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Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

economist.com

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Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#201

Post by ipiz0618 »

tomp wrote: post #189
88840-8855 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the thing. It's a super great place when you are a tourist. I lived there and I saw the bad sides, too. To keep this amazing tidyness, order, extremely high quality of service, people go to their limits - with low pay and low perspectives. We have these "bad" jobs also here, people in those jobs are half-assing them, are rude or just quit. In Japan, at least from my experience, it's the conservative conformity…

> All this is clearly against the western values that i often hear quoted when I hear the same people talking about "China". But Japan seems to be ok for them. I think you're jumping to conclusions here. Are people in Japan disappeared for criticizing the government? Do they have their organs harvested / altered for believing the wrong religion? I'm OK with a society with very different defaults than my own. In fact,…

Let me add that Japan also doesn't claim an independent country (Taiwan) as their own territory. And they don't raid new agencies for reporting the truth. These are the things people complain about China, not the traditional culture.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#202

Post by pantalaimon »

aurelianito wrote: post #131
ido wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do mobile phones affect city planning?

No need for door bells. No need for street signs. No need for taxi stops. No need for privately owned cars (rent via phone app or use Uber like service). Those things affect urban planning a lot.

That's silly. Phones can get damaged or stolen, looking at a sign is much faster than looking at a phony and signs hardly take up any space.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#203

Post by GekkePrutser »

aurelianito wrote: post #131
ido wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do mobile phones affect city planning?

No need for door bells. No need for street signs. No need for taxi stops. No need for privately owned cars (rent via phone app or use Uber like service). Those things affect urban planning a lot.

I don't think we're ready for all those things to disappear. The only thing that really has gone since mobile phones are phone booths.

But the thing is Street signs and door bells don't take up any space. There's no real benefit in removing them anyway.

Private cars are a big issue but the problem is people commuting from outside the city and shared car schemes are too expensive for that.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#204

Post by wffurr »

axpy906 wrote: post #179
laurieg wrote: post #127

Many posters have already mentioned some of the great things about Japanese cities: walkable neighbourhoods, good public transport, life without cars. I agree with all of these. However, you can't get something for nothing. Even in the suburbs there are essentially no gardens (a friend of mine lives way out of town and has a 10m by 10m garden which is enormous and unusual). Houses and apartments are significantly sma…

One more drawback to mention (Having lived in Tokyo a few years) it’s worth pointing out its not exactly kid friendly. I really don’t think most big cities are tbh.

With a kid or is that just your impression?

I used to like living in the city with a kid. Lots of access to interesting places and activities, able to walk to school and playgrounds and such. It’s lost some allure during the pandemic.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#205

Post by GekkePrutser »

ripe wrote: post #157
danielrpa wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does the US need to have traditional cities? I grew up in a high density city overseas and I can see the appeal of both types of city. I personally prefer low density, car centric cities (obviously we need to finish solving the emissions problem from cars, but that's separate).

Forget about the emissions issue, I just hate driving and having to depend on its supporting infrastructure (repair shops, gas stations, insurance...) for my day-to-day needs. I live in a US suburb. Can't even get a sandwich or buy milk or see someone without strapping myself into my fucking car. This is no way to live. If I could, I'd give up ever having to drive again in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, here we have few…

I agree, I moved to a city in Europe and not needing a car anymore feels really liberating. Not having to worry about costs, damage, fuel, maintenance, the stress of driving...

I hope I'll never have to own a car again.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#206

Post by GekkePrutser »

grosswait wrote: post #176
ripe wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Forget about the emissions issue, I just hate driving and having to depend on its supporting infrastructure (repair shops, gas stations, insurance...) for my day-to-day needs. I live in a US suburb. Can't even get a sandwich or buy milk or see someone without strapping myself into my fucking car. This is no way to live. If I could, I'd give up ever having to drive again in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, here we have few…

I feel just the opposite. I enjoy driving. It puts me in a thoughtful state and the feeling of being free to take whatever turn, shortcut, or scenic route I want at a whim is great. I don’t look forward to the day a human driving is a weekend, closed course activity for the privileged.

But you can do all those things when walking or on a bicycle too. When I want to disconnect I just had to the natural park in the mountains beside the city I live in. It's huge and there's always new things to explore.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#207

Post by GekkePrutser »

toastal wrote: post #185
ripe wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Forget about the emissions issue, I just hate driving and having to depend on its supporting infrastructure (repair shops, gas stations, insurance...) for my day-to-day needs. I live in a US suburb. Can't even get a sandwich or buy milk or see someone without strapping myself into my fucking car. This is no way to live. If I could, I'd give up ever having to drive again in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, here we have few…

Moving to Thailand I haven't missed having a car. I bought a motorbike and that works really well without taking up as much space (though are louder than I like and there's no infrastructure for electric alternatives). The part that rubs me is in both Thailand and Vietnam, despite Bangkok and Hanoi being dense with inexpensive and comprehensive public transportation, even the current youth generation still want cars.…

Yeah I noticed in Thailand there's many people living in corrugated iron sheds with a big brand new pickup parked beside it. They really have weird priorities :)

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#208

Post by ghaff »

throwaway743 wrote: post #175
makotobestgirl wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is honestly the thing that bothers me most about cities the US. Having grown up in Europe, I find many (I'm sure there are exceptions) US cities to be plain ugly and unlivable. The reason is obvious to me. It's that they are designed around cars. It makes such a huge difference.

Agreed. The closest you'll get to a walkable/non-car focused designed city in the US is NYC or Boston. MTA is accessible nearly anywhere in NYC (not without exceptions) and runs 24hrs

A big limiting factor with many cities though is if you need to commute to an office. In Boston, for example, many professional jobs will require commuting out to the suburbs. In tech specifically, there's more in the city than there used to be--there were basically no major employers in the immediate urban area any longer as of a couple decades ago. But the majority of engineering jobs broadly speaking require driving to a suburban office.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#209

Post by scruple »

ripe wrote: post #157
danielrpa wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does the US need to have traditional cities? I grew up in a high density city overseas and I can see the appeal of both types of city. I personally prefer low density, car centric cities (obviously we need to finish solving the emissions problem from cars, but that's separate).

Forget about the emissions issue, I just hate driving and having to depend on its supporting infrastructure (repair shops, gas stations, insurance...) for my day-to-day needs. I live in a US suburb. Can't even get a sandwich or buy milk or see someone without strapping myself into my fucking car. This is no way to live. If I could, I'd give up ever having to drive again in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, here we have few…

> I live in a US suburb. Can't even get a sandwich or buy milk or see someone without strapping myself into my fucking car. This is no way to live.

Where I live has walkability by accident but the car infrastructure is so massive here, to support as many (probably more, TBH) employees who commute to our area for work as there are people who live here, that it destroys your ability to walk anywhere quickly. The street crossings turn a 10 minute walk, one way, into a half of an hour or longer.

Re: Tokyo: A big city that is also pleasant to live in

#210

Post by aix1 »

cricalix wrote: post #181
bedobi wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Often, trains and subways will straight up not run because "there were leaves or snow on the tracks" or whatever. Like, OK? No other city I've ever lived has had that problem, lol? (let alone that often! it happens all the time) Punctuality is pretty bad, which wouldn't be a problem if frequency was good, but it's not, so... It can be pretty unsafe and unpleasant. Basically, it's "OK" in inner city and immediate surr…

Dublin’s light and intercity rail is affected by leaves too. It’s a major problem for rail adhesion in autumn.

London's the same. Here is more info from Transport for London: https://madeby.tfl.gov.uk/2019/10/07/leaves-on-the-track/
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