What If Urban Sprawl Is the Only Realistic Way to Create Affordable Cities?

Re:What If Urban Sprawl Is the Only Realistic Way to Create ... by WildUtah on Wednesday September 14, 2016 @04:08PM (#12500797)

There are eight megacities of 10MM or more people in the first world. Some of them sprawl, others allow reasonable densities in newly built neighborhoods. Reasonable density, in this case, means 100 or more, about what you get from building 2-3 stories, allowing buildings with very small setbacks, not requiring excessive parking, and allowing retail and commercial uses to mix in neighborhoods. Most highly desirable San Francisco neighborhoods are built at such density but such building is illegal in America.

Here they are, in order of inaccessibility and unaffordability to the middle class.

1. New York (Sprawls)

2. London (Doesn't)

3. Los Angeles (Sprawls)

4. Paris (Doesn't)

5. Tokyo (Doesn't)

6. Mexico City (Doesn't)

7. Seoul (Doesn't)

8. Osaka (Doesn't)

San Francisco sprawls and matches the high end of the list. Not much evidence for the op's thesis.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What If Urban Sprawl Is the Only Realistic Way to Create ... by cardiffspaceman on Wednesday September 14, 2016 @07:54PM (#12502284)

Excessive parking: Two areas of San Diego have lots of restaurants, bars and clubs. There is also lots of "free" parking attached to some of the businesses in these areas. This parking is not available to the visitors to the restaurants, bars or clubs, which surprisingly have less parking. One bar I frequent has four parking spaces and way more than 16 chairs to sit on inside. The free parking is restricted to patrons of the business the spaces are attached to. If all the parking was paid parking, it would tend to be in reach of multiple businesses so one could pick up some Tums after a meal at a restaurant without first moving the car. I have daydreamed about reforming parking and adding in short hop buses like the jitneys that Atlantic City had for a few years, so you go to the dense business district, visit many businesses from one parking spot.

[ Parent | on HN ]