4 ms·

Less than 50% of households in NYC have a car. This is the thinking of people who want to live in the suburbs to have space then offload their car-centric lifes

Less than 50% of households in NYC have a car. This is the thinking of people who want to live in the suburbs to have space then offload their car-centric lifestyle to people living in the city as they expect to drive within mere feet of their job.

nickff 10y ago
>"Less than 50% of households in NYC have a car." How is that relevant? NYC has its own issues, and is very far from Vancouver. edit: comment above was originally only the eight words in my quote when I commented.
- revelation 10y ago
  The point is clearly that you might someday wake up and realize your behavior no longer matches the majority "citizen". If your city isn't like NYC right now it's only ever going to move in that direction.
  - nickff 10y ago
    I actually live in a city centre, a very walk-able area which is well served by public transit and bike lanes. This is not about me, this is about the thousands of people I've seen who are spending hours of their lives suffering in traffic.
  - marcoperaza 10y ago
    >If your city isn't like NYC right now it's only ever going to move in that direction. That's a hell of an assumption. I know people who live in NYC, making very good money, and they're all crammed into tiny apartments with multiple roommates because the congestion and rent are so ridiculous. That's fine for people in their early 20s, but do you really think these same people are still going to live in NYC once they get married and have kids? A small percent will buy a place in NYC, and the rest will move out to the suburbs. If anything, I'd predict that small and walkable urban areas, interspersed inside large suburbs, are more likely to be the future growth areas.
    - dodders 10y ago
      I know people with kids that live in NYC - it's perfectly affordable a bit further out into the boroughs and they all have the subway. I also know a lot of people that had kids and moved to the burbs - but they all commute via public transport (either train or bus). I guess my point is that anecdotes don't really mean anything?
    - chris_7 10y ago
      No one making "very good money" (I assume >= $100k) needs to live with roommates in NYC. You can easily afford a 1br on that, and in a trendy neighborhood too, e.g. Williamsburg. And once you have a partner to move in with, you can easily afford a giant 1br or a 2br if you want that.
- ameister14 10y ago
  '“We could never do that in our city” – eight words I’ve heard many times all over the world. It’s amazing how much energy goes into making excuses for why a city can’t get better. Although I’ve heard great passion for better city-making here in Perth this week while working with the Heart Foundation, I’ve also heard some of those excuses, while working with stakeholders, politicians and State planning and transport staff. “Perth is different,” I’ve been told, in various ways. It’s true, Perth is different. Every city is. But you’re not THAT different. You’re really not.'
  - mzw_mzw 10y ago
    Who gets to define "better"?
  - fennecfoxen 10y ago
    > It’s amazing how much energy goes into making excuses for why a city can’t get better. At the end of the day there's one reason why most cities in the US won't have decent transit any time soon - that the people who would build the transit do so on the grounds that it is Virtuous and Glorious and Green. Beyond that, they make projections that everyone will ride it and that it'll reinvigorate the economy and reduce traffic. (And if you're against it that's probably because you're an evil Republican which means you probably voted for Trump which means you're probably a Nazi, but I digress.) And then, instead, you get something that goes from nowhere to nowhere, and covers maybe 25% of its operating costs off ticket revenue... before the cost of capital expenditures. And if you think this is exaggeration (including the Trump bits) try reading several articles about the Virginia Beach TIDE light rail project ... which, to sum it up in one number, gets roughly a $8000/rider/year subsidy from the city. But the unionized public transport employees will vote for you and campaign for you and your causes forever.
    - sidek 10y ago
      The problem, like the author points out, is that you can build all the rail you want -- but you need to make sure that it goes to places dense enough to support it. When cities fail to do this, you get that ridiculousness.

nickff 10y ago

>"Less than 50% of households in NYC have a car." How is that relevant? NYC has its own issues, and is very far from Vancouver. edit: comment above was originally only the eight words in my quote when I commented.

revelation 10y ago
The point is clearly that you might someday wake up and realize your behavior no longer matches the majority "citizen". If your city isn't like NYC right now it's only ever going to move in that direction.
- nickff 10y ago
  I actually live in a city centre, a very walk-able area which is well served by public transit and bike lanes. This is not about me, this is about the thousands of people I've seen who are spending hours of their lives suffering in traffic.
- marcoperaza 10y ago
  >If your city isn't like NYC right now it's only ever going to move in that direction. That's a hell of an assumption. I know people who live in NYC, making very good money, and they're all crammed into tiny apartments with multiple roommates because the congestion and rent are so ridiculous. That's fine for people in their early 20s, but do you really think these same people are still going to live in NYC once they get married and have kids? A small percent will buy a place in NYC, and the rest will move out to the suburbs. If anything, I'd predict that small and walkable urban areas, interspersed inside large suburbs, are more likely to be the future growth areas.
  - dodders 10y ago
    I know people with kids that live in NYC - it's perfectly affordable a bit further out into the boroughs and they all have the subway. I also know a lot of people that had kids and moved to the burbs - but they all commute via public transport (either train or bus). I guess my point is that anecdotes don't really mean anything?
  - chris_7 10y ago
    No one making "very good money" (I assume >= $100k) needs to live with roommates in NYC. You can easily afford a 1br on that, and in a trendy neighborhood too, e.g. Williamsburg. And once you have a partner to move in with, you can easily afford a giant 1br or a 2br if you want that.
ameister14 10y ago
'“We could never do that in our city” – eight words I’ve heard many times all over the world. It’s amazing how much energy goes into making excuses for why a city can’t get better. Although I’ve heard great passion for better city-making here in Perth this week while working with the Heart Foundation, I’ve also heard some of those excuses, while working with stakeholders, politicians and State planning and transport staff. “Perth is different,” I’ve been told, in various ways. It’s true, Perth is different. Every city is. But you’re not THAT different. You’re really not.'
- mzw_mzw 10y ago
  Who gets to define "better"?
- fennecfoxen 10y ago
  > It’s amazing how much energy goes into making excuses for why a city can’t get better. At the end of the day there's one reason why most cities in the US won't have decent transit any time soon - that the people who would build the transit do so on the grounds that it is Virtuous and Glorious and Green. Beyond that, they make projections that everyone will ride it and that it'll reinvigorate the economy and reduce traffic. (And if you're against it that's probably because you're an evil Republican which means you probably voted for Trump which means you're probably a Nazi, but I digress.) And then, instead, you get something that goes from nowhere to nowhere, and covers maybe 25% of its operating costs off ticket revenue... before the cost of capital expenditures. And if you think this is exaggeration (including the Trump bits) try reading several articles about the Virginia Beach TIDE light rail project ... which, to sum it up in one number, gets roughly a $8000/rider/year subsidy from the city. But the unionized public transport employees will vote for you and campaign for you and your causes forever.
  - sidek 10y ago
    The problem, like the author points out, is that you can build all the rail you want -- but you need to make sure that it goes to places dense enough to support it. When cities fail to do this, you get that ridiculousness.