Quote:
Originally Posted by jd3189
Hey guys. So I was recently thinking about this as I increased my traveling around Southern California.
Much of the development pattern of LA, SD, and the other towns and cities consist of few high rise central districts surrounded by “seas” of low rise areas. This type of development, interspersed with the mountainous geography, reminded me of similar places in Mediterranean/alpine Europe, North Africa, the Levant, etc, in which you have dense low rise development with a few if any skyscrapers put against the topography of the area.
Thus, it came to my mind: Should California and other Western states follow the European model of dense low rise development in order to protect views and maximize their urban landscape?
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Western cities have an odd pattern. On average they are denser throughout but have relatively small cores and relatively tall burbs. where Eastern cities have hyper dense cores that spread out into near rural obscurity over a relatively short distance.
Due to, as you said, Geography, preserves, large government owned tracts of Trust lands etc you have moderately dense suburbs that end abruptly at farms or open land.