Quote:
Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois
All that is built into the development. Basically everything from the overpass out gets passed on to the consumer, and the shiny new low maintenance, high efficiency infrastructure that now belongs to the city.
As you get closer to downtown, the infrastructure gets older and more costly, and less 'funded'.
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And who do you think pays for the roads to this magical place of yours? All the roads and traffic infrastructure that has to be built in order to support a suburban community stretches out the traffic budget and we are left with low quality roads. If we had a higher density city, we could all be enjoying more overpasses, less traffic lights, more C-Train legs etc.
The thing is inner city roads have to be maintained, but the chances are most of the citizens are using those roads anyway, even if you live in the burbs. These roads are vital to everyone, not just the people who live in those areas. However, only a very small percentage of the population uses the roads that are built in a place like Cougar Ridge, yet they still too have to be mantained.
The worst part of sprawl for a guy like me is not even the money factor. Suburban homes these days are just downright ugly, and it seems like the newer communities are getting even worse. Rows and rows of plastic siding and stucco, barren tree-less streets, and no variety whatsoever from one new community to another. The fact that they name these places Tuscany and Cougar Ridge is laughable. If they atleast had character in any way whatsoever, the suburbs could be bearable. But we don't even get that.