Sgt_choke_n_stroke comments on high speed rail go brrr

[–] Sgt_choke_n_stroke@lemmy.world 23 points 3 years ago (4 children)

Did you completely ignore the US highway system built in the 50s, that created a car dependant infrastructure?

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[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 years ago (2 children)

Cool and what has been done lately? Infrastructure seems to just be crumbling cause nobody wants to pay to fix anything.

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[–] Moneo@lemmy.world 6 points 3 years ago

Infrastructure is crumbling because highways and roads are fucking expensive to maintain and suburban sprawl doesn't bring in the tax revenue to fund it.

Look up the growth ponzi scheme by Strong Towns. North Americans were duped and scammed into an untenable situation and we're going to spend the next half century reversing all the damage done.

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[–] Nyssa@slrpnk.net 0 points 3 years ago

Nobody does maintenance in authoritarian regimes, either. It's not a priority under any governance system

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[–] Nyssa@slrpnk.net 4 points 3 years ago

Highways were constructed in regions with sparse populations or in urban areas with little political power (primarily black and Latino neighborhoods). Basically, areas where democracy didn't have to function because there was no democratic power to block it. Whereas nowadays, with higher levels of democracy (unequivocally good) and local control (more of a mixed bag), massive infrastructure projects are harder to accomplish. Plus, the 50s had the benefit of a booming postwar economy and the national cohesion (at least among enfranchised Americans).

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