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0 pointsFirmwarrior3y ago0 comments

What government is trying to force more density? Please let me know so I can move there.

The closest I can think of is Tokyo, where the zoning laws are basically set by the national government. In the USA, the local landed gentry can easily block any new development/increase in density, which is a big part of the reason we have so much sprawl*. In Japan, all you can do is shake your fist and write an angry letter to your congressman while developers throw up a 4 story apartment complex next door.

The result is that you can get a job as a janitor in the heart of downtown, and comfortably afford an apartment nearby. A tiny apartment within 10 minutes, or a larger and more spacious one 20-30 minutes away, or a house if you're willing to put up with a 90 minute commute.

* Yes, I know that a lot of the sprawl comes from people wanting houses, but a lot of people just want a place to live close to their job, where they can change out their sink or repaint their walls without asking some rich prick for permission

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em-bee3y ago

china's cities are growing and creating more density. i don't know if that is forced though, or simply demand from people who prefer to live in the cities because there are more opportunities there.

but look at any city with a growing population.

vienna for example is growing rapidly in the last two decades, after a slow decline of its population for almost a century, and it's interesting how the city addresses that growth with sufficiently dense housing. a whole new suburb is being built on a green field (literally) for 25,000 people and 20,000 jobs (not a bedroom community where everyone is commuting into the city), and that addresses only a fraction of the growth so elsewhere the city must be growing in density too.

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em-bee3y ago

china's cities are growing and creating more density. i don't know if that is forced though, or simply demand from people who prefer to live in the cities because there are more opportunities there.

but look at any city with a growing population.

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