Re: Re: The Skehan/Sirr plan

@GrahamH wrote:

one of them already with a preposterous 18-storey tower at Central Park, quite literally surrounded by agricultural land.

This tower is surrounded by office blocks a hospital, a hotel and a school. There are thousands of workers, students and patients and hotel guests already located here, and capacity for thousands more. It makes sense to place a railway stop here. There is plenty of landscaped green space around Leopardstown hospital and playing fields around the school but it would be inaccurate to describe this as agricultural land.

Why would anybody want to, or be encouraged to, live in an urban apartment a tedious, overcrowded and uncomfortable 40 minute journey from Dublin, surrounded by fields, and serviced by a Spar, a hairdressers and a creche?

Central Park (stupid name) is 22 minutes from St Stephen’s Green. Being within a half hour reliable commute of work and the city is important because we know that people with long commutes tend to be unhappy. http://ideas.repec.org/p/zur/iewwpx/151.html

Even if populated by multiple retail units, this in no way accounts to anything even approaching the variety of the urban experience, never mind its social, cultural and economic vibrancy and inherent optimal sustainability. This is Suburban Living Round II and everyone is pulling their hats over their eyes pretending they’re living in eco-towns. You might as well be driving from Kells or Sallins.

Kells is 131km from Dublin. Driving a 262km round trip every day is less sustainable in every way than taking a 22 minute tram journey. Do you really believe there is no difference between these two living patterns?