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I hear the US lags behind a lot of developed countries in infrastructure For those of you who have been to other countries, how was the infrastructure there?
I can certainly tell you the level of infrastructure in Australia and New Zealand lags much further behind compared to that in the US.
In terms of freeways, the US has one of the best if not best system in the world.
Public transit & rail systems, the US overall does a poor job, not only compared to the systems in Europe & Asia but also compared to the other Anglophone countries such as Aus & Can.
Plus the public mentality. I drive a Lexus SUV in my usual life in Northern California- However, on a recent trip to Texas I relied on public transport (which I often do when traveling) and even waited for a public bus. I swear people looked at me like I was an alien, standing at the bus stop by the Dallas Galleria.
Recently I was also taking the bullet train in Japan. Yes the relatively small size of the country, the population density, the acceptance of rail systems in the daily existence, are factors. No way anything of that scale can be ever achieved in the aspirations of California or Texas with their bullet-train dreams.
US airports generally have a terrible atmosphere compared to counterparts in other areas of the world. Many of the larger Asian airports consider "passenger experience"- something American airports leave at the door. Compared to Anglosphere counterparts, American airports also fall short based on my travels.
American cities tend to sprawl out a lot more than other world cities. Take a look for example at Demographia's list of worlds largest urban areas and look at the land area/density of U.S cities. They sprawl out A LOT and are a lot less dense than practical any other cities in the world. In order to serve such expansive low density sprawled out cities - you need expansive highways and road systems. That is also why, Mass transit Public Transportation hasn't caught on big in the U.S except for NYC - because of large sprawled out metro's that are much more car oriented as opposed to mass transit high density oriented infill.
You made me laugh with the bus stop thing. Are you sure it wasn't the pink dress you were wearing
Australia and Canada are much more comparable. When a country is huge and sparse, high-speed rail is simply redundant.
Canada and Australia are much more sparse than the U.S. Canada for example is larger than the U.S yet has 9X less population. If the you think the U.S is sparse than Canada and Australia are just on a whole other level of sparse. Canadian cities however tend to be more dense and PT oriented than their American counterparts. NYC is obviously a glowing exception in the U.S but at the same time, NYC is not the norm for an American city it is an outlier.
The U.S having a better/more extensive highway system than Canada or Australia is not surprising as one doesn't need to travel as far between populated centre's in the U.S as in Canada/Aus.
American cities tend to sprawl out a lot more than other world cities. Take a look for example at Demographia's list of worlds largest urban areas and look at the land area/density of U.S cities. They sprawl out A LOT and are a lot less dense than practical any other cities in the world. In order to serve such expansive low density sprawled out cities - you need expansive highways and road systems. That is also why, Mass transit Public Transportation hasn't caught on big in the U.S except for NYC - because of large sprawled out metro's that are much more car oriented as opposed to mass transit high density oriented infill.
You made me laugh with the bus stop thing. Are you sure it wasn't the pink dress you were wearing
Canada is no different then the US in auto oriented outside of your Toronto region and couple other larger cities..... including trolleys less found. NYC is forced to be more transit oriented. Car ownership is no lower in Canada and many suburban-like areas too. But true a city like your Toronto can boast building much needed rail, subway lines then US major cities. Some US cities merely add some light-rail trolley lines at best. Few US cities are building new heavy rail even. Some that have it pioneering it in NA have lines that are over 100-years old and still going strong like NYC, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia, (some getting upgrades as needed to add more decades still). DC, and SF have newer systems in place... but even they are decades old. NYC especially could really use a more fast-track of existing rail improvements. But then all US cities surely can.
Car use for travel outside of Canadian major cities cores is also just as high. Work commutes to cores are the key use of transit. Of course, there are a % who live car-free in Canadian major cities and still can in US major cities with some rail, trolleys and citywide bus coverage and especially these with heavy rail too.
Toronto merely is building the most transit as more high-rise dense living and virtually requires it in NA today. But clearly US cities have fallen way behind in mass transit building that is non-existent in many.
You did not even mention Toronto in your post to infer and stress that it's American cities that do all the SPRAWLING as if it is more of what infrastructure of the thread means the most about? Clearly it is part of it. Highways especially meant by infrastructure. Also Toronto and even Montreal are unique in a amalgamation of smaller cities make up the region and population growth merging them more and ... major corridors between them.
Most US northern major cities already had to rebuild their expressway network at least once. The interstate network had many originally built in the 1950s. They too had to be rebuilt already and maintaining them never ends. I see many Canadian plates on Trucking on north/south highways by me. Plenty autos with Ontario and Québec plates ..... though I will note less then previous years. Monetary exchange rates probably play a roll.
One of the US worst choices in infrastructure.... was lost heavy rail for transport of goods in favor of a Trucking industry the US Auto giants promoted in past decades. Trucking Big Rigs do more damage to roadways and infrastructure then ever. A moderate climate of winters with freezes and thaws continuously also does much. Also the Auto giants promoted the destruction in every US city small and large of having its full trolley coverage they all once had. Its hard to even imagine that the LA of the early half of the 20th century even, was a fully trolley coverage city. Once it was dismantled and the Ranch-style home on larger lots became the norm.... it became another city. Though clearly a huge built environment tat gors on forever....
