Large cities are like black licorice. The people who like them, really like them, but most of us think they're kind of gross.
But that's not what I'm seeing in the market, I'm seeing recruiters tell me for another 10k I can have the privilege of moving to the NYC or The Bay.
Americans start conversations with assumptions like:
* We need space because all amenities must be privately owned at home
* You should be able to drive everywhere
* 30 minutes driving is the same as 30 minutes on transit
* Street walking & biking are unsafe hobbies, not modes of transport
* The average American city is a representative city.
It's impossible to have conversations with someone who starts from these base assumptions.
Given that cities are uniformly more desired in the rest of the world, the American city hate has to do with deliberate actions that stripped-out cities from 1950s-2000s. In other countries and cities insulated from these changes, the criticisms fall flat.
Yes and no. Much of the world does a better job with their cities than the U.S., and as a result there is a little more demand for that type of development.
But overall, preferences are shockingly similar across cultures.
Anywhere people have the means to afford automobiles, they tend to buy them and increasingly embrace a suburban life style, at least at an aggregate level. If you look at new construction in places like Western Europe or China, a lot of new development is very similar to what you see in the U.S., with a bit of local flavor thrown in.
Suburban lifestyle can only exist in a world where urban areas already exist. They rely on the city-dwellers to create the experiences, entertainment & economic hubs. Then suburbanites separate themselves from the city, reducing geographic inflow and tax outflow, while demanding equal access to all of those amenities. It's a one-way street.
Cities around the world are becoming wise to it. Can't have your cake and eat it too.
Amenities like free parking for all, wide streets, downtown interstates & property taxes based sequestering defined the 1950s-2000s suburban chokehold. As a result, city dwellers experienced suburbanite imposed forced misery. With the return of bike lanes, traffic calming, interstate removal and congestion pricing, city dwellers are beginning to reclaim the city for themselves. Or so I hope.
