Densely populated areas create more contacts with others and more opportunities for a virus to spread. And New York City, with more than 28,000 people per square mile, is by far the most densely populated major US city. San Francisco is second at around 18,500, and cities like Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington are in the 11,000 to 12,000 range.It turns out urban planners have been unwittingly trying their level best to get us killed via plague and pandemic. Their policy prescriptions - high density and public transport - are exactly what you'd call for to get an infectious disease to spread like wildfire.
New York’s mass transit system–mostly its subways–is, by a huge margin, the most relied-upon public transportation system in the U.S. It carries a remarkable 2,275,000,000 riders per year. The second most-used public transit system is the Washington Metro, which carries only 238,000,000 riders per year, just over 10% of New York’s total. Chicago’s “L” carries fewer than 10% as many riders as New York’s subways.
When a new disease like COVID-19 comes along, a virus to which no one has built up immunity, the population density and public transportation factors come to the fore and New York becomes a very sick city, compared to anywhere else.
COTTonLINE readers know our view of Hell is a zillion people jammed together like sardines, breathing each other's effluvia and holding the same handrails and doorknobs. In addition to disease, it makes Noo Yawkers cranky. Give me fresh air, elbow room, green fields, and my own wheels.
