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Yeah, GP has no idea what they are talking about. I lived with urban planners and architects for 20 years, read books about zoning, about the effects of urbani

Yeah, GP has no idea what they are talking about. I lived with urban planners and architects for 20 years, read books about zoning, about the effects of urbanization on aquifers and rivers, about the differences between cities that grew organically like São Paulo or Mexico City vs cities that were bulldozed to fit a central plan like NYC. Never ONCE in my life I had read contemporary literature or heard a urban planner defend suburbia, or advocate for single use zoning only, or even say neutral things about American Suburbs. A majority of Urban Planners and Architects across North America, South America and Europe (my sample) are very much against it as it's not sustainable, creates traffic and other myriad of problems.

woodruffw 4y ago
I agree with your comment, but: I don't think NYC was bulldozed to fit a central plan. The city's (really, just Manhattan's) street plan was developed in 1807 and finalized in 1811[1], at a time when most of the island was still wetlands and marsh. (That's not to praise the Commissioners' plan, per se, but only to observe that no dense city was bulldozed to enact it.) [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissioners%27_Plan_of_1811 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissioners%27_Plan_of_1811
- thegginthesky 4y ago
  Sure, they had a central plan in the 1800s but only to fit a part of the population that came to live there in the coming centuries. A lot of NYC expansion to support and grow the city was done through displacement[0] and bulldozing[1] of existing buildings. Most of it wasnt done maliciously, but a city doesn't create square blocks, nice and uniform, on its own as it grows from a few hundred thousand to a few million inhabitants. If it grows organically, as in without a central plan driving it and pruning uncontrolled growth, you will get a very heterogeneous city layout. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Juan_Hill,_Manhattan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Juan_Hill,_Manhattan [1]The creative destruction of Manhattan, 1900-1940

woodruffw 4y ago

I agree with your comment, but: I don't think NYC was bulldozed to fit a central plan. The city's (really, just Manhattan's) street plan was developed in 1807 and finalized in 1811[1], at a time when most of the island was still wetlands and marsh. (That's not to praise the Commissioners' plan, per se, but only to observe that no dense city was bulldozed to enact it.) [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissioners%27_Plan_of_1811 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissioners%27_Plan_of_1811

thegginthesky 4y ago
Sure, they had a central plan in the 1800s but only to fit a part of the population that came to live there in the coming centuries. A lot of NYC expansion to support and grow the city was done through displacement[0] and bulldozing[1] of existing buildings. Most of it wasnt done maliciously, but a city doesn't create square blocks, nice and uniform, on its own as it grows from a few hundred thousand to a few million inhabitants. If it grows organically, as in without a central plan driving it and pruning uncontrolled growth, you will get a very heterogeneous city layout. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Juan_Hill,_Manhattan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Juan_Hill,_Manhattan [1]The creative destruction of Manhattan, 1900-1940