In part it's because SF is relatively old. BART is 50 years old, and New York Subway is over 100 years old.
Check back on China's gleaming rail system and newly constructed cities in 50 or 100 years.
You can bet it will look older and more tired, an ageing snapshot of a once in a century construction boom. Especially if China experiences several lost decades like Japan, which is increasingly likely.
This is a lame excuse, look at the Moscow Metro, it's old yet clean, maintained, safe and constantly expanding. As are many European metros - while dated, they are fine (despite the grumblings of Londoners and Parisians). This is a political will issue, not an infrastructure one.
Does Russia have a comparably large automotive manufacturing industry & related industry in comparison to the U.S.?
I fail to see how public transit to shopping center in Russia is counter to my point that America likes to consume cars and that better public transit in the U.S. would hurt the selling (i.e consumption) of cars.
Also, again:
> Additionally there is a lack of infrastructure and culture to keep public transit clean.
Ah, you specifically meant consuming cars. I totally misread that as general consumption. Yeah, I'm with you on that. American car culture is very strange, the brodozers as status symbol and mentality behind them is a pox. The culture of "you ain't no real mayun if you ain't got da big truck" is something that I think only $10+ a gallon gas can solve...
You're saying that China's ability to build rail for the last 20 years while America struggled to build rail has something to do with "several lost decades" that you're anticipating?
Could you expand on why you think China will have lost decades?
Check back on China's gleaming rail system and newly constructed cities in 50 or 100 years.
You can bet it will look older and more tired, an ageing snapshot of a once in a century construction boom. Especially if China experiences several lost decades like Japan, which is increasingly likely.