Nor of the time factor involved. Commercial flights already take the better part of a day, even for short jumps. I can't imagine having to arrive at the ferry terminal 4-5 hours before my flight so that I can get to the terminal in time to spend 2 more hours waiting for ticketing and security and all the other delays.
"And building a 4 story metropolis underneath doesn't make sense unless there is a reason to visit"
I think his comment about "free trade zones" hints at the reason for so much office space. It seems to me that it would be a conveniently located off-shore haven for businesses (especially from Asia) who do massive amounts of shipping in and out of the ports of SD and LA.
They could also build the Duty-free version of the Mall of America; 400-500 stores full of tax-free stuff that would appeal to international travelers.
It's an interesting concept, and in a way it seems like the only viable solution. With the massive sprawl surrounding SD I think you'd have to go a good 2 hours from the central city to find a big enough patch of land to build a new airport.
"With the massive sprawl surrounding SD I think you'd have to go a good 2 hours from the central city to find a big enough patch of land to build a new airport."
Not even close. San diego is not really that big. For example, it is a 30 min drive from downtown to alpine which is a small town in the middle of nowhere, where the more sensible plans put the new airport. That travel time can be shortened with high speed rail and it would still be many times cheaper than that ocean pipe dream.
Oh and 30 min in a car or on a train will be soo much better than 45 min on a shaking sickness inducing ferry.
"Commercial flights already take the better part of a day, even for short jumps. I can't imagine having to arrive at the ferry terminal 4-5 hours before my flight so that I can get to the terminal in time to spend 2 more hours waiting for ticketing and security and all the other delays."
Presumably this airport could be used for flights that are long enough already that it doesn't matter nearly as much. Say, at least most of the way across the country. (And international flights, of course, where a few extra hours on top of 24 is unnoticeable.) SAN would be for the short hops.
The effectiveness of this depends entirely on the current distribution of flights on SAN, though, which I don't know. I've only done relatively short flights from SAN. For everything else I end up taking a commuter flight up to LAX (which is much, much faster than driving).
Nor of the time factor involved. Commercial flights already take the better part of a day, even for short jumps. I can't imagine having to arrive at the ferry terminal 4-5 hours before my flight so that I can get to the terminal in time to spend 2 more hours waiting for ticketing and security and all the other delays.
"And building a 4 story metropolis underneath doesn't make sense unless there is a reason to visit"
I think his comment about "free trade zones" hints at the reason for so much office space. It seems to me that it would be a conveniently located off-shore haven for businesses (especially from Asia) who do massive amounts of shipping in and out of the ports of SD and LA.
They could also build the Duty-free version of the Mall of America; 400-500 stores full of tax-free stuff that would appeal to international travelers.
It's an interesting concept, and in a way it seems like the only viable solution. With the massive sprawl surrounding SD I think you'd have to go a good 2 hours from the central city to find a big enough patch of land to build a new airport.