4 ms·
Are you arguing that we would have been just as slow in 1955 if "There were existing infrastructure or residents to deal with"? The whole point of this article
by systemvoltage 3y ago
Are you arguing that we would have been just as slow in 1955 if "There were existing infrastructure or residents to deal with"?
The whole point of this article is that we should aspire to be better, faster, more relisilient to failures, less bureaucratic and efficient. My gut sense (subjective) is that we profoundly suck today at doing anything aspirational. But, nitpicking each of the examples as many comments here are doing, is IMO missing the point. I don't think Patrick is trying to be super objective here besides trying to be as accurate as possible with sources/number of days it took to build those projects. It is kind of silly to say "Oh, they didn't have X, Y and Z in 1955" because you cannot accurately judge what would have happened if X, Y and Z were actually the impediments in 1955. I used 1955 as an arbitrary year to illustrate the point.
- climatologist 3y agoThe reality is more complicated than it appears but I've observed a bunch of construction projects near Millbrae CalTrain station and they finish the buildings extremely fast. A bunch of metal frames go up, then some pipes, then some wires, and then some concrete walls. The project planning and construction is done by a single company, Truebeck Construction, and they seem to know what they're doing. I don't know what Patrick's list is trying to illustrate but most construction projects in the US happen very fast.
- systemvoltage 3y agoThis is not a widespread opinion or pattern as I see it. This is first time I am hearing from someone that we in America "build things fast". I suggest reading Eli Dourado's blog: https://www.elidourado.com/ https://www.elidourado.com/ and his many blog posts on HN: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=elidourado.com&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
- climatologist 3y agoJust speaking from personal experience. The methods that I observed are very modern and very efficient. The parts for the entire building are pre-fabricated and then assembled at the construction site. So the stagnation narrative is more than likely overblown and the folks that think things are slower now should visit some of those Truebeck construction sites and observe for themselves.
- systemvoltage 3y agoI don't think so at all and the evidence points to a profound stagnation in our ability to build. So, if we can't even admit that we're terrible at building fast, there is very little hope. Step No. 1 is admission and introspection: https://www.fullstackeconomics.com/p/why-america-cant-build-big-things-any-more https://www.fullstackeconomics.com/p/why-america-cant-build-... https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/25/us/california-high-speed-rail.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/25/us/california-high-speed-... https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/05/opinion/economy-construction-productivity-mystery.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/05/opinion/economy-construct... https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/04/opinion/manufacturing-united-states-masks.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/04/opinion/manufacturing-uni... https://www.palladiummag.com/2022/06/09/why-america-cant-build/ https://www.palladiummag.com/2022/06/09/why-america-cant-bui... https://www.wsj.com/articles/infrastructure-us-costly-explained-solutions-11658263884 https://www.wsj.com/articles/infrastructure-us-costly-explai... https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/19/why-cant-we-build-anything/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/19/why-cant-we-build-anything...
- climatologist 3y agoHave you personally seen those construction sites? Just go and observe, the stagnation narrative is overblown.