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Modern American cities are downright bleak. There are no small businesses anymore because they have been priced out by insane rents so they have very little cha
by foxyv 5y ago
Modern American cities are downright bleak. There are no small businesses anymore because they have been priced out by insane rents so they have very little character. Most of the space is taken up by insanely noisy motor traffic on 6 lane roads that are absolutely packed. Public transit is slow and poorly maintained. Pedestrian spaces are narrow, noisy, hot, polluted strips.
I'm sure there are a few out there that aren't a total wash at this point, but why would you want to live in downtown LA or SF? Commuting is almost as bad. Unless you have an excellent income and few personal expenses it's untenable.
There have been some recent changes to make cities more livable and financially viable, but it's going to take some huge efforts.
- ericbarrett 5y agoI've lived in SF (Soma, the Mission) and NYC in both Manhattan and Brooklyn. I'll never move back to a city and share a wall with somebody, if I can help it. There's one reason and one reason only: noise pollution. American cities are completely unserious about enforcement of vehicle exhausts, quiet hours, construction permits, and so forth. When I finally moved away, my stress levels plunged. I miss the amenities and the restaurants, but my life is a thousand times better not waking in rage as yet another 110 dB motorcycle zooms under my window, or the unit demolition next door starts at 5:30am again. It could be done if we cared at all. Look at Tokyo, they make their construction sites surround the plot with a barrier many stories high and then put a digital noise meter on top, with the limit painted next to it. Or Paris, where they've started digital enforcement of loud exhausts; one of their city officials estimated a single bike with a loud exhaust could wake up as many as 10,000 people.
- ecf 5y agoThis is exacerbated by the incredibly cheap construction of all modern apartment buildings. We are talking single layer sheet rock sound insulation with wood flooring that lets me hear even the cat upstairs walking around. I’m staying for 10 days in a hurricane zone where structures are all concrete and I cannot express how much better it is.
- presentation 5y agoCan confirm, live in Tokyo, most residential neighborhoods are 30-40 dB, even with constant construction activity all over the place.
- zozbot234 5y agoinb4 "nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded"
- thehappypm 5y agoYeah, and oddly enough, suburbia seems to be getting more and more fun. My town keeps having new restaurants and breweries open, plus we have great local parks for hiking and stuff. I don’t miss living in a city at all, and I thought it would suck.