Are you opposed to your city being "built up?" (suburb, compared)

[engineman]

My brother in law lived most of his life in Manhattan. I remember him commenting that he had only been mugged 3 times.

I don't need urban living.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by engineman

My brother in law lived most of his life in Manhattan. I remember him commenting that he had only been mugged 3 times.

I don't need urban living.

Sounds like your brother in law was either unlucky, lived in a bad area, or lived in Manhattan back in the 80's and 90's.

[darkeconomist]

Originally Posted by engineman

My brother in law lived most of his life in Manhattan. I remember him commenting that he had only been mugged 3 times.

I don't need urban living.

1) Anecdotal. No supporting evidence to back up the urbanity=crime assertion. If anything, some of the most prolific drug producing areas have been suburban and exurban.

2) Then don't live in an urban environment. Most of the country isn't urban, so you have a lot of options to choose from. But don't disparage the alternative and the choices of others based on anecdotes and hearsay.

[NOLA101]

Originally Posted by engineman

My brother in law lived most of his life in Manhattan. I remember him commenting that he had only been mugged 3 times.

I don't need urban living.

Anecdotes are useless. I could claim my cousin was mugged in Clearwater 30 times, what does it matter?

The fact is that high density NYC is much safer than low density Clearwater.

[verybadgnome]

Did not grow up in Texas but have noticed a lot of old timers here have a borderline phobia in regards to density. You will hear condo developments referred to as "packing them in like sardines" and higher density single family neighborhoods where you can reach out and touch your neighbor's house. To a lot of these folks the ranch, e.g. King Ranch near Corpus Christi, is the ideal form of property that someone can aspire to.

I think the big change in all this will be spurred by land prices in urban areas; more urban amenities; and a new generation's new attitude that is more flexible than the Xs and Boomers.

[NickB1967]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

Did not grow up in Texas but have noticed a lot of old timers here have a borderline phobia in regards to density. You will hear condo developments referred to as "packing them in like sardines" and higher density single family neighborhoods where you can reach out and touch your neighbor's house. To a lot of these folks the ranch, e.g. King Ranch near Corpus Christi, is the ideal form of property that someone can aspire to.

I think the big change in all this will be spurred by land prices in urban areas; more urban amenities; and a new generation's new attitude that is more flexible than the Xs and Boomers.

Substitute "a new generation's new finances that are more impoverished than....",


and "a new generation's new marriage prospects that are much less stable than...."

[TheTimidBlueBars]

I long for Reno to be more built up. Way too many low-density housing developments off arterial roads at the outskirts of town, too few centrally located apartments, which is creating one of the worst wage-to-rent ratios in the country.

[Nattering Heights]

I expect most cities will eventually reach a sustainable middle level of density. No skyscrapers, just 3-5 stories tall in the downtown, surrounded by rowhouses and houses. The size of the population is limited by the food supply. Distance from farmland and cost of transport are becoming greater factors. The suburbs are starting to decay into slums. How much suburbia is not too polluted to be farmland again will appear later.

[tijlover]

They're finally building up downtown Tucson, and a light rail line has been of help, but it's too "young" yet move there. As so many cities have built up, often forgotten is something so simple as a grocery store for its pioneering residents. I moved to DT Minneapolis in 1989, and I still had to drive 3-4 miles to a grocery store. Following the build up of DT Minneapolis, over the years, a grocery store didn't arrive in DT Minneapolis until 2007.

Here, in Tucson, I'm midtown and I have 2 big grocery stores to walk to and 10 restaurants, and if they want to build up around me here, no complaints as I'm not a NIMBY but an IMBY, In My Backyard!

But I'm all for any downtown area being built up. Too many people insist on having a lawn and a house, but how many actually use their yards, particularly here in Tucson, where green grass is such a rarity and too expensive to have.

[That_One_Guy]

Originally Posted by emcee squared

It is unlikely any other US city will ever resemble New York. The density there is outrageous for American standards. I do want my city to become more dense and urban, but in the right places. Areas around current transit nodes and close to the job centers are prime candidates for mass urbanity.

Yeah not sure why so many people in this thread seem to think that “built up” = literally Manhattan. Like there is no possible in-between. No other city in The US will ever have anything that built up. We don’t even have anything comparable to The Bronx, Brooklyn, or Queens — let alone Manhattan.