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Not just Sad but also self-imposed. If outside investors and outside countries were buying up all our jeans, cars, tvs and junk foods, we'd be celebrating it a
by pascalxus 8y ago
Not just Sad but also self-imposed. If outside investors and outside countries were buying up all our jeans, cars, tvs and junk foods, we'd be celebrating it all day long. in fact, we even blame other countries for not buying enough of our stuff (balance of trade debate).
And yet, when it comes to real estate we act like we can't make more of it. The vast majority of land out there is still unbuilt. Simply start another city, say 50 miles away or more if need be and then create incentives for companies to move there. We'll have more jobs, much cheaper housing, an opportunity to build a brand new city with the latest technologies, parks, outdoor gyms, libraries, etc, not to mention it'll bring housing costs down in prior city too.
- jdavis703 8y agoA city is so much more than the built environment. A city is also made up of its people, and expensive, purpose-built cities seem to lack that human vibrancy. I’ve been to some of the top-tier “master planned” towns, transit villages and town centers. At face value they all seem nice, walkable and urban. But they’re also generally extremely bland. They have the same chain retail and restaurant concepts, private security who will chase away anyone who seems undesirable (that is everyone from unsheltered folks, to rowdy teens, to street vendors) and they usually are not well integrated with the surrounding areas.
- mymythisisthis 8y agoOne of Toronto's nicest neighborhoods (High Park / Roncesvalles) was designed and built by a scam artists. Though Joseph Phillips wound up in jail for running a Ponzi scheme, he knew what people wanted; a walkable community (small blocks), mixed use residential/commercial, a large central park.
- Bekwnn 8y agoA somewhat popular place in Vancouver for restaurants/night life is yaletown. It's somewhat scuzzy and expensive, but it has brick buildings I guess? Plenty of fantastic places in Vancouver with character, but I don't understand that one. (And I work there.) But I know the kind of blandness you're talking about. Richmond somehow is a metropolis that feels like a desert.
- bobthepanda 8y agoPart of what makes cities nice is people actually living in housing. If a neighborhood is significantly underoccupied by residents it kills local businesses that need foot traffic, increases social isolation, and decreases perceived safety. In practice new planned cities work out badly, because location is everything and cities need an underlying reason to exist. Residents don’t want to move to a place with no jobs, and jobs don’t want to be in a place where it’s hard to attract workers. An interesting article on how Songdo, South Korea is failing even though its location next to the country’s biggest airport should’ve helped it: https://www.citylab.com/life/2018/06/sleepy-in-songdo-koreas-smartest-city/561374/ https://www.citylab.com/life/2018/06/sleepy-in-songdo-koreas...
- pascalxus 8y agoYou just need jobs. Companies respond to incentives, so just make the initial incentives really really advantageous and i'm sure those jobs will show up. Just look at all the trouble a company like Amazon goes through to eek out every last bit of tax advantage, going so far as to have every city in the country bid on it! Once the jobs show up, people will move there.
- bobthepanda 8y agoEmployees will not relocate to undesirable places. UBS had to relocate its headquarters back to New York City from Stamford because it could not recruit people willing to live, or schlep to the Connecticut suburbs. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/nyregion/ubs-may-move-back-to-manhattan-from-stamford.html?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=CD9E2CA3F5C7978E7C96743249564265&gwt=pay https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/nyregion/ubs-may-move-bac...