• Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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    3 months ago

    The worst part is that there really is a lot of habitable land but it would require employers to make a big push for remote jobs (wink wink federal and provincial governments)

    Sure winter is colder up north but even 50km North of the major city centers the land is empty…

    • MindTraveller
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      3 months ago

      Or the government could just build trains out to there.

      I saw a picture of a train station in China that had been built in the middle of nowhere. Stairs from the subway leading up onto a grassy field. The Americans all laughed at China for it. Then I saw a picture of that same train station five years later. It was in the middle of a metropolis. China has so much housing that there are entire cities sitting empty. Now, if a country with two billion people can manage that, Canada has no excuse.

      • jerkface
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        3 months ago

        I would think twice before repeating things I think I know about China from a picture I saw on the Internet

      • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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        3 months ago

        Yes, a very real city with very real residents, and definitely not a mostly-unfinished facade designed to keep the real estate bubble from popping. /s

        No wait, it’s just an example of a station not in the middle of nowhere.

      • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Then I saw a picture of that same train station five years later. It was in the middle of a metropolis. China has so much housing that there are entire cities sitting empty.

        When an entire city is sitting empty, there won’t be scandals over, say, stolen concrete and other embezzlement meaning that buildings are less reliable than they should be, maybe lacking elevators while having them on paper, or plumbing, or heating, or what not, or the city plan being impractical for the actual situation of many people living there (bottlenecks for transport and pedestrians alike or something like that).

        Also the place where it’s been built may just not be feasible to live in.

        People in the West are very gullible to fairy tales, like calling a despotic cleptocratic bureaucracy “meritocracy” and expecting it to lack the downsides of what they are used to without lacking the advantages.

        But this

        The Americans all laughed at China for it.

        was, of course, wrong. Even if the state does nothing about it except selling land and permits for construction, a working train station in some place allowing to get to a big city reasonably fast would very soon mean lots of life around it.

        It’s human, some things decay, other things take their place to decay later, and so on.

        It’s not as much about names and political ideologies as it is about power of various groups and principles.

    • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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      3 months ago

      I mean, there’s lots of land for the cities to continue sprawling into as well, at least in the west, not to mention tear-downs and brownfields for infill. The bottleneck is actually just building stuff.

      • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        Sure, but we need to have people on our territory as well… And let’s be realistic, most people want space and it’s beneficial to people’s mental health to not be stuck in super dense living conditions… More small cities with all services available would be a great thing (I’m saying that as a person living in a small city of 7k with all services available).

        • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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          3 months ago

          Sure, but we need to have people on our territory as well…

          Why? Most of the stuff it does that’s useful works as well, or better, in isolation. Trees and crops growing, and nature being spectacular, mainly.

          And let’s be realistic, most people want space and it’s beneficial to people’s mental health to not be stuck in super dense living conditions

          I mentioned sprawl, so that does still leave room for more low density.

          That being said, I don’t know that it is universally better for mental health. If by “super dense” you mean Kowloon city, sure, but lots of people live in apartments or townhouses and are fine with it. Conversely, not everyone enjoys yardwork, and if you have a single home with a yard you need to do that, unless you’re okay with landscaping in the form of wasps and skunks living in a dense patch of possibly-invasive weeds.

          More small cities with all services available would be a great thing (I’m saying that as a person living in a small city of 7k with all services available).

          Eh. It works for some people, but maybe you need something - anything - somewhat niche. Career, hobby, social, health…

          Gay? You’re mostly fucked. Need a specialist? Fucked. Into reenacting Roman battles? Fucked. Want a job besides welder at the local shop, trades or low-level retail? Fucked. Although I guess remote work would fix some of that. Want to buy something at night? Fucked.

          You’re covered if all you want is groceries, fast food, booze and (shortages aside) a family doctor, but as someone from an even smaller place, it’s very limiting and young people tend to leave.

          Also, that many small cities would be a bit of a transport problem. You basically couldn’t have freeways; it would be all local highways. Where would you put the big airports? Would they have their own town? Without those you get to take the scenic route 1000km+ to whatever or whoever you need to see in person. Or charter a private plane, I guess.