What's the worst thing about living in Austin? (Houston, Cedar Park: shopping centers, eat)

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by Danbo1957

Try driving in New York City, Washington, D.C., or Boston during rush hour... cities designed for horses. Austin freeway traffic is horrible, but not "kill yourself" horrible. Houston traffic is better than it use to be (except for the Gulf Freeway).

You're right - I lived in NYC and DC and have visited Boston frequently - I would never dream of owning my own car there.

fortunately they all have excellent transit systems where you don't need have one at all. . .

[scm53]

Originally Posted by Komeht

You're right - I lived in NYC and DC and have visited Boston frequently - I would never dream of owning my own car there.

fortunately they all have excellent transit systems where you don't need have one at all. . .

Seems sort of counterintuitive that a place, like DC, would have an "excellent transit system", yet at the same time, have the worst traffic in the country.

Is that our future? Spend billions on various rail systems, yet not improve congestion one whit?

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by scm53

Seems sort of counterintuitive that a place, like DC, would have an "excellent transit system", yet at the same time, have the worst traffic in the country.

Is that our future? Spend billions on various rail systems, yet not improve congestion one whit?

Traffic is here to stay - that's the consequence of 5 decades of building a car based city on a dendritic road system that was spread out from Kyle to Georgetown with very few options on which traffic may go.

Transit provides options. It won't solve congestion.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by Komeht

Traffic is here to stay - that's the consequence of 5 decades of building a car based city on a dendritic road system that was spread out from Kyle to Georgetown with very few options on which traffic may go.

Or not building the system that was planned five decades ago ...

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by scm53

Or not building the system that was planned five decades ago ...

Oh yeah, because slicing the city up with expressways along town lake, in between the Capitol and UT, etc. would have made Austin a really special place. . .

JFC - honestly - it's really unbelievable that we can identify easily the most horrid places to live in America - Phoenix, Houston, Atlanta, etc. and proclaim "thank god we're not them" and then advocate the EXACT same recipe for disaster.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by Komeht

Oh yeah, because slicing the city up with expressways along town lake, in between the Capitol and UT, etc. would have made Austin a really special place. . .

The fact that it wasn't what YOU would have chosen doesn't make it wrong. The bigger fact is that it was the only plan that existed, it was blocked, and nothing else was done - in this ridiculous notion of "if we don't build it, they won't come."

What we have is planning in the absence - failure to decide is a decision all by itself. To blame "5 decades of building a car based city on a dendritic road system" only addresses the end of the system. The fact that roads don't connect has nothing to do with the congestion caused by our lack of arterial capacity to meet the demand. You could have every street in the Austin metro on a grid, and still have the congestion today.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by Komeht

JFC - honestly - it's really unbelievable that we can identify easily the most horrid places to live in America - Phoenix, Houston, Atlanta, etc. and proclaim "thank god we're not them" and then advocate the EXACT same recipe for disaster.

Really? Do you think 5 million people are being held against their will? Yeah, traffic is bad; but that's hardly the most important factor in determining the quality of life in a major city. I wouldn't have spent 25 years there if it were "horrid"

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by scm53

The fact that it wasn't what YOU would have chosen doesn't make it wrong. The bigger fact is that it was the only plan that existed, it was blocked, and nothing else was done - in this ridiculous notion of "if we don't build it, they won't come."

What we have is planning in the absence - failure to decide is a decision all by itself. To blame "5 decades of building a car based city on a dendritic road system" implies such a system was built. It wasn't, so you are blaming something that exists only in its absence.

It is a myth that we didn't build roads in Austin. I don't know where you get this stuff. In my lifetime the upper deck on IH 35 did not exist. Mopac was a surface road. 183 was a two lane country road, Ben White Boulevard was, in fact, a surface boulevard, etc. etc. etc. We have built, widened, widened again, and again and again, road after road after road and it gets worse and worse and worse.

You know how many years TxDOT got out of grade separating IH 35 from East Avenue before they had to build the upper decks? 4 years. That's it. That's about the life you get out of a new road before you reach capacity.

And in the meantime all this stuff gets more and more expensive to maintain - which is why the DOTs and the federal highway fund are now broke.

We have been on a road building spree for the last 50 years and it hasn't worked. Time to to try something different.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by Komeht

It is a myth that we didn't build roads in Austin. I don't know where you get this stuff. In my lifetime the upper deck on IH 35 did not exist. Mopac was a surface road. 183 was a two lane country road, Ben White Boulevard was, in fact, a surface boulevard, etc. etc. etc. We have built, widened, widened again, and again and again, road after road after road and it gets worse and worse and worse.

Nice straw man. By your own admission, we didn't execute the 1962 plan. And all of the gorilla dust you are throwing up fails to point out the obvious - that construction has, purposely, failed to jeep pace with the growth. Just the city - disregard the metro area - has grown 6X in your five decade span. Have our roads grown 6X?

[ppp38]

Originally Posted by Komeht

Oh yeah, because slicing the city up with expressways along town lake, in between the Capitol and UT, etc. would have made Austin a really special place. . .

JFC - honestly - it's really unbelievable that we can identify easily the most horrid places to live in America - Phoenix, Houston, Atlanta, etc. and proclaim "thank god we're not them" and then advocate the EXACT same recipe for disaster.

Who is this we? that you are talking about? Certainly not me, as I love Houston and don't mind Atlanta. I thank God that I don't live in places like DC, Chicago and NY.