Why is America is so much worse than Europe and Japan at public transportation?
>>973901
Your pick explains it
One third of the population of Europe in 1.5x the size
Car culture created suburbs and made public transport seem gross
Those that lived in inner cities were poor up until extremely recently
Only incredibly lately has there been forward progress in the barest of ways, but hope remains
>>973903
Car culture created suburbs? People just decided leave their cities between 1945-1965ish just so they could pay for a house and a car and gas? Seems like an awfully expensive reason just to take part in a "culture."
>>973905
this was explained in the walkable city thread
suburbs began because murkans are crazy about muh car and muh mcmansion
>>973901
Because america is many times the soze of either of those places, and its people arent as heavily concentrated in cities.
Do you really not know this or are you just a pathetic teenager with nothing better to do than start another regional hubris thread?
>>973901
Aside from the things others have mentioned, nobody here wants to pay taxes. Of the taxes we do pay, almost none of it goes to the state - most of our taxes go to our Federal government.
For public transit to really work in our society, it has to be privately owned public transit. Like the airlines, or the railroads in earlier times.
>>973973
yes but you still live in one state, you don't commute from california to oregon do you?
>>973977
Interstate travel is part of public transit, and yes, many people do go from state to state. I used to commute between wisconsin and illinois for work every day.
Regardless, your response doesnt address my other point that the american population is not as concentrated in cities as people in europe or japan.
>>973977
Our states aren't that small, and are generally broke because they don't collect much taxes, and what taxes they do collect either go to very generous pensions or are wasted on literally nothing. Here in Oregon, our state wasted around $200 million dollars on thinking about building a new bridge to Washington.
Pensions are another big problem for public transit companies, by the way, and it hampers them from investing in new equipment and new lines of service.
>>973973
>Urban population percentage of whole (2014)
United States: 81%
European Union: 75%
>>973905
Take it to /pol/ faggot.
>>973978
They were much more concentrated in cities until about 1945 and then the exodus from cities increased greatly after 1965. During this time small towns had functioning trolley systems. Why didn't this carry over to successful public transport. If it had, we would live much healthier, less atomized, and less environmentally impactful lives.
>>974000
I'm talking about transportation.
>>973956
But that is bullshit. One exit down culture is because of white people trying to get away from non-whites. Cities' rise and falls can be directly linked to policies like Section 8 and other urban "planning" that intentionally broke up white ethnic neighborhoods and led to white flight.
>>974026
This really shouldn't be controversial. Leftists should concede this reality as the obvious truth and admit that black "communities" are dysfunctional, but then blame it on white people oppressing them... somehow. Which of course is where the conversation inevitably goes after they realize they can't defend black neighborhoods.
I just think it's really sad and frustrating to see urbanites complain about how we can't be more European in things like healthcare, city planning, and public transportation, but then turn around and advocate the import of as many nonwhites as possible anywhere that is white.
You could probably significantly cut down on inner city crime just by giving everyone free air conditioning. High density living + noise + heat is a recipe for insanity.
>>974012
Those who would have benefited from roads and cars and all that goes along with it pretty much strong armed their way into being the main form of transport, honestly, in a very simplified way.
>>974109
Fucking apes always chimp more the hotter it is, true. Best case scenario, they're all in the fucking streets and shit blocking shit up.
>>973998
Not even true, USA is 81% urban at most
That leaves 59 million people in rural areas.
>>973998
If those stats are based on administrative boundaries, the us stats are going to be skewed beyond all belief.
>>973998
I'm assuming you're using the census numbers. "Urban" and "city" are not synonymous. A small town can be urban, and the census defines it as urban if it has 2500 or more people. Also there is no "suburban" category -- large urban areas are defined purely by density, irrespective of the actual development patterns within that area. It doesn't have much to do with the typical definition of "urban".
>>974000
>Take it to /pol/ faggot.
White flight was/is quite real. The /pol/ part is if it was justified or not.
>>974233
Not really, the point the guy is trying to make could easily be bullshit if the way the numbers are generated dont make sense or aren't consistent between sets.
>this whole thread
The answer is niggers, no more explanation is needed.
>>974246
But it doesn't matter one way or the other. The existence of suburbs was and the sad state of American public transport are connected, but they share the same root cause.
>>973901
because
public transport = muh communism!
>>974338
I won't say that Buckleyite (((conservatism))) didn't play a small part, but we still have Amtrak, and a lot of cities have large public transport systems, all of which are awful to ride on.
