XPost: ba.transportation, alt.planning.urban, misc.transport.urban-transit   
   From: stang@iweb.net.au   
      
   George Conklin  wrote:   
   > "Aidan Stanger"  wrote...   
   > > 'Tis not my own issue, I was responding to someone else's claim, and   
   > > unlike several other participants in this thread, I can see both sides.   
   > > However, your claim that "Freeways -saved- what could be salvaged from   
   > > those urban cores locked in a death spiral" is highly dubious. Just   
   > > because some of the urban areas were in a bad condition doesn't mean   
   > > they were in a death spiral. Urban renewal has also occurred in areas   
   > > without freeways. And don't make the mistake of assuming that just   
   > > because people in a few places couldn't wait to get out, that was the   
   > > case everywhere - many people fought against the freeways and lost.   
   > > > >   
   >   
   >    Just look at where people live.  They have not lusted to move back into   
   > the city of 1880.   
      
   Some people live in the old urban cores, others live in suburbs, still   
   others live in rural areas. Unlike you, I don't assume everyone shares   
   my own preference for the suburbs, and nor do I dismiss the views of   
   minorities as insignificant.   
      
   George Conklin also wrote:   
   >     The problem is that downtowns were a temporary feature of early   
   > industrialization.  Before that era, cities were cellular in nature.   
      
   Before early industrialization, cities were much smaller, so I'm not   
   sure what you mean. Do you regard a small city with a few villages   
   outside it as "cellular"?   
      
   > They have reverted to being cellular, with jobs, residences and   
   > business locations spread throughout the a region.   
      
   That's true to some extent, but downtowns still have a very important   
   role. While it's not so important for the staff doing low value work,   
   companies do want as wide a catchment area as possible to recruit high   
   value staff from. Therefore they situate their offices in the places   
   that have the most people within commuting distance, which means the   
   places with the best transport links.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)