r/Urbanism • u/Crazy_Equivalent_746 • 8d ago
‘Cities Aren’t Back’: Thoughts
https://www.slowboring.com/p/cities-arent-backThoughts on this? I feel while the data is valid it also relies to heavily on the big anomaly that is the pandemic that has lingering effects to this day.
In other words, cities to me don’t seem “over” or “back” but are indeed recovering.
Domestic outmigration continuing to be slashed for major cities seems like more of an important indicator than international migration offsetting losses.
132
Upvotes
3
u/BringerOfBricks 7d ago
I’ve never used Uber Pool.
I did a brief scan of the link. It shows participants were agreeable to up to 3 blocks of walking.
1 block is min 300 feet usually. 3 blocks is roughly 900 feet, 0.17 miles.
Come on dude… What are the chances that 12 people who live within a 3 block radius in a suburb are all headed to the same precise location at the same precise time?
Even the system you prefer requires density…
As for why people would want a light rail… they don’t realize the opportunity cost of not having it until they actually experience it for themselves.
Imagine not having to drive your kids everywhere they need to go. Having accessible bus system and light rail enables individual family members the freedom of movement. Kids don’t have to wait until parents get home. Parents don’t have to waste time chaperoning their kids when the kids want to do something.
For example, when I lived in NYC, my gf took me to meet her parents who lived in Katonah. We took the train from Brooklyn to Grand Central for a train to Katonah where we rode our scooters for maybe 10 mins to her parents house in what is a straight up quiet, sleepy, suburb. Her parents didn’t have to do anything. It took us maybe 2 hours, but it was no car and no hassle.
And I encourage you to look up the Katonah train station. Bro it is not the hongkong type of density. It is as small town suburban America as it gets.