3 ms·

The problem is not the poor land use, it's the inefficient capital use!

• jchrisa 12y ago
  Also too much paved surface area.
  • ctdonath 12y ago
    I keep wondering when building over roads will become common. Traffic only needs a couple stories of vertical space; everything above that should be profitably/affordably usable (once ventilation is addressed).
    • Symbiote 12y ago
      There are already buildings built over railways (as well as many railways tunnelled under things). But they're much safer (hardly any accidents, trained people who know evacuation routes etc) and the noise and smell isn't as bad as it would be for a road. The examples I think I've seen are hard to verify on Google Maps, it's a brown-grey mush, and in any case they're all odd buildings rather than a 'tunnel' created out of buildings.
    • krallja 12y ago
      I-290 in Chicago runs through the Old Chicago Main Post Office: http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/content/wls/images/cms/124812_1280x720.jpg http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/content/wls/images/cms/124812_128...
    • philwelch 12y ago
      Unless the road was built in a tunnel in the first place, there are structural issues as well. You can't just put some concrete structure over the top of a road and have it support multiple stories of building on top of it. Plus, streets work better as open-air outdoor spaces, especially for pedestrians.