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>Still, density isn’t high, it just feels that way That's factually incorrect. And even assuming that it isn't how do you propose to deal with even more people
by simias 7y ago
>Still, density isn’t high, it just feels that way
That's factually incorrect. And even assuming that it isn't how do you propose to deal with even more people in the capital when all the streets are gridlocked at rush hour and the public transportation is more than saturated? Are you seriously proposing that we raze the city and rebuild it New York style? I mean I suppose Haussmann sort of did that but I think it would be quite a loss to do it again now.
I think it's much better to work on decentralization and developing other French cities. We're not Singapore, Monaco or Honk Kong, we don't need to fit everybody in the same metropolis.
>Paris isn’t very breezy at ground level because the streets are all short and keep turning.
I don't even feel like digging into this frankly absurd take (and again, are you proposing that we simply rebuild the city as a grid?) but it's also clearly not the only factor at play. Yew York is near the ocean, meanwhile Paris is in an inland basin which usually gets very little wind. Maybe very high rises could get above the smog at the top levels but would that really solve the problem?
>Those Haussmann buildings don’t do a good job of insulating or HVAC. Even 1970s multiunit buildings in the burbs are all single-pane windows with cracks to the outside.
>When you have a weak radiator-based central heating system, you don’t dare turn it down or off when you leave: your unit may never recover and be warm again.
That much is true, many buildings in Paris are very old and have terrible isolation (on every level).
- Scoundreller 7y ago> And even assuming that it isn't how do you propose to deal with even more people in the capital when all the streets are gridlocked at rush hour and the public transportation is more than saturated? Maybe the metro/RER is saturated at rush hour, but I can assure you there is plenty of capacity left when you look at the whole picture. And you can always run more buses and create an environment that makes them fast through signal pre-emption, bus-only lanes/roads/hours, frequent runs, express buses, etc. A bus system can never be saturated unless they're running bumper to bumper. And work on the demand side: Work-From-Home, compressed work weeks, staggered schedules and not forcing people to take vacation in the same month. If you won't change supply, the goal should be to reduce transit demand, not increase it. Finally, tabulate how much a new metro line costs. Send inspectors to every workplace with more than X employees. If it appears that any of the above could be done but isn't, send them a bill for their proportionate costs for a new metro line. Could also send bills to employers for each employee-day they compel to arrive between 8 and 9. And/or give a discount to businesses that don't. You could achieve similar with dynamic pricing.
- Scoundreller 7y ago>Paris isn’t very breezy at ground level because the streets are all short and keep turning. > I don't even feel like digging into this frankly absurd take. Microclimates are a thing. If you're ever in NYC/Boston/$NE_City/Toronto/Montreal in January/February, you won't forget arctic winds compressed through small passages.
- chillacy 7y ago>> Still, density isn’t high, it just feels that way > That's factually incorrect. I'm not sure that be stated as factually anything without an accepted definition of "high density" for a city. I'm not aware of one.