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To build the cities of the future, we must get out of our cars

nationalgeographic.com

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Re: To build the cities of the future, we must get out of our cars

#131

Post by swift532 »

AlwaysRock wrote: post #108

Eventually, cars will become a shared resource right? If cars can drive on their own then you could rent your car out while you're at work to lyft or uber. Eventually wouldn't most people do this? Eventually, wouldn't there be a multitude of cars roaming the city? Why would you need to own one? I live in a fairly walkable city but it still seems odd to me that people hold such a personal connection to their cars.

Well, I also use my car as a giant man-purse. Furthermore, sometimes you want to travel out of the beaten path and it's possible that the only way you can get there is with your own car.

Re: To build the cities of the future, we must get out of our cars

#132

Post by josinalvo »

matthewwiese wrote: post #38
bluGill wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is about trade offs though. I moved from a 10 acre lot to a small city recently. I love that my son and I went for an hour walk to a park (we passed a different park on the way because we played in that one yesterday) and back. I love that my work is only a few minutes drive away (now that the weather is warmer I need to get my bike working). I miss other things about my rural lot though. There is no space to driv…

> There is no space to drive my tractor collection around. I am glad to see a comment like this on HN, despite the impression that everyone here is an SV-focused tech bro. Sometimes it feels good to read about somebody's tractors whilst I gaze out at the soybean field in my backyard. :)

> tech bro

this does not seem to have been said with anomosity, so I take a risk I would not take with more angry interlocutors.

tech bro is casually sexist, right? Could we avoid that, at least when talking between nice people?

Re: To build the cities of the future, we must get out of our cars

#133

Post by ozzyman700 »

bluGill wrote: post #33
bogle wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should people who can't afford housing be automatically labelled "poor"? It's certainly one indicator. Not segrating people improves the world. Segragating them introduces division, self-evidentially. Something to be avoided, then, and worked against. Planners will try to mix properties in a new development, if the local politics is to provide for everyone fairly.

You cannot mix a new development like that. Building a house is expensive, so only the rich and upper middle class can afford it. The poor always have and always will live in the houses the above lived in some years back and left for something newer. What planners need to do it make sure that when the rich vacate the neighborhood they left behind is good. Part of that is making sure that some of the rich decide to re…

"Mixed Income Housing" is becoming more and more prevalent, it decreases segregation by forcing proportions of new development to include low income housing.

Possibly your statement: "You cannot mix a new development like that. Building a house is expensive, so only the rich and upper middle class can afford it. The poor always have and always will live in the houses the above lived in some years back and left for something newer." could be a bit of an absolute.

Re: To build the cities of the future, we must get out of our cars

#134

Post by benj111 »

kortilla wrote: post #88
benj111 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you expand? I'm not sure if you agree with the parent, or against the new deal.

The green new deal comes from a place completely detached from reality rather than anything remotely feasible. Remember, the green new deal not only included destruction of all fossil fuel industries (aviation, non electric cars, trucks, trains, etc) but it also included provisions for people who weren’t willing to work (used to be in the FAQ). It started as a plan to completely restructure the US into the most socia…

How does anyone get that from what Bogle said?

Re: To build the cities of the future, we must get out of our cars

#135

Post by josinalvo »

kortilla wrote: post #88
benj111 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you expand? I'm not sure if you agree with the parent, or against the new deal.

The green new deal comes from a place completely detached from reality rather than anything remotely feasible. Remember, the green new deal not only included destruction of all fossil fuel industries (aviation, non electric cars, trucks, trains, etc) but it also included provisions for people who weren’t willing to work (used to be in the FAQ). It started as a plan to completely restructure the US into the most socia…

> Politics is not about foisting your vision onto everyone else, despite the current rhetoric in the US.

The only paragraph I agree with. But I agree strongly!

Politics is about consensus and horse-trading, and they are much superior to winning and making the other side miserable (for a short while, until they get the chance to do the same)

Re: To build the cities of the future, we must get out of our cars

#136

Post by naravara »

betandr wrote: post #71

We really do have to radically re-think our cities but the biggest issues aren't going to be practical but emotional. In London parents drive their children around in 4x4s, knowing that their vehicle causes the pollution that is affecting their own children's health. I'm not sure how you even start to get around that but to some extent you will never persuade everybody to reduce their damaging behaviour. You need to…

Kids is actually a tough case, especially when they're infants. You actually need to haul around a bunch of stuff to take a kid out and transit is rarely design around the needs of parents. Strollers are a pain to get into a bus or train, and often worsen crowding because they're so big. And it's just not practical to have to get car seats in and out of car-shares or cabs. Even in places with well considered transit options, like urban Japan, most people who can afford to have a car prefer to get a car.

Re: To build the cities of the future, we must get out of our cars

#137

Post by rootusrootus »

myself248 wrote: post #123

Funny how the loudest voices in these sorts of articles are always from places with temperate weather.

And places that are already dramatically denser than the vast majority of the developed world.

Over the weekend I found myself looking for a place in Europe in satellite view, outside of an urban core, and I was struck by how many single-family houses there were, complete with driveways and cars. Here on HN I have been led to believe that Europe is a utopia of forward-thinking people too concerned about the environment to pollute it with a car that might also kill innocent pedestrians who just want to walk to their local grocery store.

HN readers have created a lovely bubble for themselves.

Re: To build the cities of the future, we must get out of our cars

#138

Post by Frondo »

SupremeOverlord wrote: post #107
ivanbakel wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It tells that in the 1950s, many white Americans were racist.

Many, including myself, still are. We like to be around our own and no amount of school-age propaganda and government force will change that!

I find it unfortunate that you aren't behaving bravely enough to post your real identifying information.

Such a move is neither supreme, nor representative of an overlord.

Re: To build the cities of the future, we must get out of our cars

#139

Post by SaintGhurka »

older wrote: post #74
LoSboccacc wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah, nothing to do with the bay area being littered with large cities and population number being cut by municipalities. are we playing special cases here? Vatican City with population 1000 should be Eden then.

> According to OECD, the Copenhagen Metropolitan Region had close to 2.4 million inhabitants in 2005: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_metropolitan_area

If you want to compare the metro areas, the San Francisco Bay Area has a population of 7 million. That's more than all of Denmark in a tiny fraction of the space.

The comparisons get a little stretched, given the population differences.

Re: To build the cities of the future, we must get out of our cars

#140

Post by rootusrootus »

makerofspoons wrote: post #60

If our species is to survive this century we have to get out of our cars. There is no way to sustainably build billions of electric cars- we need to consider that our existing ICE fleet needs to simply be retired and not replaced. Cars are one of the ultimate symbols of the consumption that needs to end if we are to address climate change. Between the asphalt and concrete needed to build infrastructure for them to th…

Any solution which requires people to give up convenience in the name of saving the environment is dead on arrival. This is human nature, we have never before managed to conserve our way out of a problem, we innovate our way out of it or we will die trying.
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