2 ms·

> But this is a huge reorganization of people's lives and existing property development that there's going to be a lot of pushback against and it's not all goin

> But this is a huge reorganization of people's lives and existing property development that there's going to be a lot of pushback against and it's not all going to be nimbyism If anything, I feel like Taiwan's model should prove that you can do it anywhere precisely because it was already so dense and built up on top of being in an area with very high seismic activity. It's not like they could find a lot of room to build massive stations on the surface. You barely notice the underground MRT stations at all aside from stair arches that pop out of the ground[0]. If they can make it work in a city as dense and populated as Taipei, it feels like it ought to be possible anywhere. And on the contrary, being close to an MRT line tends to drive up the price of housing in the area given it seems a strong selling point for the folks that live and work in the city. I think the real root cause is that US society is not egalitarian enough to make this work. [0] Examples: https://maps.app.goo.gl/JS8WEKhKmiVMGWCF6 https://maps.app.goo.gl/JS8WEKhKmiVMGWCF6, https://maps.app.goo.gl/mXFjKiAQ8Vf47SAG8 https://maps.app.goo.gl/mXFjKiAQ8Vf47SAG8

safety1st 3y ago
I can't speak to the history of Taipei specifically, I did visit for a month (loved it) and I currently live in the center of a different Asian megalopolis. I can say a lot of these places became what they are by bulldozing a lot of medium-density shophouses and destroying a lot of local businesses and tightly knit communities that most people including myself would consider really charming places to live. They replaced them with places where far fewer people can afford a space large enough to raise kids comfortably and where everyone around you is a stranger. Now I enjoy the big dense city lifestyle, I like the awesome public transit, I like the massive selection of businesses and services and basically everything, but it's not for everyone and I couldn't see myself raising a family in the middle of it, which eventually if you want your country's population to not collapse, you need people to do somewhere. I think also considering some of the massive redevelopments that have happened in Asia over the years, you would see massive pushback in the US from essentially an individual rights point of view if you were to try to do that.
- CharlieDigital 3y ago
  It feels like it needs to have the right mix of transit to make it work. Wife and I both agreed that we preferred Kaohsiung to Taipei if we were to live in Taiwan. With the HSR, it would be about the equivalent of my commute from Princeton to NYC.
bmicraft 3y ago
But that's precisely the problem, isn't it? It doesn't pay to build a subway when you don't have enough density. Most other forms of transit also get stuck in traffic.

safety1st 3y ago

I can't speak to the history of Taipei specifically, I did visit for a month (loved it) and I currently live in the center of a different Asian megalopolis. I can say a lot of these places became what they are by bulldozing a lot of medium-density shophouses and destroying a lot of local businesses and tightly knit communities that most people including myself would consider really charming places to live. They replaced them with places where far fewer people can afford a space large enough to raise kids comfortably and where everyone around you is a stranger. Now I enjoy the big dense city lifestyle, I like the awesome public transit, I like the massive selection of businesses and services and basically everything, but it's not for everyone and I couldn't see myself raising a family in the middle of it, which eventually if you want your country's population to not collapse, you need people to do somewhere. I think also considering some of the massive redevelopments that have happened in Asia over the years, you would see massive pushback in the US from essentially an individual rights point of view if you were to try to do that.

CharlieDigital 3y ago
It feels like it needs to have the right mix of transit to make it work. Wife and I both agreed that we preferred Kaohsiung to Taipei if we were to live in Taiwan. With the HSR, it would be about the equivalent of my commute from Princeton to NYC.

bmicraft 3y ago

But that's precisely the problem, isn't it? It doesn't pay to build a subway when you don't have enough density. Most other forms of transit also get stuck in traffic.