What do Chattanooga and San Jose Have in Common....

Both of them are slated to be the USA's first model 15-minute cities!!!

Two U.S. cities were chosen to participate in a global initiative to test new technologies and policies for a more sustainable and equitable cityscape. Also joining in the pilot project is San Jose, Calif.

I mean, how progressive

Chattanooga initiated its smart city work in 2010 when it became the first U.S. city to offer fiber optic internet throughout EPB's 600-square-mile service territory. EPB developed the high-speed broadband system as an outgrowth of its effort to build a smart, more controllable power grid.

governing.com

I guess we were all so busy thinking/fearing/etc Covid, this slipped under the radar....I sure missed it. That article is from 2020.

And this from 2021 in San Jose:

Development endeavors such as those proposed and being crafted by Google, the Westbank-Gary Dillabough team, Jay Paul Co., and Urban Catalyst could transform downtown San Jose into this kind of cutting-edge city.

Now, experts with Lendlease, a developer working with Google on several projects, and with SITELAB urban studio, a major urban design firm, are working on projects in downtown San Jose and other parts of Silicon Valley to make the 15-minute city a local reality.

www.mercurynews.com...

What made me do a search was finding this today.
www.americanthinker.com...

Imagine, if you will (tip of the hat to Rod Serling), a small American town in the mid-South, located on the banks of a major river in a valley surrounded by beautiful mountains. Two major interstate highways pass through the town, making it the major north/south crossroads east of the Mississippi River. Heavily industrialized after WWII, however, this town eventually had the “dirtiest air in the U.S.,” surpassing even Los Angeles for that dubious distinction.

In the 80s and 90s, the powers-that-be decided to clean up this city and make it into an attractive tourist destination. Using Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules, they gradually forced out the foundries and other heavy industries, ignoring the plight of those who lost jobs; after all, they were “saving the environment.” And sure enough, tourism became a major part of its economy; a fresh-water aquarium was built (largely due to the influence of one of those powers-that-be), and a hugely successful annual music festival drew a hundred thousand music lovers each summer, exposing them to the delights of this town.

Yes, imagine if you will......
What could possibly go wrong here?
Will there also be castles with moats and drawbridges for the gentry????

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

These will fail. And if we still have these clown governments that seem to control all of our major cities the failure of this project will be blamed on external sources. It will never be their own failure and the citizens of the cities suffering from the failures will side with their clown governments.

It will probably take complete devistation of our cities before people start to understand what a total mistake the "new" left is... And even then, they will still think that being a leftist is great and that all the failures come from the outside.

BTW, the new left are not socialist. They are corporatist. They agree with every major corporation and every mainstream media - because they are a cult. No one is allowed to question anything. Ever. We all know this, not even sure why I would say it.

One knows that it will bring the decline of its population. But they ( the planners won't sell it that way ).
Tokyo population is on the decline, why, well young people are tired of living in rabbit hutches and a concrete jungle.

Yeah, we just moved from nooga.
Best city in Tn...hands down.
That article sounds ridiculous.
The town was a gd eco disaster back in the day.
It was the most polluted city in the country in 69.
There were huge toxicity problems and to this day, they are removing and replacing lead soil all over town.
It is particularly bad near all the rail lines.
Tennessee Valley River Authority (I believe) Did massive work through there cleaning it up. Huge cleanup, dams, power plants etc.
They did an awesome job.
You aren't walking anywhere in nooga in 15 min either except maybe across the bridge by the aquarium.
Everything's pretty well spread out along the river and between the mountains.
A 20 min drive everywhere is definitely doable.
I still can't compare anything in nooga to there.
The 5g speed is fast in town. Installations contined through the vid situation.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

I'm not sure how I feel about 15-minute cities. In theory, it sounds like it could be quite practical, efficient and actually ideal for many people. Especially now that so much business can be handled online (though, unfortunately, not all!). But what works in theory doesn't always work in practice.

Back when I was young and single and broke, my car broke down, and it was a Godsend that I could walk pretty much everywhere I needed to go -- grocery store, drug store, bank, shopping mall, even a few good restaurants. I had to take the bus to work, but the bus stop was just on the corner, so easy enough. So it can be a good thing depending on circumstances.

