How Suburban Development Makes American Cities Poorer [ST02]

Not Just Bikes
3 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2021–2024
YouTube
1.2M views · 5 years ago · explainer · evergreen

An episode of Not Just Bikes' series on the ideas of Strong Towns. It argues that low-density suburban development brings in too little tax to pay for the roads and infrastructure it requires, leaving American cities poorer.

HN people link it as the short answer to why suburbia is costly and not sustainable, and as a reply to people who defend it.

“You need a lot of road per house.”
Urban design & public space
#suburbs#strongtowns#urbanism#notjustbikes#cityfinance

7 comments from Hacker News

r
@rglullis2024 · in “If we want a shift to walking, we need to prioritize dignity”
Holy shit, talk about reading things out of context. You, dear sir, have absolutely nothing in common with the average North American who lives in the suburbs. The question was not directed at you. If you want to at least try to understand the context before jumping to give your opinion and share with us your psycho issues, try watching ▶ this video
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R
@Rendello2021 · in “We’d rather have the iceberg than the ship”
Not Just Bikes is a great channel on urban development, and he did a series on Strong Towns' ideas specifically. I like this one, "How Suburban Development Makes American Cities Poorer". ▶ this video
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E
@ErikVandeWater2021 · in “Suburban Development Makes American Cities Poorer”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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g
@gaff332023 · in “Electric Vehicles for Everyone? The Impossible Dream”
The problem is that low density urban areas are subsidsed by high densisty urban areas: link ▶ this video etc They are also terrible for the planet.
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o
@ohples2021 · in “We mailed one hundred letters to test the postal service”
Yet another reason why suburbia is expensive and not sustainable ▶ this video
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a
@anonporridge2021 · in “Study finds ride-sharing intensifies urban road congestion”
It breeds efficiency and self sufficiency. Less wasted resources on virtually every metric. Suburbia on the other hand makes us all worse off. ▶ this video
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i
@imtringued2021 · in “Americans Don’t Know What Urban Collapse Looks Like”
That's a problem with suburbia. You need a lot of road per house. The tax money you receive doesn't cover maintenance. Even the worst city blocks bring in enough tax revenue to maintain their roads. ▶ this video
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