Sorry if this is too big of a question, but its one we need to answer and I don't have a fucking clue:
California is fucked. The last century of development is built around personal automobiles. Millions living in exurbs of course, but also so much of the basic infrastructure assumes you can drive. Parking spaces are more of a concern to citygoers than housing poor people.
So how do we convert the (currently unsustainable both economically and environmentally) urban sprawl into something better? Even if you tore down the 405 and made it a train, the basic layout of entire cities (arguably entire counties) would make train travel less practical. I want fully automated train communism, but I have no idea what the first step would be. Say I am a socialist mayor of a US city, what should my first steps be to make transportation democratic?
What do you mean by single-family zoning and rapid transit. It sounds like the latter is a highway/tollway? I am not actually a socialist mayor and idk shit.
Sorry if this is too big of a question, but its one we need to answer and I don't have a fucking clue:
California is fucked. The last century of development is built around personal automobiles. Millions living in exurbs of course, but also so much of the basic infrastructure assumes you can drive. Parking spaces are more of a concern to citygoers than housing poor people.
So how do we convert the (currently unsustainable both economically and environmentally) urban sprawl into something better? Even if you tore down the 405 and made it a train, the basic layout of entire cities (arguably entire counties) would make train travel less practical. I want fully automated train communism, but I have no idea what the first step would be. Say I am a socialist mayor of a US city, what should my first steps be to make transportation democratic?
Step 1: More bus service. 15 minutes or less on every major arterial
Step 2: Bus lanes. Spray paint them in at night if you have to and enforce them with cameras or Austin Red Guard
Step 3: Single-family zoning? It's done for folks.
Step 4: Public housing right next to all of the major transit corridors
Step 5: If your city is large enough for rapid transit, do that. If not, all your main bus routes should be made trolleybus routes.
Step 6: Congestion charge. Yeah, it's a bit neolib, but use that money to expand the transit network.
Thank you for the concise and direct answer.
What do you mean by single-family zoning and rapid transit. It sounds like the latter is a highway/tollway? I am not actually a socialist mayor and idk shit.
https://www.kqed.org/news/11840548/the-racist-history-of-single-family-home-zoning
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_transit
How large is large enough for rapid transit?
More like how dense is the city
Fair, how dense? I live in an area that is rapidly expanding and concentrating
The Soviets gave every city above 1 million a metro, but I would say 200,000 people is enough for a light metro.
Do note this is the ideal, in reality most cities don't get metros until they have at least 500,000 people or so
We're well on our way :train-shining: