Comment Re:Why are generators in the basement? (Score 1) 231
I think in places like NYC it has to do with real estate prices. Everything above ground is probably expensive as humans can live/work there. It's the underground places where no sunlight penetrates that gets the machines and utilities as nobody cares if they have any windows. Also these machines are usually heavy so it's easy to put them into basements as no lifting is required and means the structure of the building can be lighter.
It's not a good idea in case of disasters, but it makes a lot of economic sense in the short term for a lot of reasons. The problem is that especially the USA isn't very good at having their infrastructure and buildings robust against disasters. To an outsider it's obvious that the choice in the US seems to be that it's cheaper to rebuild than to make things hurricane/flooding/tornado/earthquake-proof. The best example is Katrina. Areas in the Netherlands have separate organisations for managing the water. It's not part of government and has it's own taxes and separate elections. A lot of these go back to medieval times. They care for the waterways, dikes, levies, shelters, disaster relief and similar structures. It's their sole responsibility and absolute priority. So there is never a trade-off against healthcare, military, education, transportation or any other government function. It's like if you would make FEMA and the corps of engineers into completely independent organisations with their own taxes and elections.