La is a wasted opportunity

[u/villehhulkkonen]

Imagine if Los Angeles was built like Barcelona. Dense 15 million people metropolis with great public transportation and walkability.

They wasted this perfect climate and perfect place for city by building a endless suburban sprawl.

[u/Krazdone]

This sounds like someone who has never been to LA. "Perfect Climate"? LA was built on practically desert with billions needing to be invested in water infrastracture to support the population.

And yes, shocker, the city that developed in tandem with the growth of the automobile and the oil industry is a car-centric city.

Im all for dreaming, but there is a reason why Barcelona is the way it is, and LA is the way it is.

[u/villehhulkkonen → u/Krazdone]

Yes this happened because of automobile and oil industry. Everyone knows that.

The point is, that the result is terrible.

[u/Krazdone → u/villehhulkkonen]

If it wasn't for the oil industry, Los Angeles would NEVER be the city it is today. The only reason there are people in the area is because LA was an early epicenter for oil drilling. Without it, LA is a small town.

Furthermore, 2 of the United States biggest ports are located in the US, the two biggest on the west coast, both of which exceed the port of Barcelona in terms of cargo volume. Something like 70-80% of imports from Asia to the US pass through one of those two ports. You simply aren't able to have shipping of that volume without car-centric infrastrcture.

I love the idea of walkability. It was a huge shock moving to America from a place where no one in my family owned a car. That being said it pisses me off to no end when people dont understand that a lot of things that worked in Europe wouldn't work in America.

[u/Magneto88 → u/Krazdone]

You’re more than able to have large ports without car-friendly infrastructure. There’s plenty in Europe. It’s only the port facilities and connection to the motorway system that needs to be car friendly.