Imagine a space that is everything a suburbanite desires: Close to work, not far from the city's utility and infrastructure (without all that traffic) but also close to nature and parks. Linear City is less than a mile wide, putting you within walking distance from nature and everything else. Linear City is also a business and social hub, at every part of it, along the entire length.
Most cities separate and divide into subdivisions, putting them in contention for city resources. Most often a Sprawl City is forced to expand, simply to widen the tax base to afford infrastructure. As people and business migrate outward (compelled by Super Mart prices and an aversion to traffic jams), the inner city, facing perpetual budget crisis, crumbles apart.
Linear City surrounds a high speed transportation infrastructure that guarantees incoming traffic flow, the Interstate System. But because Linear City's length is maximized across this length of the interstate, there is minimal jamming of traffic. In fact, Linear City adds traffic capacity with an industrial frontage row adjacent to the interstate. Industrial Frontage is zoned industrial, perfect for efficient truck receiving areas, noisy manufacturing, storage facilities, and parking lots. This zone is also good for large Super Marts that demand interstate exposure. Simple code restrictions can improve the appearance and foot traffic access through tree lined avenues.
Linear City's next layer Condo Boulevard is the most important. This is a commercial and limited residential zone. The first floor is all store fronts and offices, very much like a typical mall setting, with security guards and a French Quarter style walkway. The upper floors are residential apartments and condos. These apartments will most likely be housed by students and young singles who cannot yet afford their own real estate. At a generous 2000 sq ft per apartment, there is room for 400 occupied apartments per floor level per linear mile. With 3 people per apartment, and an average building height of 5 floors, a population density of 6000 people per linear mile can be achieved. Because retail leasing will likely fulfill the building's rent income , it will be much more affordable for upper level dwellers to rent. This area represents affordable living with the security demanded of an indoor mall setting.
The next row in is reserved for churches, schools, and parks, including game fields, auditoriums and theaters. Schools remain small and accessible, not gridlocked every morning and afternoon. But the heart of this row is the freedom of foot traffic. We have the population density to allow it. There is a storefront across the street. Every intersection has speed bump stop signs to slow down the automobile. This is the Parkway, a tree lined delight, with bike and jogging path. Notice that the heavy noise of the interstate and industry is blocked by the condos. Also note a greater enthusiasm to use a mode of transportation powered entirely by self esteem.
As we approach but don't encroach the countryside, half a mile from the interstate, a 10 minute walking distance, we find Townhouse Row. This is a series of no less than 3 rows of high quality residential with shared courtyards. With street parking and garages, there is ample space for affluent vehicle drivers to occupy up to 3 story townhomes. The population density is smaller here, but we find that the total density in Linear City approaches 10,000 per linear mile. This number reveals a particular strategy.
It costs 100 million dollars per mile to build a high speed train system. Dividing $100,000,000 by 10,000 occupants, we find a cost per resident of only $10,000. This is competitive with the cost of an automobile. High speed rail is extremely affordable when paired with Linear City. With a bullet train in place, one can omit the long distance car, opting instead to walk, bicycle, or drive a neighborhood vehicle to the station. The hour commute to the perfect job 300 miles away can be spent safely relaxing or checking email rather than raging in traffic.
If the country as a whole invested in 3 Linear Cities, linking the west to the east, we could find an interesting situation. Across 6,000 miles, 60 million people could find a new affordable living space. Currently in our devastated economy we have a 130 million homes existing, 18 million of which were unaffordable and foreclosed. The high number of foreclosures makes it hard for the construction industry to invest in new construction, especially with bankers responding by restricting their lending practices. Almost no one wants to believe that the value of their homes has declined now that the illusion of the bubble has popped, but this propped up value is what was securing second mortgages and equity loans. Instead of giving $700 billion (half the federal budget!) to failed bankers to line their pockets, with no guarantees of trickling that money back into the economy, $700 billion could have funded the entire yearly salary of 5 million carpenters and contractors 3 times over. (Total unemployed in US is 11 million) What would you have them build? Linear City! Why? Because with the housing industry back to work, that money trickles back into the US economy with local US sourced materials and continues to revive the economy.
