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I know the trope "Americans spent millions inventing a pen that works in space, and Russians just brought a pencil" isn't entirely accurate. But, I can't help b

I know the trope "Americans spent millions inventing a pen that works in space, and Russians just brought a pencil" isn't entirely accurate. But, I can't help but get similar vibes as Americans spend billions developing self-driving cars, and as the rest of the developed world just builds trains.

bufferoverflow 3y ago
Trains and cars aren't the same thing. A train won't help you going shopping (if you buy lots of food like we do). A train won't help you pick up your kid from school. A train won't help you pick up a piece of furniture off FB marketplace. A train won't help you, in general, going anywhere train tracks don't exist, or going door to door.
- Mordisquitos 3y ago
  Those are of course true at face value, but (other than the furniture example) they highlight the deeper problem with American urbanism. A train is not necessarily a substitute for a car. For example, I have never needed a train to go food-shopping, because in all 7 different locations in which I have lived I have always lived at most a 10-minute-walk away from a supermarket (often significantly less). This was in different towns and cities in Spain, France and the UK. Regarding going to school, my parents never needed to drive me to school. That's because I lived 5/10 minutes walking distance from my primary school and my high school (to which some of my classmates came by train, metro or bus). This was in Madrid. And when I need to go door-to-door with no direct route, I virtually always have a trivial train/metro/bus combination available which at rush hour is faster than a car. This is in a town outside of Barcelona. I'm not saying that all America's cities (let alone its suburbs) just need more public transport and less restrictive zoning as a magical solution. The overall residential density and cultural expectations are what they are. However, the very reason that this solution appears unfeasible is part of a self-reinforcing spiral that makes even minor gradual improvements less likely to be effective, thus less likely to be implemented, thus making other minor improvements less likely to be effective... and so it goes.
  - whimsicalism 3y ago
    Honestly, even hauling a bunch of groceries for a family from a market 10 minutes away is not super convenient. I used to do this in SF, it is much more convenient now that we have a car.
- philip1209 3y ago
  These things only require a car in the USA because of racist zoning policies that cover >75% of American residential land. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-family_zoning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-family_zoning
oramit 3y ago
Also makes me think of the quote often attributed to Churchill though there is no evidence he said it. "Americans will always do the right thing ... after they have exhausted all the alternatives"
lamontcg 3y ago
> as the rest of the developed world just builds trains. cool, lemme know where this country is that has such good trains and public transport that literally nobody drives and DUI traffic fatalities never happen.
- whimsicalism 3y ago
  Japan

bufferoverflow 3y ago

Trains and cars aren't the same thing. A train won't help you going shopping (if you buy lots of food like we do). A train won't help you pick up your kid from school. A train won't help you pick up a piece of furniture off FB marketplace. A train won't help you, in general, going anywhere train tracks don't exist, or going door to door.

Mordisquitos 3y ago
Those are of course true at face value, but (other than the furniture example) they highlight the deeper problem with American urbanism. A train is not necessarily a substitute for a car. For example, I have never needed a train to go food-shopping, because in all 7 different locations in which I have lived I have always lived at most a 10-minute-walk away from a supermarket (often significantly less). This was in different towns and cities in Spain, France and the UK. Regarding going to school, my parents never needed to drive me to school. That's because I lived 5/10 minutes walking distance from my primary school and my high school (to which some of my classmates came by train, metro or bus). This was in Madrid. And when I need to go door-to-door with no direct route, I virtually always have a trivial train/metro/bus combination available which at rush hour is faster than a car. This is in a town outside of Barcelona. I'm not saying that all America's cities (let alone its suburbs) just need more public transport and less restrictive zoning as a magical solution. The overall residential density and cultural expectations are what they are. However, the very reason that this solution appears unfeasible is part of a self-reinforcing spiral that makes even minor gradual improvements less likely to be effective, thus less likely to be implemented, thus making other minor improvements less likely to be effective... and so it goes.
- whimsicalism 3y ago
  Honestly, even hauling a bunch of groceries for a family from a market 10 minutes away is not super convenient. I used to do this in SF, it is much more convenient now that we have a car.
philip1209 3y ago
These things only require a car in the USA because of racist zoning policies that cover >75% of American residential land. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-family_zoning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-family_zoning

oramit 3y ago

Also makes me think of the quote often attributed to Churchill though there is no evidence he said it. "Americans will always do the right thing ... after they have exhausted all the alternatives"

lamontcg 3y ago

> as the rest of the developed world just builds trains. cool, lemme know where this country is that has such good trains and public transport that literally nobody drives and DUI traffic fatalities never happen.

whimsicalism 3y ago
Japan