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I think at this point it's useful to disentangle the city of San Francisco and the much less dense surrounding Bay Area. If you want to live in a high-density c

by kylec 9y ago

I think at this point it's useful to disentangle the city of San Francisco and the much less dense surrounding Bay Area. If you want to live in a high-density city, in this area that would be San Francisco. Its employers and residents (and prospective residents) should certainly push for 24 hour transit, more complete transit coverage, and whatever else is necessary for living in such an environment. However, the rest of the Bay Area isn't really city-like. Much of the existing infrastructure has been built around cars as the mode of transportation. Building a second high-density city out of nothing somewhere in this area and convincing employers and employees to move there doesn't seem like it would be well received. If the employers and employees in this area wanted to be located in a high-density city they'd already be in San Francisco. Many are - but many are not.

mtalantikite 9y ago
I agree with that and I'm certainly not advocating that the rest of the Bay get developed as densely as SF. As a city, SF very clearly needs a lot more housing and a transit expansion, maybe even a merger with Oakland as a borough, with greater transit connectivity there and density to match in Oakland. The problem then becomes that the rest of the Bay would most likely get pressured to build more densely as well, just like the metro areas of NYC did. That might ruin the suburb life that you enjoy as the expanding city to the north puts pressure on the surrounding areas.
- kylec 9y ago
  You are correct, I expect that additional organic growth in all parts of the Bay Area will continue to increase the density, and there's not much I can do about that. However, as that does happen, I would expect that the area would continue to "sprawl" outwards, attracting employers to some of the more outlying areas because office space and employee cost of living are both cheaper, and that these areas would continue to provide the lifestyle I desire. I do, however, push back against articles like this that characterize such sprawl as bad, and that instead of allowing growth and sprawl to happen organically, seek to curb it by lobbying for policy change.

by kylec 9y ago

mtalantikite 9y ago

I agree with that and I'm certainly not advocating that the rest of the Bay get developed as densely as SF. As a city, SF very clearly needs a lot more housing and a transit expansion, maybe even a merger with Oakland as a borough, with greater transit connectivity there and density to match in Oakland. The problem then becomes that the rest of the Bay would most likely get pressured to build more densely as well, just like the metro areas of NYC did. That might ruin the suburb life that you enjoy as the expanding city to the north puts pressure on the surrounding areas.

kylec 9y ago
You are correct, I expect that additional organic growth in all parts of the Bay Area will continue to increase the density, and there's not much I can do about that. However, as that does happen, I would expect that the area would continue to "sprawl" outwards, attracting employers to some of the more outlying areas because office space and employee cost of living are both cheaper, and that these areas would continue to provide the lifestyle I desire. I do, however, push back against articles like this that characterize such sprawl as bad, and that instead of allowing growth and sprawl to happen organically, seek to curb it by lobbying for policy change.