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My City is double decking highways all the while building zero new rail and or bike lanes. They are doubling down on stupid.

• kortilla 8y ago
  They are doubling down on what a lot of their population wants. A lot of what gets left out of the discussion of cities in the US is that tons of people have no interest in public transportation due to bad experiences or preconceived notions. People need examples of good public transportation in the US beyond NYC or Chicago because those cities come with a lot of other baggage (high taxes, high rent, high CoL in general). Without an example, it looks to a suburbanite like the trade off is they lose their yard and 75% of the square footage of their home for less flexibility and a dirty transportation experience. These people do not marvel at the efficiency of the Yamamote line as people are shoved in by train operators during rush hour. They hug the steering wheels of their luxurious personal space SUVs. What makes it worse is that prominent politicians in the US on the side promoting public transport don’t bother to use it when slightly inconvenient (e.g. the “scandal” of AOC using a minivan when she could have taken a subway). Even people on the “left” aren’t leading by example.
  • licyeus 8y ago
    AOC is mobbed like a celeb when in public and has received death threats online, yet you fault her for no longer taking the subway? Regarding realistic trade-offs: I live in Seattle in a 1200 sq ft townhome. I commute 20-25 mins on public transit (where I read or otherwise zone out). For what I pay in rent, I could move to the suburbs and get a 2000 sq ft house. But that comes with a stressful 60 min commute in traffic and $15 a day for parking.