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You don't need "low rise cohousing communities" to have families in cities. Japanese cities are extremely dense, yet people raise families there just fine. On
by magduf 7y ago
You don't need "low rise cohousing communities" to have families in cities. Japanese cities are extremely dense, yet people raise families there just fine. On my trip to Japan, I was really struck by how many children I saw in the middles of cities (moreso in some districts than others, of course), whereas I never see children in downtown American cities.
Of course, Japanese cities don't have enormous parking lots, everyone driving cars, etc. They have taxis of course, and some cars (not a lot really, given the population), and work vehicles, but not the huge amount of vehicle traffic we have. And of course, there's tons of trains and buses, so it's really cheap and easy to get around by public transit. On top of that, there's bicycles: tons of people get around by bicycle, and the traffic level and speeds are low enough to make this very safe, plus there's no culture there of being aggressive towards cyclists or pedestrians the way America has.
- throwaway2048 7y agoThe birth rate has completely nosedived in Japan aswel, its only 60% of the USA's
- aikinai 7y agoDon’t have stats on me right now but I think it’s right in line with non-immigrant Americans’ birth rate. America (just as most developed nations) only props up their birth rate though immigration.
- topmonk 7y agoJapan has one of the lowest birthrates in the world, well below replacement rates. Their society is also consists almost entirely of Japanese that all share the same culture. It would be very hard to emulate what they do and even so, no real guarantee that it would change anything.
- scythe 7y agoJapan does have a low birthrate, but it also has a rising birthrate. Since 2005 Japan has seen a long general trend of increasing birthrates since the ‘60s. This turnaround coincides with efforts to make housing cheaper and cities more kid-friendly. They’ve gone from 1.26 to 1.44. It’s not a complete reversal, but the fact that Japan’s rising birth rate has defied regional and global trends and persists despite continued urbanization and secularization shows they might be on to something.
- pmart123 7y agoI think this nails it on the head. The writer is conflating the affects due to socioeconomic conditions with the affects he wishes to perceive as it strengthens the arguments he brought forth in prior essays. This seems like an exercise of mental gymnastics as marriage age and birth rate have been pretty correlated with the cost of living throughout the world. When I left London during its peak costs, the average age for marriage was 36 for me and 32 for women. The displaced rural American worker clinged to both Sanders and Trump in the last primary. This isn’t some massive conspiracy. Home owners in SF and NYC have discouraged development through NIMBYism. Meanwhile, magnetic schools and private school options haven’t really grown their pupil base. If you are making a million a year, the equation works out, but if not, you need to make sacrifices, and, for many millennials that means sacrificing reproduction over lifestyle.
- Dylan16807 7y agoThe low birthrate only strengthens the argument about seeing many children.
- throwaway2048 7y agoOne person's anecdote doesn't strengthen much of anything.
- aikinai 7y agoExactly. My family moved from an American city core to a Japanese city core specifically because we don’t want to live in our cars but American cities aren’t suited for children. Japanese cities are dense and walkable but wonderful places for families and children.
- PKop 7y agoBecause they have a high trust, homogenous culture. How many people feel comfortable taking children on public transportation or allowing to roam the middle of cities? Culture matters, and quite frankly Japanese culture is different.
- danans 7y ago> How many people feel comfortable taking children on public transportation In major American cities, kids are taken on public transportation all the time. Often big groups of school kids are in transit for a museum field trip downtown.
- madhadron 7y ago> How many people feel comfortable taking children on public transportation or allowing to roam the middle of cities? Public transit? Most everyone in cities that really depend on it like NYC.
- dhdidhdu 7y agoWould you let your four year old take public transit in NYC by himself? Because they do that in Japan.
- volkl48 7y agoMaybe not a 4 year old, but NYC kids grow up way more independent than in many places in the US. Middle school kids taking public transit by themselves is pretty normal.
- wcunning 7y agoIt was rare enough that allowing a kid to do that made Lenore Skenazy [0] famous not that long ago... [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenore_Skenazy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenore_Skenazy
- 7y ago