Forbes magazine listed down the most stressful cities in the United States, and topping the list is Chicago – known as the “Windy City” – because of soaring unemployment rate, steep gasoline prices plus a high population density. It is home to O’ Hare – the second busiest airport in the world – and with more than 32 million visitors every year, one can just imagine how chaotic it can be. Next on the list is Los Angeles, the second largest city in the US known for its freeways, which is probably why it has the worst air quality because of all those vehicles plying the roads everyday. In fact, road rage probably started in this “City of Angels” with the horrendous traffic sure to give anybody a devilish temper. People are also forced to stay indoors when the smog gets worse. Add to that the constant fear of an earthquake and you have a combustible mixture that can cause anxiety of major proportions.
Third on the list is famous New York with its expensive dinners. It’s the most populous city in the US, truly a city that never sleeps with a lot of people still walking even in the wee hours of the morning. Although it has mellowed down over the years, you can still feel the intensity with the people all focused on making a lot of money. Manhattan during rush hour can be unbelievable, so much so that people can become defensive, ready to fight getting a taxi or having a fit trying to get a table in a restaurant.
At number five (after Cleveland and Providence that are tied at fourth place) is San Francisco, a beautiful city that is beginning to be stressful for a lot of people due to the steep drop in home prices by as much as 42 percent, coupled with the high cost of living and high gasoline prices. While Forbes cited housing problems, job security and finances as factors that contribute to anxiety, an interesting revelation is that a city’s environment can impact on the nerves of residents, especially with pollution causing a lot of diseases and allergies.
Perhaps one city that Americans can learn from is Vancouver, which won the right to host the 2010 Winter Olympics. It is one of the most livable cities in the world and in fact, is a most sought-after destination of immigrants in search of a better life. The city is a remarkable example of good urban planning, characterized by careful mixed-used development that follow strict rules on preserving “green” space and protecting so-called “view corridors” by establishing height limits on buildings.
Just recently, Canada finished construction of a rapid-transit line project called Canada Line equivalent to a 10-lane freeway that can decongest traffic since it can take away from the main roads the equivalent of 200,000 car trips per day. This transport system which can accommodate a maximum of 100,000 passengers every day is just in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics because the number of tourists flocking to Vancouver would be difficult to accommodate with just the usual transport systems like buses, cabs and existing train lines.
Filipinos certainly don’t need Forbes magazine to tell them that Metro Manila has become a very stressful place to live in. It is one of the most congested and polluted cities, and traffic has become so terrible that oftentimes, you hear about “road rage” being the cause of a tragic shooting incident. Road psychos – mostly bus drivers who seem to think they can lord it over because of the bulk of their vehicles – weave in and out of traffic without regard for other cars or the safety of their passengers. Worse, many of these death machines are smoke belchers and no doubt contribute to the worsening air quality in the metropolis.
Many of these buses are also “colorum” which is one of the reasons why traffic continues to be horrible in Metro Manila especially along EDSA, where getting from Quezon City to Makati can take more than two hours. A lot of people rely on the LRT because it can get them to their destination faster. Hopefully, the construction of the MRT station all the way to Bulacan will be able to help ease the congestion in Metro Manila. This MRT was such a messy deal when it was closed in the 1990s under a build-operate-transfer scheme during the time of FVR, with the deal so lopsided against the government. (Fortunately, this mess was untangled by Development Bank of the Philippines president Rey David, who told me while the MRT is run by the DOTC, it is 80 percent owned by the DBP.)
Metro Manila is also chaotic because zoning is not implemented in many places, with local chief executives running their cities any way they like. It’s not unusual to see a commercial establishment standing side by side with an old house, or restaurants and bars located a few meters away from residential areas. Garbage is thrown just about anywhere, especially on creeks – which come floating down on the streets due to flashfloods every time the rains come.
No doubt Metro Manila needs a lot of work. Unfortunately, MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando does not have the power to make things really work and put order in a chaotic Metro Manila – and this is probably something that I will not get to see during my lifetime. Meantime, life must go on, and the best people can do is to avoid stress because it can cause cardiac arrest, cancer and all these killer diseases. A lot of young people are dying in Metro Manila because of stress, and you can just imagine what life will be like 10 years from now with so many people from the provinces moving in. Metro Manila will become a dead city – unless by some miracle the people who run it will start really caring and doing something about it.
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