4 ms·

I disagree. Living in a city is way better than living on the countryside. - access to a large airport to go on regular holidays easily - better health care c

I disagree. Living in a city is way better than living on the countryside. - access to a large airport to go on regular holidays easily - better health care coverage, more doctors, more specialists - cultural access - more diversity and more colorful services and products - better public transportation

betwixthewires 4y ago
I have access to a small airport that's an hour flight to a large one. The logistics of going somewhere for leisure are only marginally more difficult for me, and even easier since I don't have to navigate a small city within a city with a million people in it and traffic to get there and all that. And for the most part I have plenty of leisure around me, I don't have to fly anywhere to see wide open spaces for example. Health care is a special exception for me since I live under an hour from a couple of big hospitals and I live in a state with a lot of hospitals all over the place. But all that really shows is that such a system can be made without heavily concentrated population centers. That perk is a result of how things are now, not how they have to be. Cultural access... I see this mentioned alongside diversity and what not, do you mean brown people? If I were right and there were a large deurbanization trend, wouldn't it follow that the diversity would go with the diaspora, since the diversity is just people? Public transportation is largely a solution to problems created by cities. You don't really need a public transportation system in a less densely populated area.
- 88840-8855 4y ago
  I am talking about niche hobbie stores, d&d clubs, anime conventions, gay clubs (that are enjoyable as a hetero, too), authentic Vietnamese restaurants, Guangdong, Sezhuan, Taiwanese restaurants, 2nd hand stores, unique cafes, small specialized book stores. And yes, also "brown" people. But also Japanese, Korean, Russian, Indian and Brazilian people.
- seadan83 4y ago
  Less densely populated areas rarely pay for their road maintenance costs. It's actually quite unsustainable. That 10 mile road leading to just a few houses costs way more than is brought in by taxes from those houses. Public transit helps not having a car. That helps the environment and those that can't or don't want to drive. Most US cities have pathetic public transit to the point it is impractical (eg: buses running once every 2 hours and stopping at 6pm is not useful) Bottom line, I think this gets to the debate of car centric society. How do you do less densely populated areas in the american model without cars? I don't think you can. The problem with less dense and car centric is the 100 year upkeep cost is unsustainable
- ghaff 4y ago
  And for that matter you can live in the "countryside" and still have ready access to many major cities. I live in the middle of fields, conservation land, and orchards. But I'm only about an hour drive from Boston. It's not rural rural. But it's far from what most people think of as urban or even suburban.
- fnordpiglet 4y ago
  Small cities can’t support a critical mass of “niche” services such as exotic foods, night clubs of special appeal, cultural centers like major museums, and a lot of really neat coffee shops etc. I’m in your camp preferring rural life at some level but after living in SF, NYC, and Seattle I can’t imagine not being able to walk to a great coffee shop, grab some bingsu, and visit the Computer History Museum. There’s a density of people that allows you to find a wide social network that’s into the weird things you are. Etc. I think an awful lot of city dwellers live in them because they prefer the lifestyle regardless of cost. Rather than collapsing I think cities will thrive. There’s a huge economic pressure on residential property and a downswing on office property and the office property is in some of the best real estate in the city. Developers aren’t stupid, they’ll convert to mixed use and reduce office densities to keep their per unit margins up, and rent/sell condos and retail space for the residential community. This will actually draw more people to the cities because there are a lot of city dwellers that have been pushed out to suburbs due to lack of residential supply.

betwixthewires 4y ago

I have access to a small airport that's an hour flight to a large one. The logistics of going somewhere for leisure are only marginally more difficult for me, and even easier since I don't have to navigate a small city within a city with a million people in it and traffic to get there and all that. And for the most part I have plenty of leisure around me, I don't have to fly anywhere to see wide open spaces for example. Health care is a special exception for me since I live under an hour from a couple of big hospitals and I live in a state with a lot of hospitals all over the place. But all that really shows is that such a system can be made without heavily concentrated population centers. That perk is a result of how things are now, not how they have to be. Cultural access... I see this mentioned alongside diversity and what not, do you mean brown people? If I were right and there were a large deurbanization trend, wouldn't it follow that the diversity would go with the diaspora, since the diversity is just people? Public transportation is largely a solution to problems created by cities. You don't really need a public transportation system in a less densely populated area.

88840-8855 4y ago
I am talking about niche hobbie stores, d&d clubs, anime conventions, gay clubs (that are enjoyable as a hetero, too), authentic Vietnamese restaurants, Guangdong, Sezhuan, Taiwanese restaurants, 2nd hand stores, unique cafes, small specialized book stores. And yes, also "brown" people. But also Japanese, Korean, Russian, Indian and Brazilian people.
seadan83 4y ago
Less densely populated areas rarely pay for their road maintenance costs. It's actually quite unsustainable. That 10 mile road leading to just a few houses costs way more than is brought in by taxes from those houses. Public transit helps not having a car. That helps the environment and those that can't or don't want to drive. Most US cities have pathetic public transit to the point it is impractical (eg: buses running once every 2 hours and stopping at 6pm is not useful) Bottom line, I think this gets to the debate of car centric society. How do you do less densely populated areas in the american model without cars? I don't think you can. The problem with less dense and car centric is the 100 year upkeep cost is unsustainable
ghaff 4y ago
And for that matter you can live in the "countryside" and still have ready access to many major cities. I live in the middle of fields, conservation land, and orchards. But I'm only about an hour drive from Boston. It's not rural rural. But it's far from what most people think of as urban or even suburban.
fnordpiglet 4y ago
Small cities can’t support a critical mass of “niche” services such as exotic foods, night clubs of special appeal, cultural centers like major museums, and a lot of really neat coffee shops etc. I’m in your camp preferring rural life at some level but after living in SF, NYC, and Seattle I can’t imagine not being able to walk to a great coffee shop, grab some bingsu, and visit the Computer History Museum. There’s a density of people that allows you to find a wide social network that’s into the weird things you are. Etc. I think an awful lot of city dwellers live in them because they prefer the lifestyle regardless of cost. Rather than collapsing I think cities will thrive. There’s a huge economic pressure on residential property and a downswing on office property and the office property is in some of the best real estate in the city. Developers aren’t stupid, they’ll convert to mixed use and reduce office densities to keep their per unit margins up, and rent/sell condos and retail space for the residential community. This will actually draw more people to the cities because there are a lot of city dwellers that have been pushed out to suburbs due to lack of residential supply.