Comment by xxpor | Hacker News Reader

Comment by xxpor | Hacker News Reader

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On the skyscraper point, at least in Chicago (I'd guess) and Seattle (where I live, so I'm sure), the limits on skyscraper height aren't about anything to do with the buildings themselves, the soil conditions, or anything like that. The issue is being to close to flight corridors, and so the FAA won't approve anything higher.

On the University point, I think I agree in theory, but not in practice. The percentage of their funding that's actually coming from the state has been dropping significantly over time. They're essentially private in everything but name and some slight discounts for in-state students. The demographics aren't that much different from similarly situated private universities. My sister went to a public school, which ended up costing more than my private school due to the scholarship I was able to get at the private university (I wasn't even that special, approximately 50% of the kids there got this scholarship).

If you go to UW, you have to apply to the CS program your freshman year. There's no guarantee you'll get in, due to space constraints. It's completely f'ed.

I certainly agree that UW should expand it's CS program even more. FWIW, they are doing it but probably not quickly enough:

- https://housedemocrats.wa.gov/hansen/2018/02/26/house-budget...

- https://www.cs.washington.edu/supportcse/building

I'd have to disagree on the "slight discount" argument. UW charges $12,000 per year for residents. This is 3.2x cheaper than non-resident tuition ($39,000). IMO $12,000 is still a very good value for what you get.

I wasn't aware UW was still that cheap for residents. That's great. I'm more familiar with the northeast. For example, the in state all-in price for Rutgers these days is $30k.

Chicago has no building limitations due to the FAA.

The FAA is federal and the law requiring notice of construction applies in the entire United States. Any structure taller than 499 feet requires FAA involvement. 14 CFR Part 77.

Notification is not involvement. You have to tell the FAA. They can say "hey, that's going to be an issue". But you can build a 10,000 foot building in downtown Chicago without any issues.

An FAA determination of hazard to air navigation is indeed technically advisory but it has enormous practical effect. Nobody will finance or insure a project with such a determination. I'm aware of one case where a project received a hazard determination and the property owner sued the FAA because the effect of the determination was that they couldn't build--and not because of any zoning or permitting laws referencing the FAA, but because nobody wanted to be involved once the FAA declared the project dangerous. The FAA won and the project was never built.

> They're essentially private in everything but name and some slight discounts for in-state students.

I'm not sure >$20k/yr is a slight discount.

Buildings in downtown San Jose, CA are limited to about 15 storeys due to the nearby SJC airport. In practice though that's not a major obstacle to development; most buildings there are still significantly shorter.

Some places (Portland I think) deliberately limit the height of buildings so you don't feel like you're in a prison when walking around.

That describes almost every american city.

Feeling like you're in a prison is entirely due to the street level design of the buildings, which to be fair, a lot of American cities are god awful at. The difference between walking by a 15 story building and a 100 story building is minuscule.

Yeah, every time I get back from a trip to mid-town Manhattan, I end up realizing after the fact that I was just a block or two from the Empire State Building, but had no idea because it looks just like every other building from ground level. From NJ or Brooklyn, the Empire State looks like this incredible thing. From Madison Square Garden, it looks like a Marriot.

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