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All your points are true, yet remember that China has over 4x the US population and a higher overall population density. Also, if your wife is from the PRC, you

All your points are true, yet remember that China has over 4x the US population and a higher overall population density. Also, if your wife is from the PRC, you obviously know how the CCP will ram through any project they deem necessary, regardless of what the locals think. Construction is expensive in the US because the cost of living is expensive, primarily due to continuous inflation over the past 60 years. To my knowledge, the majority of construction costs are worker pay and worker health insurance plans, not equipment and building materials. China's cost of living is still low, so worker pay stays relatively low, and though I know almost nothing about the Chinese healthcare system, I can't imagine their healthcare costs are comparable to the US. I am genuinely surprised an urban population of 1 million people just got an airport in 2023.

kiba 3y ago
Construction is expensive because in large part we became a society of NIMBYs, especially when compared to other countries with high labor cost. At the same time, we're also wasting money on unnecessary infrastructure. Labor costs are manageable by itself. But the sheer ineptitude, obstructionism, excessive goldplating, and changing your mind every five minutes is going to balloon project costs, especially when they're not routine affair. At the same time, we're adding parking lots and expanding and adding additional roads. They're not really needed and contributed to excessive pollution, urban decay, and maintenance issues.
- zdragnar 3y ago
  Setting aside the rest, NIMBY's are part of why we don't have projects like the Three Gorges Dam that displaced over a million people from their homes. Sure, a lot of it is just wankery, but a certain amount of input from the people who will be harmed by social projects is a good thing.
  - kiba 3y ago
    Doesn't prevent road expansion, rampant parking lot construction, and urban sprawl. They're only NIMBY against certain projects. Some environmental destruction are more acceptable than other.
- waterheater 3y ago
  Hmm. That's not inaccurate, though it's too pessimistic to be constructive. Certain Americans are convinced that living in a dense urban environment is a necessary way to live, and they're quite vocal about increasing population density. As it happens, many people who live in those cities, particularly the locals, disagree. But see, that's the thing: the locals are content with the current state. In my own experience, the main energy for change in the majority of non-US cities comes from transplants. Everyone thinks they're the protagonist in their story. A simple solution for more space is to move to a small town, fill a niche, and build community, yet many people aren't willing to make that sacrifice, particularly if your family has deep roots in a certain region.
  - kiba 3y ago
    Rest assured that if you experience Atlanta traffic, you will not be content.
seanmcdirmid 3y ago
My experience living in Beijing for 9 years tells me more about the CPC than anything. They replaced a freeway bridge (三元桥) overnight once, that was an experience to see. But more to the point, our productivity should be higher for the higher pay, but it isn’t. We’ve stagnated in construction for some reason. It just opened in 2021, not 2023, not a huge diff. But one million people is considered a small city by Chinese standards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenzhou_Beihu_Airport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenzhou_Beihu_Airport

kiba 3y ago

Construction is expensive because in large part we became a society of NIMBYs, especially when compared to other countries with high labor cost. At the same time, we're also wasting money on unnecessary infrastructure. Labor costs are manageable by itself. But the sheer ineptitude, obstructionism, excessive goldplating, and changing your mind every five minutes is going to balloon project costs, especially when they're not routine affair. At the same time, we're adding parking lots and expanding and adding additional roads. They're not really needed and contributed to excessive pollution, urban decay, and maintenance issues.

zdragnar 3y ago
Setting aside the rest, NIMBY's are part of why we don't have projects like the Three Gorges Dam that displaced over a million people from their homes. Sure, a lot of it is just wankery, but a certain amount of input from the people who will be harmed by social projects is a good thing.
- kiba 3y ago
  Doesn't prevent road expansion, rampant parking lot construction, and urban sprawl. They're only NIMBY against certain projects. Some environmental destruction are more acceptable than other.
waterheater 3y ago
Hmm. That's not inaccurate, though it's too pessimistic to be constructive. Certain Americans are convinced that living in a dense urban environment is a necessary way to live, and they're quite vocal about increasing population density. As it happens, many people who live in those cities, particularly the locals, disagree. But see, that's the thing: the locals are content with the current state. In my own experience, the main energy for change in the majority of non-US cities comes from transplants. Everyone thinks they're the protagonist in their story. A simple solution for more space is to move to a small town, fill a niche, and build community, yet many people aren't willing to make that sacrifice, particularly if your family has deep roots in a certain region.
- kiba 3y ago
  Rest assured that if you experience Atlanta traffic, you will not be content.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago

My experience living in Beijing for 9 years tells me more about the CPC than anything. They replaced a freeway bridge (三元桥) overnight once, that was an experience to see. But more to the point, our productivity should be higher for the higher pay, but it isn’t. We’ve stagnated in construction for some reason. It just opened in 2021, not 2023, not a huge diff. But one million people is considered a small city by Chinese standards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenzhou_Beihu_Airport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenzhou_Beihu_Airport