Europe maintaining its own direction over emulation the US more ... was its best choice. Many counties outside of Europe did emulate the US car culture more. China is clearly the infrastructure building giant behemoth today. A Central government that can choose to build a brand new city from scratch even. China is clearly the new behemoth building new cities in less then a decade that took the US over a century to evolve. Europe having its many many century old cities clearly is in its own class too.
Canadians surely can boast their cities evolving to claim superior aspects in areas, or to lessen US cities for various reasons ... by showing it is no longer some underdog to the behemoth to its south.
As I always add .... Canadian major cites. Did NOT experience the declines as US major cities. Especially Northern US cities, by Racial major changes that had White Flight out of inner cities through the 60s and 70s. These declines still effect US cities. Some like Detroit have whole neighborhoods abandoned.
Who knows how .... driverless cars becoming standard in the future ..... will change our cities? Americans and Canadians .... still luv there SUV's and even Pick-up truck culture. That too is far less relevant in Europe. Some see even the Sedan passenger car becoming obsolete in NA.
There is still a ongoing shift of US population growth to its Southern half. That continues to effect the renewal process of northern US cities that has been occurring last couple decades especially. Social strife and a somewhat widening gap in the US of richer and poorer is a issue it is facing with a major racial component too that Canada still escapes, but Europe has had more of a migration in refugees in recent years that has this racial divide in degrees too. Corporate America as always .... steers migration of the population too. Milder winters clearly is a choice for some.
Most of my post is not addressing yours. But much my opinion. But history plays a roll in how US cities evolved vs how the larger Canadian cities like Toronto and Vancouver did especially last few decades of their arrival. I merely wanted to note stressing of the term .... SPRAWLING. Yes it is ongoing in especially fast growing Southern US cities. Compared to the fast growth in a couple Canadian cities. Clearly with Toronto as one. As you note..... reasons sprawl is more limited today by its choices and Vancouver has its topography as part of its choices too. You do infer Canada's cities do things better.... but OMG thank God you escaped the issues US cities gone through.
Again, the US continues to have social issues from illegal immigration by 10s of millions that even add up to the whole population of Canada it had to absorb. To racial tensions and disparity luckily Canada saw little of.
The US is vast and sparse, Korea and Japan are both incredibly dense countries. The comparison is pretty silly. The same goes for all other countries that have it.
China is vast, but its population size is far larger and the inhabitants are highly concentrated in the eastern part of the country. It's simply unreasonable to expect the US to build these railways. The probability of these projects being a waste of money is much much higher.
Australia and Canada are much more comparable. When a country is huge and sparse, high-speed rail is simply redundant.
The country is huge and sparse in certain areas like the Great Plains, the Rockies, Alaska, and portions of the Southwest. This means that a lot of the country's population is actually pretty decently concentrated in certain general regions that can have pretty good density and distances for high speed rail to work so what you're saying isn't entirely accurate though I agree Australia and Canada are comparable, but also in the way they they have vast expanses that are not so densely populated, but with certain regions where much of the population in concentrated just like the US. Certainly a Windsor Corridor high-speed rail line or a transnational Cascadia high-speed rail line can make sense for Canada as would a Melbourne-Sydney one possibly with a Canberra stop (Turnbull's government has a decently high chance of pushing this).
The problem is that the core urban nodes of US cities got heavily wrecked and depopulated in the course of the 20th century and are just now recovering and there is pretty crap infrastructure for travel within a city such that even if you did have high speed rail linking these nodes, you're going to be hard up getting around once you reach that city center. High speed rail isn't "redundant"--it's just not there and the US cities that could have used it have a lot of fixes they need to make in terms of local infrastructure.
Canada is no different then the US in auto oriented outside of your Toronto region and couple other larger cities..... including trolleys less found. NYC is forced to be more transit oriented. Car ownership is no lower in Canada and many suburban-like areas too. But true a city like your Toronto can boast building much needed rail, subway lines then US major cities. Some US cities merely add some light-rail trolley lines at best. Few US cities are building new heavy rail even. Some that have it pioneering it in NA have lines that are over 100-years old and still going strong like NYC, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia, (some getting upgrades as needed to add more decades still). DC, and SF have newer systems in place... but even they are decades old. NYC especially could really use a more fast-track of existing rail improvements. But then all US cities surely can.
Car use for travel outside of Canadian major cities cores is also just as high. Work commutes to cores are the key use of transit. Of course, there are a % who live car-free in Canadian major cities and still can in US major cities with some rail, trolleys and citywide bus coverage and especially these with heavy rail too.
Toronto merely is building the most transit as more high-rise dense living and virtually requires it in NA today. But clearly US cities have fallen way behind in mass transit building that is non-existent in many.
You did not even mention Toronto in your post to infer and stress that it's American cities that do all the SPRAWLING as if it is more of what infrastructure of the thread means the most about? Clearly it is part of it. Highways especially meant by infrastructure. Also Toronto and even Montreal are unique in a amalgamation of smaller cities make up the region and population growth merging them more and ... major corridors between them.
