Plans for a new city in the American desert

Post by 8eye » Tue, Sep 07, 2021, 12:50 AM UTC

yourapostasy wrote: post #95

TulliusCicero wrote: post #90

Given how zoning and urban design tend to have been done in US cities -- that is, very badly -- I'm not opposed to this. It even sounds intriguing, but I have a hard time personally finding a city in a desert to be attractive, even if the urban design is great.

Deserts can be great for living in once you manage the heat through shading and wind management. Desert sand is very amenable to conversion into rich loamy soil through taking in lots of organic matter in surprisingly few years. Living in such a climate can be made attractive. The challenge is clean, potable water, which is really embodied energy. The evaporation of such water happens at a ferocious rate out in the o…

Post by CodeShmode » Tue, Sep 07, 2021, 1:04 AM UTC

throwawaysea wrote: post #100

zozbot234 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is that no matter how much housing you reserve to be "affordable housing", it will still be scarce and thus unaffordable to most. And this kind of well-intentioned red tape often ends up shrinking the supply of housing as a whole, which only makes it even less affordable.

But where is the line? Rampant development can completely alter the feel and culture of a neighborhood and city. It can take away from those things the existing residents enjoy. Sure more supply can accommodate more humans but they won’t necessarily be the same humans if current residents leave, and it won’t necessarily be the same place afterwards. Desirability (demand) creates scarcity but scarcity can also be desi…

Post by dillondoyle » Tue, Sep 07, 2021, 1:08 AM UTC

myrandomcomment wrote: post #147

The cleanliness of Tokyo is 100% because of cultural issues, not because the government did anything special. Durning the major 2011 earthquake everything shutdown and you had to walk home. When you went into the “Konbini” (7/11, FamilyMart, Lawsons) in Tokyo there was always a bottle of water left. Why? Because culturally no Japanese would ever buy the last bottle.

Post by chrisseaton » Tue, Sep 07, 2021, 1:12 AM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #35

I'm very curious, have there ever been any "cities from the ground up" projects that don't turn out to be total shit that end up just reflecting the urban planning fallacies of the day? (Looking at you, Brasilia) I mean, all of the cities that are most "livable" in my mind are old cities that were designed before the car and thus have enough density and public transportation to make things both close and also the kin…

Post by mc32 » Tue, Sep 07, 2021, 1:13 AM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #163

myrandomcomment wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Government policy reflects the culture. I have spent 30% of the last 20 years of my life in Japan, on and off again. One of the highest compliments paid to me by a group of Japanese friends was, “you must not do X again, you are Japanese and know better now.” I.E. as a foreigner I would get a pass, but my understanding of the culture reached a point where they expected better. I was both very highly embarrassed and a…

> Government policy reflects the culture In general, sure. It also is one of many things that influences it. Culture doesn't just arrive ex nihilo with no influence from concrete experience.