One of the biggest arguments against density is crime. Is their any correlation or direct relationship between crime and increased density...all other factors equal?
Breed, It's not because you have to put it somewhere dense enough to support it, you need to build with walking primarily in mind to begin with! Retrofitting subruban development to work with a human walking scale will be awful. Just as it is awful to retrofit auto scale development into a walking scale area.
Dude, I'm cheesing so hard right now.
Originally posted by boiker
Crime becomes a problem when you have a dense empty space. Places that are active, regardless of density, generally do not have crime.
Any kind of retrofitting is to be avoided, I would think. Ultimately, isn't that what the planning profession is about? Thinking things through so you don't have to fix them down the road, because it's exponentially cheaper to do things correctly the first time.
The European transportation model (meshing pedestrian/automotive/mass transit seemlessly) is not possible in most of the US. Because much of the development in this country is based on automotive transit, which is inherently low-density, the economics of trying to implement mass transit on a scale that would be conducive to an European transportation model would make funding for such a project virtually impossible.
Sure, new development can be designed with this new focus, but you still have a century of retrofitting to tackle in order to make it work.
Hello,
One thing that Europe excels over the rest of the world especially the USA is most European countries have good comprehensive energy policies that tax gasoline and put that money into good pubic transport. Outside of big cities in the USA most public transportation are buses and considered a direct subsidy to the poor, no kidding. Just ask any city council person say in Boise Idaho. So, urban areas are more energy policy open than rural areas which are very dependent on fossil fuels and cars. In France for instance the public transport is pretty good even in rural areas.
I am from the USA and have lived in a Paris suburb for 8 years. Paris is a center city of 2 million (total 12 million with the suburbs) that the metros or subways go until the city limits. The Suburbs are mostly connected by train called the RERs here. There are also RERS through Paris. The difference is that the metros are in the city proper and the trains go everywhere and out to the suburbs. There is also an extensive bus system. From city to city and also intercity. A gallon of gas is about 9 US dollars here. Every time I hear all that whining I want to point that out. Oh and since the mention of trains the SCNF trains go to the rest of Europe.
My opinion of Paris suburbs. Well, it depends on the suburb. I don't think they are violent by American standards. Most normal down towns in the USA I would be more fearful for my life at night than in a Paris suburb for the fact that they don't have handguns here. Also, some suburbs are new and modern built since the last 30 years and others are hundreds of years old and just that fact makes the buildings older etc. Also, the building standards are different in Europe than in the USA. Buildings are concrete block walls and made to last.
I don't know how to begin to describe the differences in construction but its really different.
Lastly, the suburbs are suburbs in the sense that the city of Paris is more fun and international and the suburbs more boring and less to do, more a place to sleep to go to the city to work etc. So, like all suburbs its less exciting. Although it is a trade off to buy a less expensive place. Prices are crazy high here. Also renting is totally different, three months notice, nothing in an apt not even a sink and toilet in some cases so very different than the US for renting most foreigners go through an agency and rent temp places. The suburb I live in is nice I live by a big green space and we go walking by the lake a lot and have a back yard which is not that common in France. Its a lot different than living in Paris.
Chris
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