4 ms·

I wonder why countries like Taiwan and Korea are so good at building things like roads, metro railways, etc, while around Boston a lot of it is basically atroci

I wonder why countries like Taiwan and Korea are so good at building things like roads, metro railways, etc, while around Boston a lot of it is basically atrocious crap that comes at multiples, to orders of magnitude, the cost. Edit: also in Hokkaido, I never saw a single road as bad as around Boston.

b34r 9y ago
Are they dealing with the same climate issues? The extreme hot/cold cycles really tear up Boston’s roads.
- wallace_f 9y ago
  Korea has even more extreme hot/cold cycles. Even Taiwan, in the mountains, gets cold/snowy in the Winter, and what I saw there was that there were zero roads as bad as in, and around, Boston. Also, in Hokkaido I never saw such bad roads, either.
- craftyguy 9y ago
  Korea definitely experiences temperature swings. For example, the average highs for Seoul[0] are very similar to the average highs of Boston[1]. 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seoul#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seoul#Climate 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston#Climate
- simonsarris 9y ago
  Parts of Japan's climate are in many ways like New England's climate, though Japan has more subtropical regions obviously, and also more mountains. Both get plenty of snow and get humid in summers.
twblalock 9y ago
Taiwanese and Korean voters (and voters in a lot of other parts of Asia and Europe) believe that providing high-quality infrastructure and public transit is a basic duty of government. If the transit situation got bad there, the politicians would be worried about losing the next election, so they don't let things get bad. American voters just have lower standards. This is true in a lot of other areas, especially education. If American politicians believed they would lose re-election because of bad infrastructure, the money and commitment necessary to fix the problem would suddenly, magically appear.

b34r 9y ago

Are they dealing with the same climate issues? The extreme hot/cold cycles really tear up Boston’s roads.

wallace_f 9y ago
Korea has even more extreme hot/cold cycles. Even Taiwan, in the mountains, gets cold/snowy in the Winter, and what I saw there was that there were zero roads as bad as in, and around, Boston. Also, in Hokkaido I never saw such bad roads, either.
craftyguy 9y ago
Korea definitely experiences temperature swings. For example, the average highs for Seoul[0] are very similar to the average highs of Boston[1]. 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seoul#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seoul#Climate 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston#Climate
simonsarris 9y ago
Parts of Japan's climate are in many ways like New England's climate, though Japan has more subtropical regions obviously, and also more mountains. Both get plenty of snow and get humid in summers.

twblalock 9y ago

Taiwanese and Korean voters (and voters in a lot of other parts of Asia and Europe) believe that providing high-quality infrastructure and public transit is a basic duty of government. If the transit situation got bad there, the politicians would be worried about losing the next election, so they don't let things get bad. American voters just have lower standards. This is true in a lot of other areas, especially education. If American politicians believed they would lose re-election because of bad infrastructure, the money and commitment necessary to fix the problem would suddenly, magically appear.