The great city flop

[simmax 0]

I think that Tour Montparnasse, in the heart of Paris, is really out of place : a 210m - high tower next to 7-storey buildings, that can be seen from half of the city. The tower itself is quite nice, though - but it would have looked better with other skyscrapers. Also, in Lyon, the Fourvi

[obliq 0]

Orlando, Florida...

I don't live there so I am probably writing out of turn, but this is what I observe. Orlando Proper is only about 115,000 people. A small city. The metropolitan area is topping about 850,000. Most of the people live in the county.

Being a major tourist destination, Orlando was in dire need of limited-access highways around and through town. I guess they couldn't get the money from the federal government because every single one of them (except I-4) is a toll highway. There are now plans in the works for two more toll highways to the coast and an "upgrade" of a state highway to collect tolls.

Despite the fact that I-4 receives federal funding, Orlando wants to implement a toll on the only FREEway in the area.

Orlando Proper does not have the tax base to support several limited-access highways and it looks like the county and other communities around the city aren't pulling their weight either.

[jeeper 14]

Don't forget the total flop that has been the Los Angeles Subway system. People there complain about traffic nonstop, yet only a very small percentage of commuters will use the subway that runs into the city center. Californians are way to addicted to their cars.

[hamsterTK 93]

Don't forget the total flop that has been the Los Angeles Subway system. People there complain about traffic nonstop, yet only a very small percentage of commuters will use the subway that runs into the city center. Californians are way to addicted to their cars.quote>

That subway is really nice. Im sure in the future it will pick up with more riders with new development. Besides, i saw lots of people riding on it. It didnt seem floppish at all.

[iDavid 2]

When Cincinnati never finished it's subway system. The subway tubes were finished and the was half way complete, ending in Norwood. Now most of the space that the above ground portion would have taken up is freeways. The first of a chain of failures in mass transit for Cincinnati.

A whole site on the subway can be found here.

[spa 970]

I checked out that link on Cincinnati. That's nuts. Imagine building those tunnels and then never using them. You would think that sometime over the last 80 years someone would have decided that since the tunnels were already there, using them would be rather cost effective. Evidently not... although it seems the city's voters scuttled one such proposal in the 90s. That's the problem with American cities, they give too much control to the voters who actually show up to vote (a small and unrepresentative and generally wealthy portion of the population) through propositions. The average voter that actually shows up to vote in civic elections are likely to vote down reasonable plans because of the threat of tax increases without considering the bigger picture. It's not all their fault though. Part of the problem is that often times all voters know about  a proposition is the potential for tax increases sometime down the road while the other side goes unrepresented, unknown and unargued. Too bad as Cincinnati has a great opportunity sitting right below it just waiting to be put to use.

[zane900 1]

What I like about New York City, is their transit system. Yes, at night I prefer to ride in a cab after reading all those stories of assults in the subway, and, I have to admit that they could be a bit cleaner, but think about it. These maraculus subway and bus systems knew york city's busses per day. Not only that, but their system is SO large. Their subway system has the most stops of any subway system in the world, and they have the second most track of any subway system in the world. New york is one of the largest scities, yet, you can get ANYWHERE inthat humongus city if your simply willing to walk about 4 blocks at the most, on the subway or the bus.