Reined in by cost and a hostile president, California ponders next move to clean its air pollution

Apart from incredibly dense urban cores, the population density across North America is incredibly low compared to almost any other nation, except maybe Russia, Greenland and Iceland.

Additionally, cities are designed for automotive traffic, and the cost of redesign to solve that problem is prohibitively high, meaning it likely will never happen. Even in dense urban cores who seem to benefit the most from the infrastructure, the negative association of public transport with poverty and subpar service brings little appetite for people who already own vehicles to ask for trains/busses.

Then, on top of all of that "Not In My Backyard" (NIMBYism) is incredibly prevalent among wealthy neighborhoods, because most upper-middle class investments are in property values, using their home as collateral for loans. These actions to bring greater accessibility with more dense housing may lower their property values, which will lead to their hostility as well.

TL;DR: Too many people stand to benefit economically or structurally from the existing system to bring change for the collective.

4 comments

Decrease the need to drive, neighborhoods should be walkable with amenities close by.
Why do we in north America think its normal to drive a hour through congestion and traffic to simply get milk.
- Apart from incredibly dense urban cores, the population density across North America is incredibly low compared to almost any other nation, except maybe Russia, Greenland and Iceland.
  Additionally, cities are designed for automotive traffic, and the cost of redesign to solve that problem is prohibitively high, meaning it likely will never happen. Even in dense urban cores who seem to benefit the most from the infrastructure, the negative association of public transport with poverty and subpar service brings little appetite for people who already own vehicles to ask for trains/busses.
  Then, on top of all of that "Not In My Backyard" (NIMBYism) is incredibly prevalent among wealthy neighborhoods, because most upper-middle class investments are in property values, using their home as collateral for loans. These actions to bring greater accessibility with more dense housing may lower their property values, which will lead to their hostility as well.
  TL;DR: Too many people stand to benefit economically or structurally from the existing system to bring change for the collective.
Tax gas to the point that it is double the cost that it is now.
California's residential electricity rates are on the order of twice the norm for the contiguous United States. Bring those down, and using electric vehicles will be more appealing.