been to Jakarta? NYC is about 300 sq miles and houses 8.5 ish million people would you call NYC a fairly compact city? Well there are 33 million people in Jakarta and is just barely double the size of that. And it is the most polluted city I have ever seen.

You can't even see the water in the massive water channels that run through the city, there is so much trash in them.

Doesn't that look delectable,the only solution that would scare people into being clean would be making littering a capital crime punishable by death.

.

 

[Revoltingest]

This is the same as my experience. I especially agree regarding public transport and commute times. Public transport in my city is horrible, especially around the area where I live. There's a stereotype that the west part of the town is wealthy, which I believe is the reason the bus system doesn't extend that far, and while the wealthy do live in certain select neighborhoods here, they by no means make up even most of the west parts -- I live in an OK part of the town myself in the west (that is, middle-of-the-road, not wealthy), but I can't afford a car, so if my girlfriend is busy I have to walk two miles to the nearest bus stop if I want to go into town -- for school or anything else -- and where I work is two miles in the other direction. And it's not just me; less than a mile away, the town becomes obviously worse -- poorer, a lot more crime, and whatnot.

I once visited NYC and blown away by the fantastic subway system. Ever since I've wanted my city to put one in. There have been talks for years, and plans have even been drawn up to make one, but it's never materialized -- probably because a functioning subway would cut the city's obscene revenue from its wheel tax.

Your city taxes vehicles?
I've never run across that before.
How do they levy it?

Wait...I have seen it!
In my town, the city council openly discusses great effort to increase traffic fine revenue.
They even (in violation of state law) post unrealistically low speed limits on some roads.
Our fair city is well known by contractors, who find doing business here very costly cuz
of the difficulty of getting permits to park on lawns when working on a property, & by truck
drivers who are aggressively cited for equipment violations (running many hundreds of dollars).

 

[David T]

2.8 billion to 7.5 billion in just my lifetime. Like rabbits living on an island with no known predators except one. Nature.

If we mimic such behavior identical to say a rabbit population growth are we really all that smart? Or are we as a species just really clever, but in reality just pretty stupid? I am leaning towards stupid/clever singular, in general.

 

[Sunstone]

If cities become more compact, numerous benefits will ensue, including:

• Walking will become more prominent due to increased closeness of buildings. This will result in less carbon emissions due to less automobile use and incresed fitness and wellbeing.
• Less vehicle use will result in less space being used for parking lots, which could make room for a whole host of different structures. These could include anything from community centers to charities.
• Reduced urban sprawl, leaving more space for the environment and reducing pollution.
• Easier distribution of resources and services.

I imagine that this goal will mostly result in maximum building heights being raised and city layouts becoming more compact, leaving less need for suburbs.

I would enjoy hearing additional thoughts on the matter.

A friend of mine once told me to either live in a city or live in the country, but never live in a suburb. From what I've seen of cities, suburbs, and countryside, I agree with him.

 

[Revoltingest]

2.8 billion to 7.5 billion in just my lifetime. Like rabbits living on an island with no known predators except one. Nature.

If we mimic such behavior identical to say a rabbit population growth are we really all that smart? Or are we as a species just really clever, but in reality just pretty stupid? I am leaning towards stupid/clever singular, in general.

We will continue to over-populate the planet until the problems really come crashing
down upon us....escalating cost of living, loss of natural environments, mass extinction,
empty oceans, & a country which has become a coast-to-coast Gary Indiana.
Only then will we begin to face it.

 

[IsaiahX]

We will continue to over-populate the planet until the problems really come crashing
down upon us....escalating cost of living, loss of natural environments, mass extinction,
empty oceans, & a country which has become a coast-to-coast Gary Indiana.
Only then will we begin to face it.

The only possible solutions we have are killing countless millions or colonization of exo-planets. I can kind of see why they ignore it so intensely.

 

[Revoltingest]

The only possible solutions we have are killing countless millions or colonization of exo-planets. I can kind of see why they ignore it so intensely.

Colonizing other planets would never be a solution.
Without some limit on population growth....
1) The travel cost would limit colonist numbers to a teensy tiny fraction of Earth's population.
2) The remaining population on Earth would still reproduce like rabbits.
3) The colonized planets would become over-populated.

 

[IsaiahX]

Colonizing other planets would never be a solution.
Without some limit on population growth....
1) The travel cost would limit colonist numbers to a teensy tiny fraction of Earth's population.
2) The remaining population on Earth would still reproduce like rabbits.
3) The colonized planets would become over-populated.

Are there any other options? Even if we do manage to slow down reproduction, its still a matter of time until the planet becomes uninhabitable, unless we stop all births altogether or something similarly extreme.

 

[Revoltingest]

Are there any other options? Even if we do manage to slow down reproduction, its still a matter of time until the planet becomes uninhabitable, unless we stop all births altogether or something similarly extreme.

The planet will remain habitable.
(Money back guarantee on that prediction.)
What we'll lose is quality of life.
Curbing reproduction is the only solution.
But it's politically impossible for the moment.
Things must first get worse...far worse.

 

[IsaiahX]

The planet will remain habitable.
(Money back guarantee on that prediction.)
What we'll lose is quality of life.
Curbing reproduction is the only solution.
But it's politically impossible for the moment.
Things must first get worse...far worse.

For a certain period, yes. But afterwards, starvation and a lack of resources will ensue.

 

[David T]

We will continue to over-populate the planet until the problems really come crashing
down upon us....escalating cost of living, loss of natural environments, mass extinction,
empty oceans, & a country which has become a coast-to-coast Gary Indiana.
Only then will we begin to face it.

It does seem we only respond to pain.

The recent california "brush" fires kind of reminds me how we blunder ahead, and shocked when in our blundering reveals it.

 

[Audie]

Have you ever been to Jakarta? NYC is about 300 sq miles and houses 8.5 ish million people would you call NYC a fairly compact city? Well there are 33 million people in Jakarta and is just barely double the size of that. And it is the most polluted city I have ever seen.

You can't even see the water in the massive water channels that run through the city, there is so much trash in them.

Doesn't that look delectable,the only solution that would scare people into being clean would be making littering a capital crime punishable by death.

View attachment 25430 .View attachment 25431

Not so far away from there is Singapore.
Clean.

Lack of national will is the problem for Jakarta.