Houston and other American cities falling behind ?

[Mr. Football]

I wouldn't want to live there. These people aren't near free as we are in America (despite Obama, Bush and rest of the Bankster-establishment puppets)

[Hawk11ns]

The UAE is going bankrupt. They are trying to build infrastructure to attract foreign residents. Clearly it isn’t working though since something like 80% of Dubai alone is vacant.

[MIBS98]

The numbers I have seen are 30% vacancy levels. In addition to that, many apartments are owned by people who do not reside in Dubai and are only rarely there (Russians in particular).

In any case, UAE is not going bankrupt, Dubai is (actually has been bailed out once already). Dubai's problem is they don't have much oil and gas. Most of it is in Abu Dhabi.

[oblivionlml]

Originally Posted by MIBS98

The numbers I have seen are 30% vacancy levels. In addition to that, many apartments are owned by people who do not reside in Dubai and are only rarely there (Russians in particular).

In any case, UAE is not going bankrupt, Dubai is (actually has been bailed out once already). Dubai's problem is they don't have much oil and gas. Most of it is in Abu Dhabi.

I wouldn't live in Abu Dhabi to save my life, it just seems so fake.

[David Dollar]

When I lived in South America, I was always amazed by many things that they built in the city where I lived. It makes most OUR cities look third world. Plus, they are much more free there. US architecture has never really been that interesting anyway. It just isn't a priority here.

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by testmo

i suppose you believe america is the only country with regulations, regulators and bureaucracy

It may not be the only one, but it has one of the most. And like its compatriots in th the league of over regulated countries, it is being held behind.

Originally Posted by Dopo

The US is going to far down the road of "Let's do only what's profitable"
Most people think that investing in the future is not profitable.

Was gonna say that last night, but I forgot. Yeah I agree, why does everything have to be profitable or be profitable right away.

Can't the government do things for the enjoyment of residents more often?

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by David Dollar

When I lived in South America, I was always amazed by many things that they built in the city where I lived. It makes most OUR cities look third world. Plus, they are much more free there. US architecture has never really been that interesting anyway. It just isn't a priority here.

Coming from South America the first things I noticed is (1) lack of public parks (2) lack of architectural freedom.
Seems like politicians don't care about providing public parks and rather sell the land to any developer.

[14Bricks]

Originally Posted by Truth713

While on the net I can across a number of intresting projects from other nations, while Houston and other cities fight over rail expandsion and land use , other nations are buliding whole cities that look like something out of the 24th century http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masdar_City..which begs the question are American cities starting to fall behind,we cheer when ever anew sky scrappers are built , these guys are coming up with plans for whole new cities

The dis hearting part they are not just throwing up pics they are actually doing them Macar city and dozens of others already have building that are up, This is not to bash American cities this is to ask the question have we lost are edge, we use to push the envelope of designs , now I feel we just throw up building while impressive are far from ground breaking, NYC seems to be the only major US city still willing to go bold

Of course we've lost our edge. As countries like China, India, Brazil move more and more towards capitalism, we're moving away from it. Also the younger generations are lazy and have a entitlement mentality. They want everything easy and handed to them. Add on to that politicans who don't really do whats best for the country but pander to their political bases, thats what happens.

[MIBS98]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Coming from South America the first things I noticed is (1) lack of public parks (2) lack of architectural freedom.
Seems like politicians don't care about providing public parks and rather sell the land to any developer.

That varies city by city. Northern cities (not always) tend to be more well planned with parks, structure (for example Chicago's system of a perfect street grid with every 4th street being a major street), etc. They are older and more well established cities. Southern cities are much newer and have grown up very fast so tend to not have the same degree of planning, structure. You get a lot more sprawl, fewer parks, etc.

[Truth713]

Originally Posted by NYer75

We have so many major cities...how much more does anyone want? Texas has more major cities than most countries on this planet.

I think we're good.

No one is talking about building whole cities , we are talking about investing in bold projects something we use to do but backed away from over the last 30 years are so.I mmean really think about it when was the last time the US bulit something that really impressed,not just that city but the world