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Plans for a new city in the American desert

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Re: Plans for a new city in the American desert

#241

Post by bmy78 »

jimmaswell wrote: post #188
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…

Jaywalking as a negative concept was pushed in newspapers by the auto industry and it worked.

I live in the NYC area and I can tell you no one cares about jaywalking.

Re: Plans for a new city in the American desert

#242

Post by nicoburns »

throwawaylinux wrote: post #175
nicoburns wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP, but yes I think everyone should act against their own interests (when they are selfish) and instead act for the good of everyone

And you'll act this way just as soon as everyone else does first, or do you see yourself as being on the receiving end of the redistribution?

I'll vote for policies that have this affect, certainly. As a software developer I imagine my personal income would be lowered, but overall I still think I'd benefit from things like better healthcare and education provision, more accessible housing cost, not having to worry about my friends and family as much.

Re: Plans for a new city in the American desert

#243

Post by throwawaylinux »

nicoburns wrote: post #242
throwawaylinux wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you'll act this way just as soon as everyone else does first, or do you see yourself as being on the receiving end of the redistribution?

I'll vote for policies that have this affect, certainly. As a software developer I imagine my personal income would be lowered, but overall I still think I'd benefit from things like better healthcare and education provision, more accessible housing cost, not having to worry about my friends and family as much.

So essentially the former -- you will only do this if everybody else is forced to.

Which in itself is selfish, and against the greater good.

The marginal utility of $1 for someone in poverty vastly outweighs the benefit you will get from it. So you don't need to wait for anything to pass a vote or become popular opinion to selflessly advance the greater good. I know of very few socialists who take advantage of this opportunity, unfortunately.

Re: Plans for a new city in the American desert

#244

Post by namelosw »

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.

> The cleanliness of Tokyo is 100% because of cultural issues, not because the government did anything special.

Not at all. It was once a mess. In "High and Low" from Akira Kurosawa, you could see the river was filled with garbage. The government did many campaigns especially around the Olympics in the 60s.

Re: Plans for a new city in the American desert

#245

Post by only_as_i_fall »

mchusma wrote: post #192

I don't get this city from the article. Here are a list of things I would want from a city: - no minimum parking requirements - no zoning requirements - no community involvement - no free street parking - a plan for walkability & parks - a community of "doers" or committed (this is the hardest) I feel like Starbase in Texas is perhaps the most exciting new city.

What is "no community involvement"?

Wouldn't you still want some zoning laws to prevent for example having a sewage treatment plant put up in your back yard?

Re: Plans for a new city in the American desert

#246

Post by QuarterReptile »

jimmaswell wrote: post #217
QuarterReptile wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jaywalking is a bizarre example. The criminalization of normal human movement through automotive lobbies and a derogatory slur is hardly a thing we should aspire to. A more worthwhile thing to discuss is the prevalence of people ducking their heads or rushing across streets when cars approach, with a level of embarrassment that would better accompany being caught defecating in the street (well, maybe not in SF.) Our…

There's nothing unreasonable in the concept that people should stay out of high traffic roads where it's not safe.

If you have high-traffic, high-speed roads where people are crossing by foot, your design has failed.

The two places where you encounter unwanted crossings in volume in the US are 1. Streets (for commerce, not travel) that were built too wide, either to accommodate too much vehicle traffic or to accommodate a despotic authority that forces wide streets(probably your local fire department or your state DOT); or 2. Stroads that do nothing well, at great expense. If it has a 45mph speed limit and stop lights, it's probably this.

Re: Plans for a new city in the American desert

#247

Post by nnnnnkkk »

ac29 wrote: post #78
lprubin wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One idea is an expansion of a law already on the books in many cities. When you create a new building / housing complex (which will be 100% in a new city), you require X% of units to be "affordable housing". I could see the city just increasing the required % and then giving tax credits to developers to offset the lost revenue to them. Given that this city would be built in stages, it will give them time to hone in o…

The problem is "affordable housing" isnt actually affordable for many. I qualify for it in the city I live in, and despite working full time for significantly above minimum wage, the rent on a 1bd apartment through this program would be about 75% of my take-home income.

Only in the late twentieth century has a private 1br apartment for single people become something people feel they're entitled to.

I've been in your situation, and you know what I did? I got a roommate. Really cuts on costs, and getting married makes the situation permanent.

At no time in history have the poorest been able to afford one bedroom apartments alone. Remember the stories of huge families crammed into apartments from 100 years ago? The fact that you only need one roommate instead of eleven to get by is progress.

Re: Plans for a new city in the American desert

#248

Post by bjowen »

myrandomcomment wrote: post #216
Anjin wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Enryo no katamari

Yes! 遠慮の塊 Literally "hold back / show reserve" and "mass" English maybe "refrain from taking the last piece".

I love this most characteristic of phrases, it’s something English lacks. That last morsel of the shared slice of cake, the semi-sip of wine left in the bottle… the remnant of politeness?

Re: Plans for a new city in the American desert

#249

Post by nbzso »

tiagod wrote: post #236
nbzso wrote: post #206

I am a regular guy with a regular dream. Imagine small villages with self-sustained planning, energy efficiency and agriculture. Imagine living as a human being close to nature but with all benefits of civilization. We will have hyper-connectivity available soon. This pandemic situation has given me something valuable after all. I can live away from the big city and be happy, productive and healthy. This grandiose fu…

If everyone lived close to nature in small villages, there would soon be no more nature to live nearby.

Agree to disagree. If people live close to nature they change a lot. The Bernays idea of man as an atroucious anymal that must be controlled with entertaiment, consumerism and survaillance is in sync with corporate control and exploitation of resources.:)

Re: Plans for a new city in the American desert

#250

Post by hamburga »

Dystopian, horrific, bound to fail.

I actually went and listened to the "billionaire visionary" on a podcast about this: https://ideas.beondeck.com/mission-driven-cities-with-marc-l...

You can get a very quick sense that he has no appreciate for even the textbook issues in urbanism.

At 41:00, he says, "One of the reasons I don't read is that it takes time away from thinking." Gavin Belson could not have said it better.

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