Most US northern major cities already had to rebuild their expressway network at least once. The interstate network had many originally built in the 1950s. They too had to be rebuilt already and maintaining them never ends. I see many Canadian plates on Trucking on north/south highways by me. Plenty autos with Ontario and Québec plates ..... though I will note less then previous years. Monetary exchange rates probably play a roll.
One of the US worst choices in infrastructure.... was lost heavy rail for transport of goods in favor of a Trucking industry the US Auto giants promoted in past decades. Trucking Big Rigs do more damage to roadways and infrastructure then ever. A moderate climate of winters with freezes and thaws continuously also does much. Also the Auto giants promoted the destruction in every US city small and large of having its full trolley coverage they all once had. Its hard to even imagine that the LA of the early half of the 20th century even, was a fully trolley coverage city. Once it was dismantled and the Ranch-style home on larger lots became the norm.... it became another city. Though clearly a huge built environment tat gors on forever....
Europe maintaining its own direction over emulation the US more ... was its best choice. Many counties outside of Europe did emulate the US car culture more. China is clearly the infrastructure building giant behemoth today. A Central government that can choose to build a brand new city from scratch even. China is clearly the new behemoth building new cities in less then a decade that took the US over a century to evolve. Europe having its many many century old cities clearly is in its own class too.
Canadians surely can boast their cities evolving to claim superior aspects in areas, or to lessen US cities for various reasons ... by showing it is no longer some underdog to the behemoth to its south.
As I always add .... Canadian major cites. Did NOT experience the declines as US major cities. Especially Northern US cities, by Racial major changes that had White Flight out of inner cities through the 60s and 70s. These declines still effect US cities. Some like Detroit have whole neighborhoods abandoned.
Who knows how .... driverless cars becoming standard in the future ..... will change our cities? Americans and Canadians .... still luv there SUV's and even Pick-up truck culture. That too is far less relevant in Europe. Some see even the Sedan passenger car becoming obsolete in NA.
There is still a ongoing shift of US population growth to its Southern half. That continues to effect the renewal process of northern US cities that has been occurring last couple decades especially. Social strife and a somewhat widening gap in the US of richer and poorer is a issue it is facing with a major racial component too that Canada still escapes, but Europe has had more of a migration in refugees in recent years that has this racial divide in degrees too. Corporate America as always .... steers migration of the population too. Milder winters clearly is a choice for some.
Most of my post is not addressing yours. But much my opinion. But history plays a roll in how US cities evolved vs how the larger Canadian cities like Toronto and Vancouver did especially last few decades of their arrival. I merely wanted to note stressing of the term .... SPRAWLING. Yes it is ongoing in especially fast growing Southern US cities. Compared to the fast growth in a couple Canadian cities. Clearly with Toronto as one. As you note..... reasons sprawl is more limited today by its choices and Vancouver has its topography as part of its choices too. You do infer Canada's cities do things better.... but OMG thank God you escaped the issues US cities gone through.
Again, the US continues to have social issues from illegal immigration by 10s of millions that even add up to the whole population of Canada it had to absorb. To racial tensions and disparity luckily Canada saw little of.
PT ridership in Canadian cities is higher than American cities except for NYC. I'm not saying Canada isn't an auto oriented country- it surely is but just not to the extent of the U.S. Canadian cities are also more compact and dense. That is a better combination for PT development than less dense and more sprawl. That is all I was getting at.
I'm not being judgemental here either - i'm expressing my observations. Why so defensive?
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In terms of China, it has expanded it's high speed rail system so quickly because there is no political opposition in a one party state, no public inquires and people are just forcible moved is they stand in the way of progress.
In terms of high speed rail, most countries just need good regional commuter rail in to their cities, and a few high speed or main lines.
PT ridership in Canadian cities is higher than American cities except for NYC. I'm not saying Canada isn't an auto oriented country- it surely is but just not to the extent of the U.S. Canadian cities are also more compact and dense. That is a better combination for PT development than less dense and more sprawl. That is all I was getting at.
I'm not being judgemental here either - i'm expressing my observations. Why so defensive?
I agree more or less, though it tends to depend on the city. Calgary sprawls quite a bit, yet it's metro only has marginally more people than the city proper. Outside of Toronto and Montreal, I haven't been too impressed with Canada's PT. I do like Vancouver's offering, but it's not expansive enough. Calgary's and Edmonton's remain lackluster, even after some of the more recent expansions.
Most of the discussion seems to be focused on transportation. What about other aspects of modern life?
In terms of broadband access and cellular access the US is definitely below par.
The US also tends to lag in the adoption of convenience technologies like making payment by phone, toilets that flush on their own, etc.
The tap water should be above average, as is the air quality.
Not sure about the electric grid and sewage system.
Most of the airports in the US don't compare favorably to even those of Third World countries.
Most US cities seem to lack public restrooms. Not a big deal for people who can afford Starbucks but annoying.
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