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Interchange in Houston is the same size as an entire city center in Italy

texasmonthly.com

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Re: Interchange in Houston is the same size as an entire city center in Italy

#351

Post by conductr »

wmeredith wrote: post #327
redm wrote: post #319

As someone who lives in Houston, the simple reason there is sprawl is because its flat and land is cheap. This makes it easy to live on large lots or on small average. It's also hot, so people spend more time indoors and drive everywhere.

I'm glad someone said this. The size of the interchange vs a small town in Italy is an odd comparison. Land and gas are cheap in one place and they're not in another. That's basically the end of the story.

I’d say more to do with technology available at onset of growth. Modern versus ancient in terms of cities. I found the marketing brochure in my mid-century house in Dallas, they really thought that the Jetsons was going to happen. Same house was built north of downtown Dallas from some horse farms and pitched country life with modern conveniences. The exurbs that reach damn near Oklahoma now are still pitching the same thing while my house is very much considered in the city.

Re: Interchange in Houston is the same size as an entire city center in Italy

#352

Post by donjoe »

xg15 wrote: post #111

> But it wasn’t strictly an “everything is bigger in Texas” ethos that caused Houston to sprawl the way that it does. Rather, Cold War–era urban design philosophy in the U.S. prioritized sprawl because older cities that had urbanized pre–World War II—New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit—were seen as being susceptible to nuclear strikes. Less-dense cities such as Los Angeles and Houston were less likely to be…

Quite interestingly, the social aspects of urban sprawl was completely left out when designing post WW2 cities.

When people think about beautiful cities, they would mention Venice or Paris or Rome. All these cities were built for 'foot traffic' which still works perfectly fine nowadays. In those cities, the elderly and children do have an environment to move around by themselves and socialize freely.

When it comes to planning cities for people, it is worth checking out Prof. Jan Gehl: https://youtu.be/9_x5Hor2MP8

Re: Interchange in Houston is the same size as an entire city center in Italy

#353

Post by [deleted] »

EricE wrote: post #262
xenocyon wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the bigger elephant in all of our rooms is climate change. Density is by far more climate-sustainable (as well as more environmentally sustainable in other ways) than sprawl. In addition, global economic forces are creating a mass move to cities around the world anyway. So no matter what we think we want right now, we will at some point in the present or future be forced to reckon with density either pleasant…

"Density is by far more climate-sustainable (as well as more environmentally sustainable in other ways) than sprawl." Care to back that up?

[deleted]

Re: Interchange in Houston is the same size as an entire city center in Italy

#354

Post by simonh »

hannasanarion wrote: post #242
djsumdog wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's take a look at Houston on a Nuke Map: https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/?&kt=5000&lat=29.7589&lng...

That's a modern bomb, in the 50s and early 60s, when Hobby Airport (the one in the southeast of downtown) was considered to be in the boonies, the nuclear threat looked like this: https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/?&kt=20&lat=29.7589&lng=-...

5 Mt is huge, and far bigger than the warheads of most modern nuclear weapons. The one you show is fairly representative of a single modern warhead. Nowadays, and for many decades if you want a large area of effect, you use a MIRV vehicle and pepper the target area. This gives you wide coverage for fewer total megatons and a more compact and flexible weapon system, and hedges your bets in case any of the warheads fails or is intercepted.

In fact big bombs were an early trend for two reasons. One was that the delivery system was expected to be bombers dropping one or a very few bombs with mediocre accuracy and so you wanted maximum destruction from each delivery. The other was that they were worried bombers wouldn't be able to get directly over some targets due to air defences, so you'd drop the bomb short of the target and use the massive area of effect to cover the remaining distance for you.

Re: Interchange in Houston is the same size as an entire city center in Italy

#355

Post by brmgb »

amaccuish wrote: post #287
brmgb wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But unless you somehow gift me one million dollars USD or more (and the same to every single person I know), none of us are going to be able to afford to live anywhere in Paris that actually has close access to all of those things you've described, with the living situation described above. Have you ever set foot in a European city ? I currently live in Paris. Bus, metro and Vélib' are three minutes away and I am n…

> It all costs me 38 euros a month for unlimited journeys. Ouch. My VBB-Umweltkarte for similar costs 63 EUR a month.

