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> Maybe by a "well developed rail system" you mean a subway, but it doesn't seem realistic for an area with a million or two people to support one. Population

> Maybe by a "well developed rail system" you mean a subway, but it doesn't seem realistic for an area with a million or two people to support one. Population of Kyoto: 1.47 million Kyoto subway map: https://youinjapan.net/maps/kyoto/kyoto_metro_train_map.png https://youinjapan.net/maps/kyoto/kyoto_metro_train_map.png I didn't cherry pick this from some ordered list of cities by train lines to population ratio; I just picked it because I lived there and the train was as incredibly convenient as it looked. And also gorgeous: https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%AC%E9%98%AA3000%E7%B3%BB%E9%9B%BB%E8%BB%8A_(2%E4%BB%A3)#/media/%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB%3A%E4%BA%AC%E9%98%AA3000%E7%B3%BB%E8%BB%8A%E5%86%85.jpg https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%AC%E9%98%AA3000%E7%B3...

oftenwrong 7y ago
The bus system is also excellent.
rayiner 7y ago
In Kyoto half the population of the entire metro area lives within city limits. In a comparably sized American city like Philadelphia it might be a quarter. Or you might have something like Atlanta, with a city that has 1/3 as many people as Kyoto in a metro area that has twice as many. The net result is that a good subway system in Kyoto can serve a majority of the metro population, while that is not true for Philadelphia or Atlanta. (That is true even though Kyoto is not particularly dense--closer in Atlanta to density than to Philadelphia.)
- jbay808 7y ago
  Perl4Ever was expressing doubt that an area of a million or two people could support rail. I think Kyoto is an excellent counterexample to this claim, and the rail lines are what propel the density as people want to buy homes that are walking distance from a train station. But let's look at Boston instead. Population 700,000 in the city limits; 4.8 million in the metro area, so about one seventh lives in the city proper. http://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/boston_subway_map.jpg http://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/boston_subway_m... While perhaps not as developed as Kyoto, that's still a very healthy rail system. And its first subway was built in 1897 when it had a population of just about half a million.
  - perl4ever 7y ago
    "an area of a million or two people could support rail. I think Kyoto is an excellent counterexample to this claim" The metro area in which Kyoto is located is around 20 million people. The metro area of Boston is almost 5 million people, you say. These are not counterexamples to what I was trying to communicate. I don't really think my comment was as hard to understand as you make it seem.

oftenwrong 7y ago

The bus system is also excellent.

rayiner 7y ago

In Kyoto half the population of the entire metro area lives within city limits. In a comparably sized American city like Philadelphia it might be a quarter. Or you might have something like Atlanta, with a city that has 1/3 as many people as Kyoto in a metro area that has twice as many. The net result is that a good subway system in Kyoto can serve a majority of the metro population, while that is not true for Philadelphia or Atlanta. (That is true even though Kyoto is not particularly dense--closer in Atlanta to density than to Philadelphia.)

jbay808 7y ago
Perl4Ever was expressing doubt that an area of a million or two people could support rail. I think Kyoto is an excellent counterexample to this claim, and the rail lines are what propel the density as people want to buy homes that are walking distance from a train station. But let's look at Boston instead. Population 700,000 in the city limits; 4.8 million in the metro area, so about one seventh lives in the city proper. http://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/boston_subway_map.jpg http://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/boston_subway_m... While perhaps not as developed as Kyoto, that's still a very healthy rail system. And its first subway was built in 1897 when it had a population of just about half a million.
- perl4ever 7y ago
  "an area of a million or two people could support rail. I think Kyoto is an excellent counterexample to this claim" The metro area in which Kyoto is located is around 20 million people. The metro area of Boston is almost 5 million people, you say. These are not counterexamples to what I was trying to communicate. I don't really think my comment was as hard to understand as you make it seem.