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When all or most of 3 million of them have had the experience of an alternative lifestyle outside of a microstate which is car dependent, then you'd have satisfied my slum analogy. Get back to me then.
I was speaking about personal choices, the exercising of choices and how philosophically I was musing, all that "choices and non choices" is tied to place of birth which isn't something one chooses, all that I've said in my first post. Reread if you didn't get it.
Well yes, of course not all prefer it, but most are happy with their MRT, it suits Singapore. Whether they like Singapore overall is another question...
Many Singaporeans have come to Perth...there are pluses and minuses to either lifestyle. I've heard differing opinions.
In most American cities you don't really have a choice not to own a car. It's not really practical.
What are the limitations to expanding the city of NYC? Please advice, I'm interested.
Car ownership is the most expensive in Singapore, because of government taxes, which are there because of lack of land for the future.
The high costs of land in cities with higher land value named are not because of lack of land, logical lapse. They are first tier alpha cities and have been established for a much longer time, with much more old money.
Well farmland, for a start. While not absolute, many want to keep the rural or semi-rural nature of it. Plus they want to keep parts of Long Island how it is.
No, lack of land is not the only factor, didn't say it was.
Well yes, of course not all prefer it, but most are happy with their MRT, it suits Singapore. Whether they like Singapore overall is another question...
Many Singaporeans have come to Perth...there are pluses and minuses to either lifestyle. I've heard differing opinions.
In most American cities you don't really have a choice not to own a car. It's not really practical.
They're "happy" with something that suits something they're basically forced to live with. If you say they have a choice to choose between many different types of cities and even have a country to choose from, and remain where they are, sure I'll buy it. I agree with you that such a set up necessitates mass transit. That doesn't mean the people there have a choice to say they like it. Do you get it? It's not even a Sophie's choice.
If so many who are currently suffering it are happy, why did you have ANY cases of those that went to Perth and sought some sort of greencard?
Americans who are curious about that lifestyle can move to NYC. Americans have options. It's a birth privilege, like car ownership.
You grossly over estimate yourself. Nobody cares about you to "check up" on you. You post about USA related topics so much that I HAVE seen others calling you out for your questions they find odd or being forced to tell you repeatedly what you believe is incorrect and that maybe it's because you don't live in the US. I even remember a few posts where American posters were pressed to ask you how much time you spent in the states.
You can't stop anybody from feeling sorry for anybody else. This isn't North Korea.
Telling someone you feel sorry for them who are happy the way they are is condescending. I'd be rather annoyed that someone feels sorry for my lifestyle. Do you realize the first paragraph has nothing to do with the thread topic?
Try putting a thread on the NYC forum saying I feel sorry for you who have to take the subway every day. Some will agree because they don't like the subway. Most will be "who is this #$% out of towner criticizing our city?"
They're "happy" with something that suits something they're basically forced to live with. If you say they have a choice to choose between many different types of cities and even have a country to choose from, and remain where they are, sure I'll buy it. I agree with you that such a set up necessitates mass transit. That doesn't mean the people there have a choice to say they like it. Do you get it? It's not even a Sophie's choice.
If so many who are currently suffering it are happy, why did you have ANY cases of those that went to Perth and sought some sort of greencard?
Americans who are curious about that lifestyle can move to NYC. Americans have options. It's a birth privilege, like car ownership.
Different people want different things. Many Brits move here for the space and the weather, many Aussies move there for the history and the culture, it's a two way street.
Many in S'pore love it there, some don't. There are also more employment opportunities here. It's not all about that.
Well it's not that easy...not everyone can live in NYC, the cost is prohibitive to many. Car ownership a privilege? You still have to be able to afford it. Many poor Americans can't, actually. Like the poorest.
Well farmland, for a start. While not absolute, many want to keep the rural or semi-rural nature of it. Plus they want to keep parts of Long Island how it is.
No, lack of land is not the only factor, didn't say it was.