How does the surplus of new housing from Linear City affect the housing industry as a whole? Most of the foreclosures that won't move are either wrecks or are so inefficient and distant from work that they are simply not viable. Linear City uses highly manufactured building processes to build remarkably efficient structures paired with convenient transportation infrastructure and within an affordable distance from utility. Because Linear City rejects the use of overpriced real estate, the price of its units can profitably create a niche market for affordable housing, directed at young adults who have been edged out of the ability to own a residence by the escalating real estate bubble and consequential lender lock down. The conventional housing market would continue to languish on its own, and shrink to fulfill its correct audience, the rich and affluent, who need no daily commute to work and can afford to leave the lights on.
For decades we have pursued the idea that our home is the most valuable asset to invest in, and with that contention it has become fraught with the perils of investor enhancements. An investor's home need only provide a space for rest and a myriad of decorations. An investor's home is contingent upon dressy parasitic enhancements that continue to drain the owner's resources away from them. A true home should offer permanent structure, efficient heating/cooling, reliable communications, energy manufacture, and production of food, without prohibitive distancing from urban centers.
One thing to note about the construction in all of Linear City... it is all permanently constructed concrete, a high quality and long term investment... and with Calera's carbon negative formula, it is also an ideal construction element for the environment. The manufacture of this material literally absorbs emissions from coal or gas fired electric power plants. Some additional features for all buildings:
*Integrated structural solar cell panels as roofing material
*Grey water systems feed into greenhouses, lawns, or water storage reservoirs
*Mass adoption of incinolets eliminates the bulk of black water and sewage treatment facilities
*Ductless integrated electric radiant heating and insulated concrete panel construction eliminate the bulk of heating fuel expenses
*Computer controlled LED lighting climate control and alarm system through your home computer monitors efficiency and reports safety
*WiFi everywhere and fiber optic wired network for everyone
*Storm proof and earthquake resistant structure will last thousands of years
Most cities separate and divide into subdivisions, putting them in contention for city resources. Most often a Sprawl City is forced to expand, simply to widen the tax base to afford infrastructure. As people and business migrate outward (compelled by Super Mart prices and an aversion to traffic jams), the inner city, facing perpetual budget crisis, crumbles apart.
Linear City surrounds a high speed transportation infrastructure that guarantees incoming traffic flow, the Interstate System. But because Linear City's length is maximized across this length of the interstate, there is minimal jamming of traffic. In fact, Linear City adds traffic capacity with an industrial frontage row adjacent to the interstate. Industrial Frontage is zoned industrial, perfect for efficient truck receiving areas, noisy manufacturing, storage facilities, and parking lots. This zone is also good for large Super Marts that demand interstate exposure. Simple code restrictions can improve the appearance and foot traffic access through tree lined avenues.
Linear City's next layer Condo Boulevard is the most important. This is a commercial and limited residential zone. The first floor is all store fronts and offices, very much like a typical mall setting, with security guards and a French Quarter style walkway. The upper floors are residential apartments and condos. These apartments will most likely be housed by students and young singles who cannot yet afford their own real estate. At a generous 2000 sq ft per apartment, there is room for 400 occupied apartments per floor level per linear mile. With 3 people per apartment, and an average building height of 5 floors, a population density of 6000 people per linear mile can be achieved. Because retail leasing will likely fulfill the building's rent income , it will be much more affordable for upper level dwellers to rent. This area represents affordable living with the security demanded of an indoor mall setting.
The next row in is reserved for churches, schools, and parks, including game fields, auditoriums and theaters. Schools remain small and accessible, not gridlocked every morning and afternoon. But the heart of this row is the freedom of foot traffic. We have the population density to allow it. There is a storefront across the street. Every intersection has speed bump stop signs to slow down the automobile. This is the Parkway, a tree lined delight, with bike and jogging path. Notice that the heavy noise of the interstate and industry is blocked by the condos. Also note a greater enthusiasm to use a mode of transportation powered entirely by self esteem.