This is assuming (of course) that no one will be forced to live there, and that no cities will be forced to convert to one -- both of which are entirely unacceptable.

I'm close to and visit Chattanooga regularly for various things. It will be interesting in a sad kind of way to see what might take shape. I'm definitely not digging this new progressive vision in any way at all. If that's where we're going, I'm getting off somewhere.

Which reminds me of something I'm wondering about as I see it on my way to tha' noog. A few years back my state put up dozens of miles of those steel cable barriers meant--they say--to prevent accidents from crossovers. Maybe that's the number one reason or maybe they're mean't to keep traffic moving one way only in the case of an ahem natural disaster. My tin hat is so shiny and new and a tad tight so maybe I'm just goofy.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

15 minute cities are pointless eco-capitalism.

They promise only redundancy, but need a massive bureaucratic special interest human centipede to get done.

The promises:

No one will have to go anywhere far and everything is eco-friendly, efficient, and quickly achieved. Everything you need within 15 minutes.

I say, let Saudi Arabia try it with their ridiculous Line, and then everyone can see how it worked out for them and their oil money.

The ideas aren't being put forth by people that live in a dense urban neighborhood. It already is 15 minute everything. The future of eco-friendly 15 minute world is here.

You can buy anything on Amazon. Never have to use your own fuel. Or leave.
You can take an Uber anywhere because parking is more expensive. Eco friendly.
Return home and order fattening food, which shows up 25 minutes later with a guy on an even more eco-friendly bike.

Then If you need to go to the airport.

Uber again. The guy has a plug-in hybrid and is Muslim as well. Now you're using earth friendly rideshare and supporting multiculturalism.

These idealized cities are locked in the past, where "city people" still go out for things. Or would use even cutting age public transportation or any of those 15 minute innovations.

originally posted by: Boadicea
a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

I'm not sure how I feel about 15-minute cities. In theory, it sounds like it could be quite practical, efficient and actually ideal for many people. Especially now that so much business can be handled online (though, unfortunately, not all!). But what works in theory doesn't always work in practice.

Back when I was young and single and broke, my car broke down, and it was a Godsend that I could walk pretty much everywhere I needed to go -- grocery store, drug store, bank, shopping mall, even a few good restaurants. I had to take the bus to work, but the bus stop was just on the corner, so easy enough. So it can be a good thing depending on circumstances.

This is assuming (of course) that no one will be forced to live there, and that no cities will be forced to convert to one -- both of which are entirely unacceptable.

It will fail. But yes, they will force this with the use of fines. They did in the UK. So basically people become prisoners. Don't think this will go over well with the general (non-prison) population.

a reply to: ancientlight

It will fail. But yes, they will force this with the use of fines. They did in the UK. So basically people become prisoners.

Interesting. Can you expand on this? Where did they try to enforce this? Any city or town names that I could check out further? Was there any kind of vote, or just "this is what we're doing and you're going to like it"? Were they experimental or test communities, with folks watching and evaluating and analyzing to find the weak points? And the strong points? Everything new has glitches to be worked out, but everything old can be usually be improved too.

I can easily see a forced community to fail, tho, because it's like herding fish. If the residents aren't up for the challenge, then they won't even try.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Chattanooga has a population of roughly 180K, San Jose over a million. It would seem if a 15 minute city is desired, you would start with a much smaller population and area. But maybe I'm wrong. After all NYC is the most populated city in the USA but also one of the smallest areas for such a large population. It just seems that NYC would kind of have that all figured out considering the population and space so maybe they've got ideas that can be copied.

I'm all for the 15 minute cities if that's what the majority want and it works for them. People who don't want them can move. But anytime the government is in charge it usually doesn't go well.

I think the idea of having access to needed and wanted amenities within 15 minutes any direction sounds great. Somehow not being allowed to leave that 15 minute zone however sounds like prison.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

So how exactly does this help poor folk?

Faster access to porn, or the dark net, for drugs/guns/etc???