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A counter argument is that US has a very developed suburban living culture with families living in houses. And while obviously this is comfortable living, you t

A counter argument is that US has a very developed suburban living culture with families living in houses. And while obviously this is comfortable living, you then need a car to get to the city center. Having said that, I agree that nothing beats the walkability of European cities, quality of living wise. US has a lot to learn from that.

andi999 5y ago
I thought a lot of people also live in houses in and around Tokyo.
- dustintrex 5y ago
  Japanese houses are quite different from US ones. My in-laws live in a house in suburban Chiba well outside Tokyo, but it has literally no garden space and the neighborhood is so densely packed a taxi can't even pull into the little laneway it's in. Within a 100 meter radius there's a grocery, a drugstore, several restaurants and more, and everybody gets around on foot, by bicycle or by bus.
  - micromacrofoot 5y ago
    tbh a yard seems less necessary when you can walk everywhere
    - aeharding 5y ago
      And kids can actually walk places by themselves, have social lives and develop some independence instead of being stuck in the backyard.
      - christophilus 5y ago
        I want this for my kids (stuck in US suburbia), but have instead opted for them to grow up close to their grandparents. I’m not always sure that I’m making the right trade off, and it annoys me that I even have to make such a choice. Anyway, it’s been over 20 years since I visited Tokyo, and I’ve been to many major cities since. Tokyo remains my favorite.
        ben-schaaf 5y ago
        If you haven't seen it already, the YouTube channel Not Just Bikes has a great video making the other decision (ie. moving to the Netherlands) with some compelling reasoning: https://youtu.be/ul_xzyCDT98 https://youtu.be/ul_xzyCDT98
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
- bedobi 5y ago
  They do, Tokyo is full of detached homes, and the people living in them don't need a car. (some have cars, some don't, but a car is not needed, and even those who have one, chances are they can't use them for things like grocery shopping etc even if they wanted to)
deltaonefour 5y ago
This type of urban design is unsustainable. It is the reason why the US is number one at producing greenhouse gases.
- theli0nheart 5y ago
  > It is the reason why the US is number one at producing greenhouse gases. This is incorrect. China currently holds this spot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_greenhouse_gas_emissions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_greenhous...
  - deltaonefour 5y ago
    per capita is the more accurate measure. Yeah I note my mistake in another reply. Even so, the US historically took the number one spot for both total greenhouse gases and greenhouse gases per capita. If you look at it from a perspective of a longer timespan, the US is basically number one. It is only in recent times does the US now currently take the number two spots for both categories.
    - IngoBlechschmid 5y ago
      Indeed. Here is an animation of the cumulative emissions starting 1750: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx85qK1ztAc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx85qK1ztAc The US come in first, my home country Germany takes the fourth spot.
  - Tiktaalik 5y ago
    Yeah this is because the USA has offloaded making all its stuff to China. With this in mind the USA CO2 number is even worse than it first appears.
    - theli0nheart 5y ago
      Are you saying that emissions shouldn't be attributed to the country they're generated in? If so, that's certainly an interesting perspective.
GekkePrutser 5y ago
You wouldn't need a car if there was good public transport :)
- ByteJockey 5y ago
  Good public transportation systems require a certain level of density to be practical, roughly on par with where European cities are at. This is why places like New York have fairly decent public transportation systems compared to the rest of the country. You're not wrong, but your plan involves either uprooting people or sending out so many buses that it would create an ecological catastrophe far greater than we have now (assuming you want to cover all of the suburbs mentioned by the op).

andi999 5y ago

I thought a lot of people also live in houses in and around Tokyo.

dustintrex 5y ago
Japanese houses are quite different from US ones. My in-laws live in a house in suburban Chiba well outside Tokyo, but it has literally no garden space and the neighborhood is so densely packed a taxi can't even pull into the little laneway it's in. Within a 100 meter radius there's a grocery, a drugstore, several restaurants and more, and everybody gets around on foot, by bicycle or by bus.
- micromacrofoot 5y ago
  tbh a yard seems less necessary when you can walk everywhere
  - aeharding 5y ago
    And kids can actually walk places by themselves, have social lives and develop some independence instead of being stuck in the backyard.
    - christophilus 5y ago
      I want this for my kids (stuck in US suburbia), but have instead opted for them to grow up close to their grandparents. I’m not always sure that I’m making the right trade off, and it annoys me that I even have to make such a choice. Anyway, it’s been over 20 years since I visited Tokyo, and I’ve been to many major cities since. Tokyo remains my favorite.
      - ben-schaaf 5y ago
        If you haven't seen it already, the YouTube channel Not Just Bikes has a great video making the other decision (ie. moving to the Netherlands) with some compelling reasoning: https://youtu.be/ul_xzyCDT98 https://youtu.be/ul_xzyCDT98
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
bedobi 5y ago
They do, Tokyo is full of detached homes, and the people living in them don't need a car. (some have cars, some don't, but a car is not needed, and even those who have one, chances are they can't use them for things like grocery shopping etc even if they wanted to)

deltaonefour 5y ago

This type of urban design is unsustainable. It is the reason why the US is number one at producing greenhouse gases.

theli0nheart 5y ago
> It is the reason why the US is number one at producing greenhouse gases. This is incorrect. China currently holds this spot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_greenhouse_gas_emissions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_greenhous...
- deltaonefour 5y ago
  per capita is the more accurate measure. Yeah I note my mistake in another reply. Even so, the US historically took the number one spot for both total greenhouse gases and greenhouse gases per capita. If you look at it from a perspective of a longer timespan, the US is basically number one. It is only in recent times does the US now currently take the number two spots for both categories.
  - IngoBlechschmid 5y ago
    Indeed. Here is an animation of the cumulative emissions starting 1750: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx85qK1ztAc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx85qK1ztAc The US come in first, my home country Germany takes the fourth spot.
- Tiktaalik 5y ago
  Yeah this is because the USA has offloaded making all its stuff to China. With this in mind the USA CO2 number is even worse than it first appears.
  - theli0nheart 5y ago
    Are you saying that emissions shouldn't be attributed to the country they're generated in? If so, that's certainly an interesting perspective.

GekkePrutser 5y ago

You wouldn't need a car if there was good public transport :)

ByteJockey 5y ago
Good public transportation systems require a certain level of density to be practical, roughly on par with where European cities are at. This is why places like New York have fairly decent public transportation systems compared to the rest of the country. You're not wrong, but your plan involves either uprooting people or sending out so many buses that it would create an ecological catastrophe far greater than we have now (assuming you want to cover all of the suburbs mentioned by the op).