The future of vehicle designs? Your thoughts & ideas.

[ecofreak]

Hopefully, the future of transportation is actually smart real estate. I hate the idea of commuter suburbs, locking your kids up in a labyrinth of cul-de-sacs, relying on expressways to get to school. It's pathetic when the nearest restaurant from your neighborhood (if you could even call it that) is over 30 miles away, and even then it's a big box restaurant that serves inoffensive junk.

People should buy houses at least in hopes that their job is reachable by public transport. The crisis is way out of hand already.

[kach22i]

I'm an architect with a strong background in Urban Design, I've even designed (and it was built) what they now call a sustainable neighborhood. One of the recent lectures I attended contained some surprising information. The speaker claimed that this next decade 2/3rd's of all new buildings will be in urban areas, building up as they call it. The other 1/3 will be suburban and rural.

This will be an inverse to what has been happening the last 60 years or so. However, it is a return to the expansion and increasing density of cities, a 10,000 year old pattern.

What is old, is new again. The post WWII growth pattern anomaly is over.

Cities with mass transit, elevators, and walkable streets are the most energy efficient means of living, or so the experts tell us.

The Millennials raised in the boring suburbs want the action an excitement cities offer, and the smaller (often childless) households they have (and will have), have little need for lawns and other suburban things (such as cars).

And if you don't think the best and the brightest haven't been gearing up for this transition, you haven't been keeping up.

Example:
3D Solar Towers Could Prove 20X More Effective Than Flat Panels
http://www.architizer.com/en_us/blog/

The application and usage of flat solar panels has ballooned in the last decade, but MIT researchers have proposed a more efficient model in harnessing the sun’s energy. The team constructed scale models of three-dimensional solar photovoltaic towers, comprised of a series of panels configured in a zig-zag form capable of capturing the sun’s rays at all times of the day, from the early morning to light fall. This increased exposure yields a greater and more uniform production of electricity in amounts 2 to 20 times larger than those generated by flat panels with comparable footprints.

I don't know about you, but those mini solar towers above look suspiciously like scale buildings to me.

[Big Dave]

Living close to work sounds great but what happens when the job goes away? It happens all the time, you know.

[Frank Lee]

It would be interesting to know if that happens more often than people opting for 50 mile commutes on purpose.

[RunningStrong]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

It would be interesting to know if that happens more often than people opting for 50 mile commutes on purpose.

Ever considered that people chose where they live for better reasons than a short commute?

[Frank Lee]

Sure. But they better not whine about gas prices when they built there life around the notion of cheap fuel forever.

[RunningStrong]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Sure. But they better not whine about gas prices when they built there life around the notion of cheap fuel forever.

Fair.

[Tango Charlie]

If I'd have moved within bicycling distance for every job, I'd have moved eight times in the last ten years (and I didn't change careers). Not a fun proposition. The days of long-term, stay-till-you-retire employment are a bygone for many people. If you have it, count yourself extremely blessed.

The car of the future will be of one body style, mandated by the government. It will be issued to the people according to some incomprehensible government law. It will be computer-controlled by government traffic computers. And it will be made of paper-mache. Government-manufactured paper-mache.
Okay, now I'm just being cynical. Sorry.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Tango Charlie

The car of the future will be of one body style, mandated by the government.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

1975 Trabant - The 50 Worst Cars of All Time - TIME

This is the car that gave Communism a bad name.

At least they don't rust and were made of a grown fiber and resin.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Tango Charlie

If I'd have moved within bicycling distance for every job, I'd have moved eight times in the last ten years (and I didn't change careers).

Not every career is going to require a serious relocation.

If you are a banker, architect or other type profession more likely to be located within the confines and boundaries of a single city (and downtown), you could do as I have. I'll admit, not going to help an off shore oil worker, but could apply to many if they choose location wisely.