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I'm intrigued by thinking about what will happen when all of the parking lots and garages get turned into more useable space. When we hit the tipping point of s
by mcculley 9y ago
I'm intrigued by thinking about what will happen when all of the parking lots and garages get turned into more useable space. When we hit the tipping point of self-driving cars being commercially feasible, it will make sense that they be parked where the land and electricity is cheapest, when they are parked at all. If we transition to mostly Uber-style car usage, the cars will be in motion as much as possible.
That will lead to lots of parking lots and garages being razed in favor of more useful buildings. That means more density in urban areas and potentially more pedestrian friendly cities.
Higher density means more electricity, water, and sewage usage.
I was looking for new office space a few months ago. I asked every real estate agent and commercial builder what they were thinking about self-driving cars. They all said that they weren't thinking about it as it was too far off to worry about. I was surprised at their lack of vision.
- ghaff 9y agoI'm not sure why I would care as a real estate agent or commercial developer. I have to function in the here and now with clients (and zoning) in the here and now. That there might be changes brought on by autonomous driving or any of a slew of factors in a few decades is not really on my radar.
- mcculley 9y agoIf I were a real estate agent, I would be interested in what my market looks like in a few years. The commercial property developers I spoke to are building new properties right now and not thinking about how they might want to refit them in a few years. I agree that most of them aren't thinking ahead. I see buildings all around me being razed that were built just a few years ago. It's a myopic industry.
- Fricken 9y agoI believe that the first publicly available robotaxis will arrive in less than a year, as small scale pilot projects. It will take much much longer before they have a measurable impact on real estate and infrastructure.
- mcculley 9y agoI agree it will be a few years, but these folks are building projects right now that they plan to be operating for 20-30 years. They claim to be planning ahead.