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Cities are suitable for public transport and that’s where most californians live. Yes, they shoud rebuild their cities, it’s called development and is done all

Cities are suitable for public transport and that’s where most californians live. Yes, they shoud rebuild their cities, it’s called development and is done all the time.

jandrewrogers 2y ago
I am talking about the cities. Cities are not intrinsically suitable for public transportation. In the case of California, extreme sprawl and low-density guarantees that public transportation will be unusable. Almost none of it was designed to allow public transportation to be feasible, no amount of wishful thinking will change that. I've lived in every major metro in California. There is no chance that public transportation will be viable for most people in those cities in my lifetime.
- fragmede 2y ago
  Those aren't cities then. If it's not dense enough to support city services like a functional bus system, that's just suburban sprawl or maybe a town.
  - jandrewrogers 2y ago
    There is something like 50-60 metros in the US with more than 1 million people. By your definition only a few of these are "cities". Either way, the point still stands that they are largely unsuitable for a functional bus system.
- amrocha 2y ago
  It’s actually really easy to fix that. You give government right of first refusal on any low density property for sale in california, you get rid of sfh zoning, re-zone anything within 1Km of public transport as high density, and then build mid-rise high density buildings everywhere as you massively expand public transport network. Within a decade you could have dense efficient cities all over california.
  - ryandrake 2y ago
    > ... all over california So you think your plan is going to work in, say, Alpine county, CA, with its 1.6 people per square mile? Its largest city has 163 people in it. How is a high-density mid-rise apartment building going to help the people there? Do they really need a train or bus system there? How are you going to make their community better by getting rid of SFHs? California is a big place, and a lot of it is very, VERY rural. There's no one-size-fits-all fix. San Francisco solutions aren't going to work in rural CA.
    - amrocha 2y ago
      Yes, I didn’t think I had to specify but I meant in urban areas all over california.

Cities are suitable for public transport and that’s where most californians live. Yes, they shoud rebuild their cities, it’s called development and is done all the time.

jandrewrogers 2y ago

I am talking about the cities. Cities are not intrinsically suitable for public transportation. In the case of California, extreme sprawl and low-density guarantees that public transportation will be unusable. Almost none of it was designed to allow public transportation to be feasible, no amount of wishful thinking will change that. I've lived in every major metro in California. There is no chance that public transportation will be viable for most people in those cities in my lifetime.

fragmede 2y ago
Those aren't cities then. If it's not dense enough to support city services like a functional bus system, that's just suburban sprawl or maybe a town.
- jandrewrogers 2y ago
  There is something like 50-60 metros in the US with more than 1 million people. By your definition only a few of these are "cities". Either way, the point still stands that they are largely unsuitable for a functional bus system.
amrocha 2y ago
It’s actually really easy to fix that. You give government right of first refusal on any low density property for sale in california, you get rid of sfh zoning, re-zone anything within 1Km of public transport as high density, and then build mid-rise high density buildings everywhere as you massively expand public transport network. Within a decade you could have dense efficient cities all over california.
- ryandrake 2y ago
  > ... all over california So you think your plan is going to work in, say, Alpine county, CA, with its 1.6 people per square mile? Its largest city has 163 people in it. How is a high-density mid-rise apartment building going to help the people there? Do they really need a train or bus system there? How are you going to make their community better by getting rid of SFHs? California is a big place, and a lot of it is very, VERY rural. There's no one-size-fits-all fix. San Francisco solutions aren't going to work in rural CA.
  - amrocha 2y ago
    Yes, I didn’t think I had to specify but I meant in urban areas all over california.