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Berlin, Germany is inland, with an elevation average around 34 meters above sea level. The ground soil composition in Berlin is primarily sandy, draining easily

Berlin, Germany is inland, with an elevation average around 34 meters above sea level. The ground soil composition in Berlin is primarily sandy, draining easily and lending itself exceptionally well to underground infrastructure development. Houston, Texas, is coastal and has an elevation that averages around 13 meters above sea level. The ground composition in Houston is primarily made up of clay. Houston soil is notoriously heavy and has issues with drainage in construction. It's poorly suited for underground infrastructure development.

Symbiote 2y ago
How about Amsterdam, or London (outer London if you want a lower density).
- tstrimple 2y ago
  There always seems to be an excuse as to why America is exceptional and things accomplished routinely in other countries couldn't possibly work here. It's true to a degree. They absolutely cannot work here. But that's more about our political dysfunction than anything meaningful about our geographical situations.
  - mrguyorama 2y ago
    Imagine if we made these arguments in the past: "No we can't have a transcontinental railroad because the US is gigantic and mostly empty" (which is the entire reason we wanted a damn railroad across the US!) "No we can't build an interstate transport system because the US is mostly empty" "No we can't dam nearly every mid sized river in the country because the US is too spread out" It's just fundamentally wrong on all levels. We can build a Burger King in the middle east in a week, we can build a system of levees around a swampland that is actively under the waterline that, when they failed due to design deficiencies, we decided to build even stronger ones. We fucking COULD do massive amounts of high speed rail criscrossing the country and connecting all of us for reasonable prices without even taking your shoes off. It would be even easier if we just stop it at the Californian border
ggm 2y ago
you haven't seen the soil drainage pipes of Berlin? They're like a screensaver from the 1990s escaped into the real world.
- KingOfCoders 2y ago
  Do you mean heating pipes? Or construction drainage pipes?

Symbiote 2y ago

How about Amsterdam, or London (outer London if you want a lower density).

tstrimple 2y ago
There always seems to be an excuse as to why America is exceptional and things accomplished routinely in other countries couldn't possibly work here. It's true to a degree. They absolutely cannot work here. But that's more about our political dysfunction than anything meaningful about our geographical situations.
- mrguyorama 2y ago
  Imagine if we made these arguments in the past: "No we can't have a transcontinental railroad because the US is gigantic and mostly empty" (which is the entire reason we wanted a damn railroad across the US!) "No we can't build an interstate transport system because the US is mostly empty" "No we can't dam nearly every mid sized river in the country because the US is too spread out" It's just fundamentally wrong on all levels. We can build a Burger King in the middle east in a week, we can build a system of levees around a swampland that is actively under the waterline that, when they failed due to design deficiencies, we decided to build even stronger ones. We fucking COULD do massive amounts of high speed rail criscrossing the country and connecting all of us for reasonable prices without even taking your shoes off. It would be even easier if we just stop it at the Californian border

ggm 2y ago

you haven't seen the soil drainage pipes of Berlin? They're like a screensaver from the 1990s escaped into the real world.

KingOfCoders 2y ago
Do you mean heating pipes? Or construction drainage pipes?