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I am amazed every time I go to NYC. Amazed by how many homes have bars on their windows. Some of the bars are stylish. They all look like a prison to me. I couldn't and wouldn't live anywhere where I felt so threatened to need bars on the windows and multiple deadbolts on my doors.
Rural life for me. I do want high speed trains and I do enjoy visiting cities.
I agree with you on the pure convenience of city life. The sheer variety is amazing. In the town closest to me there are 2 gas stations and a restaurant. The next town has more, but its the same.
NYC is one of the safest major cities in the U.S, Also if everyone lived in the city, then their would be city parts that had the crime rate of suburbs, (NYC already has this TBH). I generally prefer denser cities as it encourages healthier living, and more aesthetically pleasing but their needs to be a balance.
Last edited by NigerianNightmare; 12-31-2017 at 09:01 PM..
If the people wanted high speed rail the cost wouldn't be insurmountable.
But they don't......
We're too married to our cars and the freedom and independence they bring to care about high speed rail.
Not true regionally. We spent the money on the Military Security Machine, the Medical (double the price) deal and other overpriced stuff.
At the very minimum, a 1400 mile HSR straight down the east coast would be heavily traveled. So would one from NYC/Phila/Bos to Chicago via Pittsburgh. You can't get to Pittsburgh from the east coast without spending an entire day or more.
I'm sure eventually a real HSR from Vancouver to San Diego would be well attended.
Believe me, driving in traffic...or even driving over about 3 hours....is not "fun" or "independent". It is horrible.
Don't forget that the Chinese were instrumental in building our rail infrastructure in the 19th century, for the same reason.
Irish and Civil War Vets built the 1/2 from east to west......
Chinese labor is no longer cheap. What they have is:
1. The Will to do things - big things - meaning they look to the future.
2. A government that has the power to make decisions and carry them out - not like ours (ACA, etc.) that takes 2 steps ahead and then 3 steps back.
3. The engineering to do the job right and with a minimum of labor. Believe me, they aren't using picks and shovels these days.
4. Basic agreement among the population that they want these things.
We have NONE of these advantages, which is probably who their version of a "benevolent dictator" type of government is going to smoke our corrupt plutocracy.
The reason we have AMTRAK is because the railroads were losing their collective shirts running passenger trains. They wanted out and they got out. We don't need another government run boondoggle.
I've always seen high speed rail service as an un-needed redundancy to airplanes.
Exactly. Years ago, PSA was a "commuter airline" in California. It was far better than any high speed rail system.
There is no advantage to rail. You still have to get to the station, or from the station to your intended destination. And with rail, your still talking about short distances. I doubt there will ever be a need for high speed rail from San Diego to San Francisco, for example. Air travel is much faster.
China built 22,000 km (14,000 miles) of high speed rail in about 8 years, accounting for 65% of the world total, vastly transforming the rail transportation in the country. The US so far has built none, and one argument is that it is too expensive.
Admittedly it is much cheaper to build HSR in China than in the US. For China's case, it cost about $340 billion.
According to the world bank, it is 1/3 cheaper to build HSR in China than in developed countries. Let's say US cost is even higher and is three times as much. To build the same network it would cost US taxpayers $1 trillion.
Sounds expensive? Not really. During the same time China was building HSR, the US spent $2.4 trillion in the Afghanistan and Iraq war alone, enough to build the Chinese network 2.5 times.
Yet people still think it is too expensive to build high speed rail in the US, even in the densely populated coastal areas.
It is just unbelievable that there is not an outcry over such wasteful taxpayers money on foreign wars while not investing in the outdated infrastructure. For those who think "we have cars and planes, and we don't need the damn high speed rail", come on. That's just provincial because you have never taken a high speed rail.
If YOU want it, write a check to the fed to pay for it and get some more who think like you to do the same.
DON'T ask me for money.
Keep in mind PRIVATE money built our existing railroad system.
No reason why it cant be done today.
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