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Put tiny businesses back into residential neighborhoods

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Re: Put tiny businesses back into residential neighborhoods

#331

Post by apcragg »

save_ferris wrote: post #323
barnabee wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as I can tell, "zoning" is just a bad idea. There's no such thing in the UK [1] and it still surprises me that it's quite a common approach. (As a kid I thought it was a game device employed to make urban planning in Sim City manageable. I still wonder if that series of games hasn't increased its prevalence.) Instead, in the UK you require 'planning permission' to change the land use of any building. This is d…

> As far as I can tell, "zoning" is just a bad idea. Spend a week in Houston, TX and see if you still hold that opinion after. That is one of the least walkable cities in the US and doesn’t utilize zoning as far as I’m aware.

It's a myth that Houston doesn't have zoning. They don't have use based zoning but they still have plenty of requirements such as parking minimums and lot sizes that serve as de facto zoning.

Re: Put tiny businesses back into residential neighborhoods

#332

Post by subsaharancoder »

pjc50 wrote: post #264
barnabee wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as I can tell, "zoning" is just a bad idea. There's no such thing in the UK [1] and it still surprises me that it's quite a common approach. (As a kid I thought it was a game device employed to make urban planning in Sim City manageable. I still wonder if that series of games hasn't increased its prevalence.) Instead, in the UK you require 'planning permission' to change the land use of any building. This is d…

> I don't know anyone in this country, urban or rural dwelling, who can't walk to a shop or a pub The average walking distance to a pub has gone up a lot in recent years due to closure, and walking on rural roads at night where there is no footpath is horrendously dangerous even if you carry lights. It's a nice idyll but it's no longer really true. What you say about Simcity is absolutely true though. It doesn't corr…

> The average walking distance to a pub

This is commonly referred to as "Staggering distance" :-)

Re: Put tiny businesses back into residential neighborhoods

#333

Post by jessaustin »

conductr wrote: post #196
bfieidhbrjr wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a crazy idea: no zoning. Let people decide what they want to do.

Houston is like this. I like it, but I grew up there, many people are so scared that it means a oil refinery or something could pop up next door one day but that stuff rarely happens. The market naturally seems to fill most of the voids in terms of demand, so it’s not like you have to go far to find a liquor store or something specific. That said, we built our cities in Texas for cars. My adult life has mostly been i…

...paint 1 of 6 predetermined shades of brown.

You've answered some questions I've had about Dallas...

Re: Put tiny businesses back into residential neighborhoods

#334

Post by organsnyder »

rsynnott wrote: post #267
osdiab wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up in a wealthy American suburb, the nearest grocery store was a 40 minute walk from my home, and I would have looked like a madman for simply walking on any street in the entire city because literally only beggars don’t ride cars. I’m glad to be living in Tokyo now!

Do people not even walk for leisure/exercise? Just reading this makes me feel kind of claustrophobic.

Well, we also have quite high obesity rates in the United States...

Re: Put tiny businesses back into residential neighborhoods

#335

Post by [deleted] »

OnlyOneCannolo wrote: post #328
jessaustin wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...walking on rural roads at night where there is no footpath is horrendously dangerous... Do you have to walk on the road? One might have expected that in rural areas one could walk through fields and forests.

Most fields and forests aren't walkable.

[deleted]

Re: Put tiny businesses back into residential neighborhoods

#336

Post by viraptor »

jessaustin wrote: post #319
pjc50 wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't know anyone in this country, urban or rural dwelling, who can't walk to a shop or a pub The average walking distance to a pub has gone up a lot in recent years due to closure, and walking on rural roads at night where there is no footpath is horrendously dangerous even if you carry lights. It's a nice idyll but it's no longer really true. What you say about Simcity is absolutely true though. It doesn't corr…

...walking on rural roads at night where there is no footpath is horrendously dangerous... Do you have to walk on the road? One might have expected that in rural areas one could walk through fields and forests.

The context here is UK rural areas which are not quite like other places. Imagine a road that can fit 1 car, with wider places every few hundred metres and 2m+ hedges on both sides, immediately next to the road. Apart from specific paths you can't really go into a field.

Random example https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/narrow-road-high-hedge-18153...

Not all counties will look like that, but quite a lot of them to. Imagine a network of this kind of roads going on for many miles. You really don't want to walk them at night.

Re: Put tiny businesses back into residential neighborhoods

#337

Post by jessaustin »

viraptor wrote: post #336
jessaustin wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...walking on rural roads at night where there is no footpath is horrendously dangerous... Do you have to walk on the road? One might have expected that in rural areas one could walk through fields and forests.

The context here is UK rural areas which are not quite like other places. Imagine a road that can fit 1 car, with wider places every few hundred metres and 2m+ hedges on both sides, immediately next to the road. Apart from specific paths you can't really go into a field. Random example https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/narrow-road-high-hedge-18153... Not all counties will look like that, but quite a lot of them to. Ima…

That is helpful context. Wow, they really don't want to see their neighbors. Safe roads require unobstructed sight lines.

Re: Put tiny businesses back into residential neighborhoods

#338

Post by save_ferris »

apcragg wrote: post #331
save_ferris wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As far as I can tell, "zoning" is just a bad idea. Spend a week in Houston, TX and see if you still hold that opinion after. That is one of the least walkable cities in the US and doesn’t utilize zoning as far as I’m aware.

It's a myth that Houston doesn't have zoning. They don't have use based zoning but they still have plenty of requirements such as parking minimums and lot sizes that serve as de facto zoning.

Ah that's right, use-based zoning. I still don't see how removing all zoning would de facto make cities easier to get around in, particularly when the US has a long history of private interests working against public mobility projects. The reason Americans are so dependent on cars was largely influenced by big automakers.

Re: Put tiny businesses back into residential neighborhoods

#339

Post by egypturnash »

juniper_strong wrote: post #145
egypturnash wrote: post #130

I currently live in New Orleans, which is very mixed-use if you're in the city proper. It's really, really nice. I bike everywhere. Groceries, bookstores, head shops, cafes, bars, hardware store (with a super nice housewares department on the second floor), plumbers, auto shops, restaurants, snoball stands, parks, schools[1], dentists, optometrists, lawyers, there's pretty much everything I need in a 20min cycling ra…

If you bike everywhere why are you going to the auto shop?

I don’t, it’s just one of the many businesses lurking in my neighborhood. I pass it regularly on my way elsewhere.

Re: Put tiny businesses back into residential neighborhoods

#340

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #273
ramblerman wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s not the same. I think it would be more like calling a random middle eastern terrorist a Mohammed.

I don't know if you're not just getting there by starting there in that case. "Middle eastern terrorist" is already pretty racist.

They have an established track record of killing people on planes. Might want to review some of the commandments and make sure your adherents abide by god's will as a good PR move.
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