If the population of NYC increases steadily, it will expand into farm land. The history of American city development over the last 200 years or so has proven it so I thank you for your concern for NYC and am pleased to dispel your false notions due to ignorance. Long Island is already part of NYC metro.
NYC metro extends all the way to Connecticut, so don't worry about the states getting stingy with it.
Lack of land is the main factor for most of the peculiar things that happen there which happens nowhere else. The car tax is just one of the many phenomenon caused by it, their peculiar housing development is another. I've spoken to people from there who do this for their living.
Your data supports my observation on Americans and cars. If the car ownership for both cities is roughly the same, but the car commuting rate of Tokyo is much lower, it shows that even in the densest city of America, Americans use their cars MORE than than a city that's also very dense and has identical car ownership rate. This is in in spite of the fact that the subway of NYC runs 24 hours a day, the Tokyo subway does not. If there was any city in the world where seriously, residents really did not need a car it's NYC yet NYC car ownership is much higher than other dense cities, and car user-ship higher, so it's pretty obvious. The fact that mass transit ridership of NYC isn't higher actually surprises me because of a few more factors. Tourists for example, would use the subway and wouldn't be driving. And NYC has the world's highest numbers of tourists anywhere in the world. The fact that NYC is the only subway system that runs 24 hours is another factor.
The transit ridership in NYC isn't higher because the system is rather radial, in the outer boroughs unless your destination is not along the line or in Manhattan it's generally rather slow to take transit. And some parts of the outer boroughs aren't that well covered by transit. Still the drive to work is rather low, about 22%. Tourists aren't measured in transit commute obviously, so that's irrelevant. I'd argue a number of largeEuropean cities have transit that's better than NYC.
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I'm quite aware of what traffic gridlocks are like. I used to commute to Chicago downtown by car daily from the suburbs. It's preferable for me as I get to sit comfortably in my own property. My car is mine and I know how much I've cleaned it and who has ever used it - nobody else. I use my car to store lots of stuff in the trunk I need for the road including dress shoes to change into and jackets. I also have a problem sharing my space with a lot of people if enclosed. Density and hygiene are related, and it's not a joke. I literally fell sick after I caught germs from a subway car one week into moving to a high density city from the US. After I recovered I fell sick again three more times in two months. My body probably wasn't inoculated to the bacteria in the air and the density like the locals are.
Ancedontal. I've been in NYC many times and it's never made me sick. There's no little correlation today with density and health, perhaps you could dig up statistics to show it (today, not historically). Plenty of people don't have your preference or hang-ups about sharing space, and are comfortable with it. No need to feel sorry for those who are used to it and don't mind. One of my parents commutes to work by an hour-long train ride and will do so till she retires. It never ocurred to me to feel sorry for someone who does something just because I'm not used to it.
If the population of NYC increases steadily, it will expand into farm land. The history of American city development over the last 200 years or so has proven it so I thank you for your concern for NYC and am pleased to dispel your false notions due to ignorance. Long Island is already part of NYC metro.
NYC metro extends all the way to Connecticut, so don't worry about the states getting stingy with it.
Lack of land is the main factor for most of the peculiar things that happen there which happens nowhere else. The car tax is just one of the many phenomenon caused by it, their peculiar housing development is another. I've spoken to people from there who do this for their living.
Well yes, of course...developers usually win out over farmers.
Well those rich people living in the Hamptons probably want to preserve their country estates. Of course I'm aware most of Long Island is part of the vast NY metro.
Well yes, of course...developers usually win out over farmers.
Well those rich people living in the Hamptons probably want to preserve their country estates. Of course I'm aware most of Long Island is part of the vast NY metro.
NY is more than the Hamptons.
There are still tons and tons of unused land in MA outside Boston, in Somerset , Warren and Sussex counties in NJ, in Connecticut, and in upstate NY.
Actually there's still tons of land left in New England lol. I just realized. It's even sparser than the Midwest.
Thank you for your concern.
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