[EduardoBautista]

> It's impossible to walk anywhere.

That is fair. I guess my comparison is San Diego (where I grew up) and Mexico, where I lived all of my adult life until moving to Dubai in 2022.

The city is building a new metro line and improving on walkability as new neighborhoods of high population density pop up. It will still be very focused on shopping malls with AC because of the heat during the summers. Official records of real estate transactions have a data point for "closest shopping mall" for a reason.

[brtkdotse]

> Official records of real estate transactions have a data point for "closest shopping mall" for a reason.

It baffles me that anyone, let alone a bunch of people, would look at this and say “ah, yes, this seems like a good place to live”.

To each their own, I guess.

[EduardoBautista]

If you’ve ever had a gun or knife pointed at you, trust me that “walkability” is not going to be high on your priorities of what makes a city a good place to live. The UAE is safer than Switzerland.

[mschuster91]

> The UAE is safer than Switzerland.

And so is Hong Kong and a few other places. The question is, is that worth the cost? A cost that's mostly hidden from public view and scrutiny?

[nicolas_t]

I actually liked how walkable Mexico City is. It used to not be great but I feel that in recent times it's a much nicer city to live in than Dubai. Of course that's only based on living there for 6 months and being relatively wealthy (that said I'd argue Dubai is also only nice if you have the means).