Well, the actual cost is 73 euros per month but in typical French fashion my employer has to pay for half of my metro pass (also I have the cheapest bike rental plan and trips are only free if they last less than 30 minutes).

Re: Interchange in Houston is the same size as an entire city center in Italy

#356

Post by abraxas »

betaby wrote: post #325
abraxas wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In those countries it _really_ depends what your job is. If you're a teacher or a bus driver then yes rent is too damn high. If on the other hand, you have a corporate job at a branch of a western company it's extremely cheap. Software developers in Warsaw easily make 10-20K PLN per month thus having rent costs less than a quarter of their paycheck.

Still wouldn't call that cheap percentage wise. Software developer in Montreal pays about 25-30% of the salary for 100m2 as well.

Yeah but Monteral is frigid for 8 months in a year and has so so public transit IMO. It is in Canada though which I dearly love (but not for its weather or its cities).

Re: Interchange in Houston is the same size as an entire city center in Italy

#357

Post by ufmace »

crmrc114 wrote: post #43
totalZero wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Houston, you drive. There is no reason to judge space in one place by the use patterns of a totally different place.

I have lived in walking cities, I prefer to have a car. I can enjoy my own music or podcast- my own schedule in the case of mass transit. I can also enjoy my own aircon and heat settings. I know lots of people want to bike/walk everywhere- that is just not for me. I think this comes up everytime someone talks about urban planning here. Some people just have no interest in living within high density areas- I am one of…

I lean the other way, but to each their own. Dunno why you're getting downvoted so hard for not being like everyone else.

FWIW though, listening on headphones works perfectly well while walking or on mass transit. Scheduling isn't too big of a deal when the bus or train or whatever runs every 5 minutes or so.

I think the real reason though is more that I just really like standing and walking, and dislike sitting still for long periods. I also kind of dislike the stress and responsibility of having a car.

Re: Interchange in Houston is the same size as an entire city center in Italy

#358

Post by macintux »

CydeWeys wrote: post #297
msla wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And people who need to get somewhere to save lives are suitably invigorated, I'm sure.

Yeah, actually. I saw a huge fucking grin on the face of the guy riding shotgun in the ambulance as the crowd of cyclists parted like magic in front of them and they had a personal escort of two vested corkers. Guy was even filming. They got where they were going faster than if the usual stop and go car traffic had been there. The great thing about people on foot or on bike is that they can easily get out of the way…

If you’ve created a logjam however, how does the ambulance get through the stopped traffic?

(I’m not arguing against protesting on the freeway, to be clear, just genuinely curious how often it helps vs hinders emergency vehicles.)

Re: Interchange in Houston is the same size as an entire city center in Italy

#359

Post by ip26 »

binarytox1n wrote: post #251
yason wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

supermarket has never been more than 2 miles away - certainly not a 20 minute drive and it's even within biking distance I'd consider that far, far away. My walk to the nearest train station is about one mile, takes about 15 minutes to get there on foot, and that's irritatingly far, too, considering the trip is two way and repeats every day. Something like a grocery shop should be accessible within decent walking dis…

American in Texas here - maybe this is a behavior encouraged by the very thing we're discussing, but going to the grocery store _every day_ is a big yikes to me. I go once a week and get everything I need for that week. Because I take my car, I can carry that amount of stuff.

Going once a week is efficient, but a little difficult to match up to a diet full of fresh fish, fruits, & vegetables.

When grocery shopping frequently, you're also going for five or ten minutes instead of two hours, and the grocery is probably on your way home.

Re: Interchange in Houston is the same size as an entire city center in Italy

#360

Post by crispyporkbites »

redm wrote: post #319

As someone who lives in Houston, the simple reason there is sprawl is because its flat and land is cheap. This makes it easy to live on large lots or on small average. It's also hot, so people spend more time indoors and drive everywhere.

Italy is pretty hot too
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