Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I’m not sure why a freak accident should be used as an example of anything. Maybe follow the news a little more. Several MSM outlets over the last month have done in-depth stories about the fundamental problems with the condo model of ownership and maintainance. It has nothing inherently to do with construction methods; the evidence is that what happened in FL is a risk in an awful lot of condos all over the US.
Would you mind sharing a link?
Surveys show Americans want more walkable cities
221–230 of 370 posts
Re: Surveys show Americans want more walkable cities
#222No, they don’t. This is a classic example of listening to what people say vs observing what they do. And it’s a good lesson in product development. Ask your users “do you want X?” And the answer is inevitably “yes”. Ask them “do you want A or B?” And you’ll start to get a better approximation of user behavior. Better yet is observing actual behavior. In this case Americans have chosen the suburbs in droves. Americans…
Framing it as user choice ignores a lot of history and politics. Long Island, for instance, became suburban largely due to Robert Moses' starvation of public transportation and his prioritization of cars. Because Long Island lacked any sort of industry of its own, most inhabitants commuted into New York City. Because Moses built massive highways without reserving any right of way for a train, most of these inhabitants drove into cities. Because they drove cars, they would naturally prioritize living in spaces where they could have a garage, i.e. a suburb. As more people drove, the trains lost revenue, ran less frequently and lost more customers. If fast trains had been built to and from Long Island, it's not unbelievable to imagine it'd have become as dense as New York.
Or take the white flight. A lot of movement to suburbs was predicated on fear of minorities and urban crime.
Re: Surveys show Americans want more walkable cities
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
You like pollution? You like polluting waterways with micro plastics from your tires? You don't care about the 40k killed every year in the USA? You don't care about the destruction of countryside with roads???
Aw, hush. That’s a needlessly antagonistic take. Someone can say “I like driving” without us assuming that they’re totally ignorant of the negative externalities. I can say “I like ice cream” without you having to say “you like saturated fat??? you like increasing your risk of diabetes????”
You killing yourself is not the same as someone killing the planet.
Can you not see why people care about the planet they inhabit??
Re: Surveys show Americans want more walkable cities
#224Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I moved to LA, I did the following calculation. Average number of cars per person, 2/3 x Number of people in greater LA area, 16M = 10M. 10M cars x average parking spot is 7ft x 15, 105 sq ft = 1 billion sq ft. 1 billion sq ft to square miles = 36 square miles. That's a square 6 miles on a side. Just to park the cars once . There is at least 3x that number of spots in the city. A hundred square miles of parking.…
Someone had calculated that the urban sprawl king city of Houston was 40% parking space or something
I have to wonder how much of the city overall is used for cars -- roads, highways, and the "buffer" land surrounding them (like the land in and around a highway interchange); parking lots and their access streets; businesses dedicated to servicing cars, like gas stations...
It's probably a lot.
Re: Surveys show Americans want more walkable cities
#225I like my car and I like driving. That said, I don't like driving _everywhere_. When I moved to university, it was incredibly freeing to just be able to walk somewhere I wanted to go rather than getting in my car and driving miles to get anywhere. I grew up in a suburb in Texas so walking anywhere except _maybe_ a friend's house was entirely out of the question. I visited Portland recently and it was lovely to be abl…
The hardest thing to do is explain that experience to people. Also having grown up in the burbs, it wasn't until adulthood in SF and Europe that I realized how materially different 'walking' can be.
It's shocking, because it's something so fundamental, right in front of our eyes, that's just hard to fathom.
So 1) we have to think about how we communicate this and 2) we may want to thin of ways to even adapt the Burbs to something more ammenable.
On the later, it seems crazy, but people do like convenience, and expansion of commuter lines may bode very well. People will use transit if it's faster and more convenient.
If Dallas were connected to Planto etc. through something fairly quick, clean and safe it would transform the city. Not holding my breath.
Re: Surveys show Americans want more walkable cities
#226Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or... hear me out. You could just build walkable suburbs. Why there is a distinction between 'suburb' and 'smaller city' is beyond me, but there really is. A small city still has a walkable downtown core with apartments around which there is a small area of single family homes within walking distance to the downtown area. A suburb is just tracts of single family homes and nothing else for miles on end. No real 'busin…
Exactly. I lived in Kawasaki, Japan, which is a large suburb of both Tokyo and Yokohama. Much of Kawasaki is walkable and has amenities such as restaurants, grocery stores, and shopping centers within no more than a 15-minute walk from most residences. Kawasaki is also served by many commuter train lines; once again, the majority of residents live within 15-minute walking distance from a train station, and there are…
Kawasaki has a population of 1.5 Million people. Hardly just a "suburb"
Re: Surveys show Americans want more walkable cities
#227Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have lived in highly walkable neighborhoods. They utilize highrises to increase density (supply) of housing and commercial space. Walkable areas are by necessity higher density, meaning they pack more supply into the same footprint.
My census tract in Chicago is denser than 96% of America. There are like two high-rises, one for seniors and some shorter new construction near the transit stops in the 5-6 story range. The bulk of my neighborhoods density is created by missing middle housing, two and three flats, four-six square apartments, and a healthy smattering of SFHs on narrow lots. I have a backyard. My neighbor grows a garden in between her…
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Re: Surveys show Americans want more walkable cities
#228Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have lived in highly walkable neighborhoods. They utilize highrises to increase density (supply) of housing and commercial space. Walkable areas are by necessity higher density, meaning they pack more supply into the same footprint.
My census tract in Chicago is denser than 96% of America. There are like two high-rises, one for seniors and some shorter new construction near the transit stops in the 5-6 story range. The bulk of my neighborhoods density is created by missing middle housing, two and three flats, four-six square apartments, and a healthy smattering of SFHs on narrow lots. I have a backyard. My neighbor grows a garden in between her…
I don’t think there is a building in Seattle even close to 100 floors.
The Junction in West Seattle (where I lived) is exactly what you describe.
Re: Surveys show Americans want more walkable cities
#229Earlier quoted context omitted.
That business district would probably sit mostly empty if the density of customers isn't there. At best you'd get a strip mall with big box stores every 5km like typical American suburbs. If you want a thriving business district with a mixture of local business you need to have density.
> If you want a thriving business district with a mixture of local business you need to have density. I simply disagree. You can have single family homes and a thriving business district. Not ginormous mcmansions. But modest, good-sized single family homes. I disagree with your assessment because I've seen how great things can be in my own neighborhood. I'm not even suggesting no high-density housing. On the actual '…
The apartment buildings are what add density. People who live in single family homes will invariably take the extra 15 to 20 minutes to drive to Costco and save money.
Re: Surveys show Americans want more walkable cities
#230Earlier quoted context omitted.
Aw, hush. That’s a needlessly antagonistic take. Someone can say “I like driving” without us assuming that they’re totally ignorant of the negative externalities. I can say “I like ice cream” without you having to say “you like saturated fat??? you like increasing your risk of diabetes????”
You killing yourself is not the same as someone killing the planet. Can you not see why people care about the planet they inhabit??
But you do like ice cream? You like millions of animals getting killed? People getting killed from antibiotics no longer working? Water shortages? The planet getting killed?
I don't know what you're trying to achieve with your comment, but I'm quite sure I didn't turn you vegan just now.
Even if you care about not killing the planet, what matters is not that you make it clear that you do, but that you're effective in preventing that from happening.