Quote:
Originally Posted by R3ALTAWK718
The issue is not area, you can have success in a dense area. The problem is the infrastructure is not on par with the population, nor is the economy.
Imagine a dense Puerto Rico where the vast majority of the population reside in densely populated urban areas in Spanish inspired apartment buildings and multifamily townhomes. All built with public transit in mind: subways, light rail, street car, bus systems, bike/car share. Imagine complete walkability similar to NYC, Tokyo, or any number of European cities. Well preserved natural resources such as rain forest, and a booming pharmaceutical and tourist industry.
This would have been Puerto Rico if the Spanish held on to it long enough to avoid the suburban sprawl.
Instead we have a sprawled out Puerto Rico, with a dependence culture thanks to a lack of jobs and as an end result violence. Pollution on the rise and a gov't that can't seem to get anything done, or done right (Tren Urbano). Just wait until Peak Oil hits hard and gasoline rises to $15 bucks a gallon.
A population decrease is a God sent but a sign of the problems on the island. If PR does not change things will only get worse. Unfortunately people don't want change, they think things will stay the same forever.
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while your vision isn't a bad one it seems unlikely that there's much truth to the claim that would be what happend if spain held on. in all likelihood, spain's civil war and subsequent dictatorship would have made Puerto Rico independent...so it seems a fate more like the Dominican might have been in store. FWIW--the pharmaceutical industry was brought there by the Americans. The american presence has been a mixed..it has brought some good things and some bad (no one can argue the US pays attention to the needs of Puerto Rico and it's ongoing subsidies have led to an island of welfare undermining the island's identity and self respect, IMO. that said, I do think san juan could have abetter transit system, ponce is very underutilized but even with modest population loss you could see urbanization while lowering population in rural areas that would benefit the island. the government does need to encourage such development but it also needs to encourage entrepreneurship..setting up a business in PR is a nightmare...as is building. it doesn't have to be that way and it's under local control.
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