7 ms·

Employee opposition to commuting ... may require investing in housing, highways, public transportation and other infrastructure necessary to reduce commute time

by dfxm12 4y ago

Employee opposition to commuting ... may require investing in housing, highways, public transportation and other infrastructure necessary to reduce commute times. Yet another benefit for investing in housing and public transportation. Based on my proximity to public transportation, too, I have many job options close by, so I'm not likely to get stuck in a bad spot.

ericmay 4y ago
Agreed, and look at how fragile we are when gas prices go up. If we just built medium-density, mixed use development with appealing architecture and sensible transit options (walk, bike, ride street cars or light rail) with the option of still owning a car (ideally around 1 per family) we'd be in such a better place.
- weberer 4y ago
  Sounds like you're describing towns or small cities. And now that people can work remotely, that may be more viable, since we're no longer forced to migrate to tech hubs for competitive salaries. Maybe cramming in to huge cities will become a thing of the past.
  - ericmay 4y ago
    In America, yea. I think the issues we face with other American cities, like Columbus, or Austin, or Nashville, etc. is that they're not built like small cities - in that they try to be a New York City, when they should instead model after Copenhagen or perhaps Amsterdam.
    - weberer 4y ago
      Even those are huge cities in my eyes. I was thinking something more along the lines of Portsmouth NH, or Ellicott City MD. Places small enough where you can walk from end to end in short enough time, but large enough to have plenty of shops and events. These places are exceptionally nice areas to live.
      - ericmay 4y ago
        Yea they're big no doubt. If we were starting from scratch I think we'd have lots of Portsmouth, New Hampshires and only a few New Yorks (you need that level of density for certain specializations - think quantum physics or neurosurgery). So imagine the US, but maybe 5 New York level dense cities, and the rest of the country like Portsmouth. Unfortunately though, I think we can't really undo the damage that's been done so far, so the best we can do is try to heal these cities and make them dense in a nice way. Hong Kong is an anti-pattern, and so is Houston. IMO.
MrPatan 4y ago
Or just carry on working from home.

by dfxm12 4y ago

ericmay 4y ago

Agreed, and look at how fragile we are when gas prices go up. If we just built medium-density, mixed use development with appealing architecture and sensible transit options (walk, bike, ride street cars or light rail) with the option of still owning a car (ideally around 1 per family) we'd be in such a better place.

weberer 4y ago
Sounds like you're describing towns or small cities. And now that people can work remotely, that may be more viable, since we're no longer forced to migrate to tech hubs for competitive salaries. Maybe cramming in to huge cities will become a thing of the past.
- ericmay 4y ago
  In America, yea. I think the issues we face with other American cities, like Columbus, or Austin, or Nashville, etc. is that they're not built like small cities - in that they try to be a New York City, when they should instead model after Copenhagen or perhaps Amsterdam.
  - weberer 4y ago
    Even those are huge cities in my eyes. I was thinking something more along the lines of Portsmouth NH, or Ellicott City MD. Places small enough where you can walk from end to end in short enough time, but large enough to have plenty of shops and events. These places are exceptionally nice areas to live.
    - ericmay 4y ago
      Yea they're big no doubt. If we were starting from scratch I think we'd have lots of Portsmouth, New Hampshires and only a few New Yorks (you need that level of density for certain specializations - think quantum physics or neurosurgery). So imagine the US, but maybe 5 New York level dense cities, and the rest of the country like Portsmouth. Unfortunately though, I think we can't really undo the damage that's been done so far, so the best we can do is try to heal these cities and make them dense in a nice way. Hong Kong is an anti-pattern, and so is Houston. IMO.

MrPatan 4y ago

Or just carry on working from home.