As we approach but don't encroach the countryside, half a mile from the interstate, a 10 minute walking distance, we find Townhouse Row. This is a series of no less than 3 rows of high quality residential with shared courtyards. With street parking and garages, there is ample space for affluent vehicle drivers to occupy up to 3 story townhomes. The population density is smaller here, but we find that the total density in Linear City approaches 10,000 per linear mile. This number reveals a particular strategy.
It costs 100 million dollars per mile to build a high speed train system. Dividing $100,000,000 by 10,000 occupants, we find a cost per resident of only $10,000. This is competitive with the cost of an automobile. High speed rail is extremely affordable when paired with Linear City. With a bullet train in place, one can omit the long distance car, opting instead to walk, bicycle, or drive a neighborhood vehicle to the station. The hour commute to the perfect job 300 miles away can be spent safely relaxing or checking email rather than raging in traffic.
If the country as a whole invested in 3 Linear Cities, linking the west to the east, we could find an interesting situation. Across 6,000 miles, 60 million people could find a new affordable living space. Currently in our devastated economy we have a 130 million homes existing, 18 million of which were unaffordable and foreclosed. The high number of foreclosures makes it hard for the construction industry to invest in new construction, especially with bankers responding by restricting their lending practices. Almost no one wants to believe that the value of their homes has declined now that the illusion of the bubble has popped, but this propped up value is what was securing second mortgages and equity loans. Instead of giving $700 billion (half the federal budget!) to failed bankers to line their pockets, with no guarantees of trickling that money back into the economy, $700 billion could have funded the entire yearly salary of 5 million carpenters and contractors 3 times over. (Total unemployed in US is 11 million) What would you have them build? Linear City! Why? Because with the housing industry back to work, that money trickles back into the US economy with local US sourced materials and continues to revive the economy.
How does the surplus of new housing from Linear City affect the housing industry as a whole? Most of the foreclosures that won't move are either wrecks or are so inefficient and distant from work that they are simply not viable. Linear City uses highly manufactured building processes to build remarkably efficient structures paired with convenient transportation infrastructure and within an affordable distance from utility. Because Linear City rejects the use of overpriced real estate, the price of its units can profitably create a niche market for affordable housing, directed at young adults who have been edged out of the ability to own a residence by the escalating real estate bubble and consequential lender lock down. The conventional housing market would continue to languish on its own, and shrink to fulfill its correct audience, the rich and affluent, who need no daily commute to work and can afford to leave the lights on.
For decades we have pursued the idea that our home is the most valuable asset to invest in, and with that contention it has become fraught with the perils of investor enhancements. An investor's home need only provide a space for rest and a myriad of decorations. An investor's home is contingent upon dressy parasitic enhancements that continue to drain the owner's resources away from them. A true home should offer permanent structure, efficient heating/cooling, reliable communications, energy manufacture, and production of food, without prohibitive distancing from urban centers.
One thing to note about the construction in all of Linear City... it is all permanently constructed concrete, a high quality and long term investment... and with Calera's carbon negative formula, it is also an ideal construction element for the environment. The manufacture of this material literally absorbs emissions from coal or gas fired electric power plants. Some additional features for all buildings:
*Integrated structural solar cell panels as roofing material
*Grey water systems feed into greenhouses, lawns, or water storage reservoirs
*Mass adoption of incinolets eliminates the bulk of black water and sewage treatment facilities
*Ductless integrated electric radiant heating and insulated concrete panel construction eliminate the bulk of heating fuel expenses
*Computer controlled LED lighting climate control and alarm system through your home computer monitors efficiency and reports safety
*WiFi everywhere and fiber optic wired network for everyone
*Storm proof and earthquake resistant structure will last thousands of years