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Thank the gods we live in such a car-saturated nation, how horrible it would be if this space was used to house people
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this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2024
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In Houston, though?
A lot of land that is otherwise economically valuable is necessary to use to enable the massive flow of personal automobile traffic between and through areas.
The land in Houston is economically valuable in part because of the developed transportation system. In a giant city like Houston with only single lane each way streets would grind the city to a halt immediately.
My point isn't that the city is poorly laid out - far from it. Highways are a symptom, not a cause. My point is that the reliance on personal cars creates these issues of traffic where massive highways like this which take up valuable space are the best solution - the best solution to a problem which does not need to exist, if you will.
My point isn't 'transportation bad', but 'Jesus fucking Christ public transportation in this country is fucked and leaves us with massive, gaping inefficiencies like this'.
It would be wonderful if our systems were separated so we could see direct cause and effect to make easy data driven objective decisions. Sadly that's rarely the case. Confounding variables abound.
You're looking at this interchange and presenting its existence solely to passenger cars, further, passenger cars for whom they could be replaced with mass transit systems. That's two very large logical leaps. Houston is a very large industrial city and that interchange likely serves a massive number of commercial vehicles transporting goods and services not only in the city of Houston but as a thoroughfare to other cities. Additionally, it is likely carrying a percentage of passengers in cars that can't be served by mass transit.
Even if you're aware of both of the confounding variables I listed above, your meme ignores them. Your audience views your message as either naive and uninformed or worse maliciously ignoring inconvenient factors that don't support your narrative. I don't believe either of those of you, but other that don't take the time to talk to you might.
Your points are very valid. I'd much prefer a stronger mass transit systems. Some cities are better than others. Others, like mine, have no light rail/metro rail at all, and I think that's insane.
If the space where that interchange is was actually valuable, someone would develop around it. Plenty of cities have development right next to highways and interchanges
I don't disagree with your position that the US has poor public transportation, but 1) these meme doesn't effectively (or even logically) make that point and 2) for the most part, US citizens have clearly rejected public transportation
I'm pretty sure highways are bad for value. Do you want to live next to a highway? Do you want a business next to one? They don't generate much foot traffic, which is important for economy and safety. They don't generate a lot of "oh let me stop and look at that cool shop" because you're on a highway. They're also ugly. And typically noisy and with poor air quality.
I think I remember this being discussed in some detail in "Death and Life of Great American Cities" and "The Power Broker"
Also most citizens didn't have a choice in their transit options. Further, a lot of people favor the current state even if it's bad.
There is plenty of development next to highways in this country.
You might be surprised to learn that many cities have highways going right through them.
Another crazy fact is that buildings can back up to highways, with pedestrian access on the front side to retail, commercial, and residential
You know, recently I was reading about how people change their minds. Turns out facts don't do it. Belief is too tied up in identity and social belonging. So I don't think I can change your mind no matter how certain I am that I'm right.
But I do invite you to read the books I mentioned. They're very interesting and critically acclaimed.