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Because the natural habitat of the American - including most affluent Americans - is the suburb. This is the most nauseating sort of exceptionalism. It belies
by RyanMcGreal 17y ago
Because the natural habitat of the American - including most affluent Americans - is the suburb.
This is the most nauseating sort of exceptionalism. It belies the following facts:
1. In most American cities, it is actually illegal to build European-style cities. American consumers literally have no choice but to live in suburbs.
2. Public subsidies overwhelmingly support suburban development - highways, road "improvements", low-density public infrastructure, property tax rebates, and so on. That's a huge artificial incentive to buy suburban.
3. The most valuable places in the USA are those dense, mixed-use, walkable neighbourhoods that most resemble European cities - think Beacon Hill in Boston, a collection of tall, narrow, three-storey brownstones on tiny lots that would be illegal to build today (see #1, above).
4. Those American cities that have lost the least value during the economic downturn are those places that are the most urban in design: dense, walkable, bicycle-friendly, transit-friendly, and so on. The American cities that have had the sharpest drops in property value and the highest rates of jeopardies and foreclosures: those places that are the most suburban in design.
5. Whenever a city builds good urban places (as opposed to shitty urban places like most American cities), Americans move to those places in droves. Think Portland OR, which has developed according to clear principles of density, diversity, and sustainability for the past few decades and has enjoyed very strong population growth. (Aside: for the past several years, Portland has had an unemployment rate higher than the national average. That's because so many people move there without actually having a job waiting for them. A huge proportion of those people end up starting their own businesses - so much for the idea that liberals are anti-business.)
- tome 17y agoWhy is it illegal to build European-style cities? (I'm not familiar with US planning legislation)
- shimon 17y agoTypically, municipalities control what gets built where by "zoning" various territories. In most municipalities for at least the past 40 years, large parts of the city are zoned for commercial, industrial, OR residential usage. You cannot run a store out of a residential zone, so there is essentially no possibility of a neighborhood incorporating both workplaces and residences. This is good if you're a city planner allocating parking meters. This is bad if you'd like to live in an apartment that has convenient walking access to some shops, restaurants, and public transit.
- jseliger 17y agoShimon is correct. If you'd like more detail on the subject, see some of the articles in City journal: http://www.city-journal.org/ http://www.city-journal.org/ or The High Cost of Free Parking: http://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking/dp/1884829988 http://www.amazon.com/High-Cost-Free-Parking/dp/1884829988 or The Option of Urbanism: http://www.amazon.com/Option-Urbanism-Investing-American-Dream/dp/1597261378 http://www.amazon.com/Option-Urbanism-Investing-American-Dre...
- dugmartin 17y agoMost zoning requires a minimum of land and road frontage. In my rural part of Massachusetts it is 2 acres and 200ft of frontage. I live in a small village where if my house were to burn down and I didn't rebuild it within 2 years it would be illegal to rebuild as it only has 80ft of frontage and 0.25 acres of land. Its kind of crazy. The zoning laws were put into place around here to "curb density" which is the exact reason people love living in the little village I live in. The tide is changing though - we are starting to see more and more "New Urbanist" developments in the states (but not around here). Basically replicating a dense communal shopping area with 2nd floor housing and nearby single family houses. They feel a little serile however.