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PG was wrong to say that you cannot be too strict about historic preservation because it leads to the exact problem we have in SF right now -- there is no physi
by beatpanda 10y ago
PG was wrong to say that you cannot be too strict about historic preservation because it leads to the exact problem we have in SF right now -- there is no physical reason this city can't be more dense and remain beautiful (look at Paris for an example of how this might be possible), but there are many, many political reasons.
- imissmyjuno 10y agoCan you elaborate on Paris? It was my impression it was full of historical buildings and is expanding outwards, which isn't an option for SF.
- dotch 10y agoIt's an argument that gets made over and over again: Paris: density 55,673/mi^2 SF: density 17,246/mi^2 (source: wikipedia)
- somberi 10y agoTo expand: All of NYC - 28,053/mi^2 Manhattan alone - 72,033/mi^2 London - 13,410/mi^2
- lmm 10y agoBear in mind that's using the legal definition of Paris which excludes many of its suburbs.
- ido 10y agoThe SF definition is also excluding its suburbs (i.e. Silicon Valley).
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- beatpanda 10y agoI'm mainly just talking about the density -- many more people fit into less space than in San Francisco. And its both an option for us to build up, and build in -- we could close down some of our wider car-oriented streets and build walking/biking oriented roads.
- abalone 10y agoThere are also economic reasons. Parisian density is only possible with a great underground transportation system. That's hugely expensive to build and takes decades. SF has traditionally been a boomtown economy with corresponding bust cycles, so it's harder to make those kinds of investments. They are happening (e.g. the Chinatown extension) but more conservatively.
- thaumasiotes 10y ago> Parisian density is only possible with a great underground transportation system. That's hugely expensive to build and takes decades. It takes decades as an artifact of governmental processes. There's no necessary reason it should take decades.
- tim333 10y agoSaigon where I'm back from is building a light rail to the center with twenty odd 30-40 story residential blocks along it. The whole thing is taking about 2 years to build. That kind of thing is good for preserving historic buildings too - the blocks are all in nondescript areas 1-4 miles from the center.