r/geography • u/villehhulkkonen • 1d ago

La is a wasted opportunity Discussion

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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.

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u/Uncle-Cake 1d ago

Some people don't like dense metropolises. Are those are only two options, dense metropolis or sprawling suburbs?

The area I live in is suburban sprawl mixed with open areas, small towns, neighborhoods with lots of big old trees, plenty of parks, some farmland, woods, creeks, but also shopping malls and industry. To me, it's a great mix. I wouldn't trade it for NYC or LA.

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u/pragmojo 1d ago

I live in Berlin and imo it's pretty ideal - it's mostly medium density housing in mixed use neighborhoods with lots of stuff to do. And you're never more than a few blocks from a park. 20 minutes by bike and I'm in a straight-up forrest.

The only problem is it's flat as a pancake and you have to go pretty far for real untamed wilderness.

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u/fellacious 1d ago

I've just left Berlin after 5 years, and it's a great city. Perfect for cycling being so flat - I literally used public transport about 10 times. And the lakes where you can freely wild-swim are so gorgeous.

However living on top of each other in those apartment blocks with paper-thin walls is not for me. If you have space, like they do in the US, it's much more pleasant IMO to have your own house and garden, even if terraced.

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u/thrav 1d ago

This is basically why people like San Francisco. Everything you mentioned, just enough hills to be interesting, and tons of wilderness a stones throw from town.

If SF could add more housing and get anywhere near the affordability of Berlin, it would easily be the greatest city on earth. The only thing holding it back is how lifeless it’s become with a diminishing music and art scene.

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u/pragmojo 1d ago

Yeah SF is kind of fascinating because most cities get an art scene as they get bigger and richer but SF basically priced itself out of culture

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u/deerskillet 17h ago

Thank the NIMBYs!