Cetacea wrote:But it is now 2019, technology is such that I can live in a small town of 3000 and jump on a train to get the center of the nearest commercial/industrial complex in an hour. I can sit on my couch and collaborate with colleagues around the world. I can sell on demand products from a facebook page and purchase supplies while I'm hiking through the mountains. If I ever do need to do a face-to-face, transport networks are such that I can do an overnight trip, secure a contract and be back home by lunchtime.
Assuming you're accurately describing your job, it's very unusual. Most people don't have jobs like that. Ever wondered where those "on demand products" come from, or how they go from where they're made to the people who want them? It ain't Santa's Workshop and there are no reindeer involved.
Turns out, many people have jobs that make your luxury lifestyle possible, and those jobs require people to be in specific places at specific times most days. While your situation is a great thing to have, it speaks little to most people's reality.
Novus America wrote:San Lumen wrote:How is having buses in every neighborhood impractical?
Because many neighborhoods do not have sufficient demand.
Specifically, I've got a book on mass transit which gives a population density floor of 12k people/square mile to make them at all practical, and higher is better (until you get to the point that rail makes more sense). Automated buses will probably lower that figure, but those aren't ready yet