Introduction here: http://theromaniandream.com/blog/2009/07/17/taboo/
Today’s topic: Roads and Infrastructure
First of all, I don’t know how this made it on the taboo list.
I remember, back when I was living in Romania - and I did that for most of my life, that one of the most recurrent discussion topics was infrastructure. The well known “mantra” was that for the economic climate to improve a solid infrastructure needed to be built. That sounded to me more like a demagogical speech from politicians than something really needed. Of course, close to zero was done in this matter, but looking back, I think the point is valid.
To give you an example of how wrong things I can talk about the roads, and highways in particular, that we have (or should I say we don’t have): http://bit.ly/1p1zLO Someone who doesn’t know how things really work in Romania would laugh really hard at the mere 180 miles “2lanes per way highways” that we have after 20years from the fall of communism.
Now switching to the American Way of doing infrastructure (and we’ll probably witness the first post in which I don’t rant at all about something here in the US). The first thing that hits you when you arrive here is the highways. A trip from the airport/to the airport is enough to make you see the scale on which things are done over here. Passing through a node in which 2-3 highways meet is priceless (http://tinyurl.com/yc5ouy3). Everything is thought out before hand (clear signs, etc), traffic flows even during rush hour (slower, but it flows), you can really plan on how much a trip is going to take. The way people here in the US just take the highways that they have for granted - a clear sign that they are here for quite a while - and the mobility you have due to this highways is amazing. Did I mention that if you don’t have a car over here you’re kind of screwed? The base way of moving from point A to point B is by car. Now the aggressiveness the US has when it comes to oil, isn’t so exaggerated as it seems, is it?
Another example is the way streets in the city are build. And to give you an example, since a picture is worth a thousand words: Here is how streets in Bucharest look like: http://tinyurl.com/y9wzn3m, here is how streets in Seattle look like: http://tinyurl.com/yj7ntq3. Do you see any difference?****