Do you think government forcing suburbs to be demolished is the only way to solve the "sprawl problem"? (Pittsburgh, buildings)
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Those of us in the suburbs don't want them retrofitted and urbanized. So, yes, the government forcing them to be demolished is the only way to "solve" the "sprawl problem".
I doubt those of you in the suburbs would want your suburbs to be demolished either though. What makes you think it would be easier for governments to demolish suburbs than to urbanize them?
I am on vacation in Las Vegas right now and there are some subdivisions that haven't sold any houses that were built and sit vacant, due to the housing bust in 2008. I think that at least those should be demolished. They sit unfortunately encroaching on places like Red Rock canyon.
I've already seen Youtube videos of urban planners calling to "return" suburbs to nature i.e. demolish them if they are not within 0.5 miles of a train station. I saw this one video where this woman went on to show how Atlanta should look decades from now, and it makes suburbs which are away from rail lines turn green (like demolishing and rewilding) so I do not believe it is that far from reality but it would take a massive reshuffling of property rights and political systems before that happens. So don't think that it isn't possible to demolish potentially thousands of suburban homes and return them to wilderness. Urban planners have already at this very moment thought of doing it over a period of decades, if they aren't within walking distance of transit lines. That video I saw presented the woman as showing a picture of metro Atlanta and these existing train lines extending from the city center, then she talked about "returning those places to nature" which were not within walking distance to a trainstop. The non-green areas of the map were suburbs/office parks/strip malls and the green were wilderness. She then flipped the chart and shown how Atlanta they wanted to look decades from now, and most of it was green (wilderness) where it wasn't before in the present day map. Scary stuff.
Last edited by JKFire108; 02-16-2012 at 07:18 PM..
Never going to happen;so why think about it. Moveemnt from inner city to suburbs have been going on since after WWII. Now with boomers retiring many more rural small towns are starting to boom since most do not have to think about employment.Actaully in mnay places the boom in stores to serve them and service are moving with them.That means as it increases services employees will move too.
Actually it was with the advent of the electric street car and the popularity of the automobile that suburbs began to pop up. This happened well before WWII.
Actually it was with the advent of the electric street car and the popularity of the automobile that suburbs began to pop up. This happened well before WWII.
Atually it was the advent of the steam-powered ferry, early steam locomotives and the horse-drawn streetcar. The difference was the level and magnitude of sprawl made possible--and the automobile (and the public-funded highway) made possible a level of sprawl that put all the rest to shame. So there was sprawl before the automobile, in the same sense that there was loud music before rock & roll--but that doesn't mean that Benny Goodman and Slayer played music at the same volume or intensity!
Atually it was the advent of the steam-powered ferry, early steam locomotives and the horse-drawn streetcar. The difference was the level and magnitude of sprawl made possible--and the automobile (and the public-funded highway) made possible a level of sprawl that put all the rest to shame. So there was sprawl before the automobile, in the same sense that there was loud music before rock & roll--but that doesn't mean that Benny Goodman and Slayer played music at the same volume or intensity!
A don't forget subway / rapid transit induced development!
Have you been to the Midtown grocery outlet yet? It's pretty decent. And yes, the western half of the central city does pretty much cry out for a grocery store. I'm still hoping that the old Greyhound depot gets turned into a medium-sized market, along the lines of Fresh & Easy or Trader Joe's.
As to "Why is anyone going to pay $4 for a half-gallon of milk when you can buy it for $1.40 elsewhere," the answer is "Because, in some cases, making the trip to 'elsewhere' costs them more than $2.60 in time and resources." Such as, for example, people who don't drive, or people in a hurry. Obviously, if nobody bought $4 half-gallons of milk, nobody would sell it for that price. Stores don't make money off merchandise that doesn't sell.
Specialty deli/market places aren't really places to pick up milk--they're a place to pick up specialty Italian olive oil or obscure Japanese candy or fresh Chinese vegetables.
And while some of the delis and convenience stores close up after lunch, others are open until midnight. And hey, if you're okay with convenience stores, there are two AM/PMs in the central city already, and a 24-hour 7-11 getting ready to open at 14th and J.
Have you been to the Midtown grocery outlet yet? It's pretty decent. And yes, the western half of the central city does pretty much cry out for a grocery store. I'm still hoping that the old Greyhound depot gets turned into a medium-sized market, along the lines of Fresh & Easy or Trader Joe's.
As to "Why is anyone going to pay $4 for a half-gallon of milk when you can buy it for $1.40 elsewhere," the answer is "Because, in some cases, making the trip to 'elsewhere' costs them more than $2.60 in time and resources." Such as, for example, people who don't drive, or people in a hurry. Obviously, if nobody bought $4 half-gallons of milk, nobody would sell it for that price. Stores don't make money off merchandise that doesn't sell.
Specialty deli/market places aren't really places to pick up milk--they're a place to pick up specialty Italian olive oil or obscure Japanese candy or fresh Chinese vegetables.
And while some of the delis and convenience stores close up after lunch, others are open until midnight. And hey, if you're okay with convenience stores, there are two AM/PMs in the central city already, and a 24-hour 7-11 getting ready to open at 14th and J.
That's one of the advantages to auto-suburbs. It only takes ten minutes and about 50 cents of gas ($1.50 using IRS mileage) round-trip to go to a supermarket. Generally I just do those trips on the way home so it really doesn't cost anything.
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