DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post

**EtellaObtaite** · 09-09-2010, 05:39 PM

You should separate intracity and intercity transportation.

Without him building these roads in the first place, would we have ever had the expanded development of the surrounding burbs to the extent they are now?

NYC, and those cities that existed before the automobile, expanded quite nicely with mass transit before cars took over.

The question would be, would any other figure have had the power and push to put ANY form of conduit through the already densely populated boroughs? The problem wasn't the method of Moses; it was his vision of cities.

Back to the original question though. What would NYC have been like w/o these ugly arteries? Would it have grown so readily after the wounds healed? Easy enough to answer. You don't have to go back too far to see what NYC was before expressways.

As far as intercity transport, you really can't fault anyone for highway construction. America outside of cities was still very rural, and railroads were in decline. Auto companies were a major component of the economy. A national highway system was the way it was done at the time.

As far as railroads turning a profit, the question should be asked: Does the interstate system, including construction and maintenance, actually turn a profit? Even if it doesn't turn a profit on a ledger, it has to be acknowledged that it's a component of productivity. So in the big picture, it is profitable.

My complaint is that we are not looking at a national high speed rail system with the same energy that we tackled the highway system over half a century ago.

09-09-2010, 05:39 PM	#49
EtellaObtaite Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 552 Senior Member	You should separate intracity and intercity transportation. Without him building these roads in the first place, would we have ever had the expanded development of the surrounding burbs to the extent they are now? NYC, and those cities that existed before the automobile, expanded quite nicely with mass transit before cars took over. The question would be, would any other figure have had the power and push to put ANY form of conduit through the already densely populated boroughs? The problem wasn't the method of Moses; it was his vision of cities. Back to the original question though. What would NYC have been like w/o these ugly arteries? Would it have grown so readily after the wounds healed? Easy enough to answer. You don't have to go back too far to see what NYC was before expressways. As far as intercity transport, you really can't fault anyone for highway construction. America outside of cities was still very rural, and railroads were in decline. Auto companies were a major component of the economy. A national highway system was the way it was done at the time. As far as railroads turning a profit, the question should be asked: Does the interstate system, including construction and maintenance, actually turn a profit? Even if it doesn't turn a profit on a ledger, it has to be acknowledged that it's a component of productivity. So in the big picture, it is profitable. My complaint is that we are not looking at a national high speed rail system with the same energy that we tackled the highway system over half a century ago.
	Quote