2 ms·
I have started taking every article of complaint from citylab with a grain of salt. It always seems like there is an agenda with these articles. In this case,
by nashashmi 11y ago
I have started taking every article of complaint from citylab with a grain of salt. It always seems like there is an agenda with these articles.
In this case, they are trying to curb the building of roads. I do not know how that helps. Alleviating traffic and bringing increased capacity to roads helps spur economic activity.
The Big Dig Project on the Central Artery in Boston helped alleviate traffic and resume economic growth in an area where it had stalled. The capacity of the artery is expected to be fully realized by 2050.
In NJ, we are always stuck in traffic. And that is the main reason why NJ's economy has stalled. No more room for growth.
The point of the article and citylab's purpose is probably to direct more use of public transportation. But likewise, the more public transportation you have, the more use you will have there too.
I really don't see the point of this article.
- trgn 11y agoThe point is that building more roads doesn't reduce congestion. This is because the number of car trips increases as well. As the supply of roads grow, the demand for car trips goes up as well, to the benefit of no one. It is definitely an editorial decision of Citylab to evangelize this finding. But in this case, not in a mendacious way, more in an exasperating i told you once i told you a million times kind of way. That NJs economy stalled due to not having enough roads is a conjecture. You don't need physical room for economic growth (well, I'd say in the US you don't). The US is incredibly wasteful, to the point of it being obscene, with its physical space. The upside is dubious. But the negative results of car slavery are clear: it excludes children and seniors of being independently mobile, it creates a terribly unattractive environment, high speed roads - aka car sewers - are a killer on property values since nobody wants to live next to on, driving claims more than 30000 lives per year in this country alone. Cars have benefits though!!! I have three, should that factoid help convince you. But they work best in a handful of use cases: longer trips, hauling stuff, recreational driving in the country, ... Basically, what the commercials show you. But when you're shackled to them to do daily errands that you could just as well do on your own two feet if only the built environment wasn't so hostile to humans, they are terrible.
- woah 11y agoWhy should I pay for you to drive?