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/toxiccalienn 1d ago

Sadly like many other cities in the US, walk ability is an afterthought. I live in a moderately sized city (400k+) and walk ability is terrible half the streets don’t even have sidewalks

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u/Throwaway392308 1d ago

That's not quite right. Many if not most cities in the US were built with strong input for the automobile industry, who wanted to make them actively hostile to walkability. It's all intentional.

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u/Wandrng_Soul 1d ago

And the tax local governments get from gas, that’s some extra incentive to keep roads hostile to pedestrians

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u/Significant_Turn5230 1d ago

I can't imagine that holds half a candle to just gas profits. No one working for the city makes more money if the city makes more money, they're detached bureaucrats... until someone private starts making money on a given policy.

Lots of folks act like politicians get paid from taxes, and it's wild to me.

The cities are car-centric because the most inefficient system possible is the most profitable.