Urban sprawl

"Just Jeepin'" (macintux) 08/31/2020 at 17:58 • Filed to: Everything’s bigger in Texas

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Interesting comparison popped up on social media between Houston and a small town in Italy, that evolved into an article on texasmonthly.com and into a spirited discussion on Hacker News that led to one comment in particular with an  impressively-detailed look at the evolution of American cities.

( Whew that was a long sentence, if it even qualifies as one, which I don’t think it does.)

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https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24335559

facw > Just Jeepin' 08/31/2020 at 18:08

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Houston’s sprawl is disturbing, but to be clear Siena is bigger than pictured there, which is just the town center within the medieval walls:

I loved visiting Siena though!

For Sweden > Just Jeepin' 08/31/2020 at 18:18

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Infrastructure for a world city is the same size as an entire town with less than 3% of the population

Makes you think

wafflesnfalafel > Just Jeepin' 08/31/2020 at 18:22

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everything is bigger in Texas

Spanfeller is a twat > Just Jeepin' 08/31/2020 at 18:25

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Did I go look for that intersection on google maps?

Yes. what a dumb question...

It means that Sienna’s city center would need a population density of 40,348 people per square kilometer to make that claim true...which I find absurdly optimistic. For context, Mexico City’s purpose-built Tlatelolco neighborhood originally had a capacity for 12,000 apartments in 0.95 sqkm.... that’s a density of around 38,000 people if you consider three people per apartment.

I mean, Sienna is Medieval city, while Tlatelolco was an ambitious housing project with more than 102 buildings. As much as Texas’ urban sprawl is indefensible, think the claim is pretty exaggerated.

Actually, according to wikipedia, Sienna’s population density is of 420/sqkm... I know one shouldn’t compare the city’s average density to a neighborhood... but come on, that number’s the guy on twitter is arguing is just silly.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Just Jeepin' 08/31/2020 at 18:50

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If I visit again, I’m going by horse...

Spanfeller is a twat > facw 08/31/2020 at 18:52

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The two pictures do represent around the same area (trust me, I checked) I just can’t fathom 30,000 people living inside such a limited space; specially considering all of the very old structures.

Shit, I went so deep into this rabbit hole that I found the population of Siena as reported by the Italian census... they divided it into ages and people who are married or not.

Yikes. the youngest married person has 19 .... the youngest divorced person has 27 !

Jb boin > Spanfeller is a twat 08/31/2020 at 20:00

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420/sqkm is very low, maybe the city is mostly touristic and residents are a small percentage of the population.

As a comparison, my city has a density of 8700/km² an d Paris density has 20 755 /km² .

Spanfeller is a twat > Jb boin 08/31/2020 at 20:41

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I guess it includes the countryside. I actually dug a bit deeper and 30,000 in that space is not that ridiculous... It’s very dense, much denser than what a medieval city would achieve realistically, but I could imagine 15,000 or even 20,000 people living in the city center. 

newnamesameme > Just Jeepin' 08/31/2020 at 22:17

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Suburban and exurban sprawl have broken this country. Totally unsustainable and just induces demand for more highways which induces more traffic and so on and so on.

Siena is a lovely little city situated in a beautiful area. What ppl in this country don’t get is that you can be as densely populated as Italy or France and A: pack for more ppl into areas than we do and B: still have lots and lots of open/rural areas.

France is basically the same size as Texas and has like 35 million more ppl and France doesn't feel crowded unless you're wandering certain neighborhoods in certain towns. Anyway, sorry for the long reply. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Just Jeepin' 09/01/2020 at 09:32

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Houston has no natural features to impede its sprawl.

Stef Schrader > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 09/01/2020 at 11:03

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h-tine tear  it diiiiine

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Stef Schrader 09/01/2020 at 11:14

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Does Austin have a rivalry with Houston, or is that more reserved for San Antonio?

Did you interview with Elon yet? =)

Stef Schrader > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 09/01/2020 at 11:16

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Houston and San Antonio are cool. It’s Dallas that sucks. 

Also, I need a full-time job, but I also value my sanity. Hard pass. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Stef Schrader 09/01/2020 at 11:27

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Haha - good to know.

Yeah, that question was made purely in jest. Maybe a Tesla-adjacent company, though?

Stef Schrader > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 09/01/2020 at 11:47

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Eh, IDK. We’ll see what pops up, I guess.