Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Culdesac Tempe: The first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US

culdesac.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 384 posts

Re: Culdesac Tempe: The first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US

#111

Post by tseing »

milkytron wrote: post #41
jrsdav wrote: post #18

I live in a master planned community (Daybreak, Utah), and while you can definitely scoff at the building quality (state of things everywhere right now, it's all done fast and with low quality materials), it's been fantastic, especially during the pandemic. The whole neighborhood is designed to be walkable, with parks, pools, trails, train stations, grocery stores and restaurants (added in the later phases, which are…

Very similar situation here. Master planned community with meh build quality, but our neighborhood is designed to be transit oriented. We don't have a lot of amenities within the community, mostly just a bike trail, and a light rail stop. Hopefully some retail and a grocery store open up nearby soon, because about 500+ units are all being built within a quarter mile. And well over 1000+ within a half mile. The bike t…

Where is this, if you don't mind me asking?

Re: Culdesac Tempe: The first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US

#112

Post by grp000 »

rollinggoron wrote: post #78
GavinMcG wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having lived down the street from this site, I'm also skeptical. Tempe has some bike infrastructure, but the high temperatures four months of the year and the spread-out nature of the larger Phoenix metro makes a car a priority for most people, and cities (including Tempe and neighboring Mesa) design around that. There's a bike path to the west of this site that runs north-south but terminates after only a couple mil…

Not sure how long it's been since you've lived in Tempe, but the entire downtown area has been completely revamped and revitalized. The emphasis on bikes, walkable restaurants, and light rail access on Apache itself make this not an overall bad location. Your other points about the rest of PHX metro area outside of Tempe are true though. Neighborhoods for blocks for miles, but Tempe, especially downtown Tempe is tryi…

I'd taken up biking during the pandemic, and for a while was doing a loop from south Tempe to Tempe Town Lake and back. In a 4 month period, I was almost run over twice biking through downtown Tempe. Both times from right turning drivers where I had to swerve out of the way before they finally noticed me.

Regardless of the infrastructure, which is just passable by US standards in the downtown area, people just are not expecting cyclists.

Re: Culdesac Tempe: The first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US

#113

Post by notJim »

GavinMcG wrote: post #42
_huayra_ wrote: post #27

These efforts seem well-intentioned but doomed to fail because it requires government action to make the rest of the area work , i.e. be more walkable / bikeable. It's great you can bike from your pricey apartment to your friend's, but try getting passed by a bunch of distracted drivers going 50mph faster than you on the arterial stroad when getting to the nearest reasonably-sized grocery store that is 10 miles away…

Having lived down the street from this site, I'm also skeptical. Tempe has some bike infrastructure, but the high temperatures four months of the year and the spread-out nature of the larger Phoenix metro makes a car a priority for most people, and cities (including Tempe and neighboring Mesa) design around that. There's a bike path to the west of this site that runs north-south but terminates after only a couple mil…

> [the climate/city layout] makes a car a priority for most people, and cities (including Tempe and neighboring Mesa) design around that

This gets the cause and effect totally backwards. Phoenix and the surrounding cities are all designed for cars at the expense of bikability, transit and walkability, and people need cars because of that. There are lots of walkable cities in places with more uncomfortable climates than Phoenix (ever been to Bangkok?). Walking in Phoenix would be a lot more tolerable if the city wasn’t so spread out and had better public transit.

Re: Culdesac Tempe: The first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US

#114

Post by throwaway0a5e »

Thorentis wrote: post #103

Unfortunately this project lacks two things which are essential to a long-lasting, sustainable, and human-friendly town. 1) Architecture that inspires, elevates the soul, and will last the test of time. All I see is soulless pre-fabs. It looks like you're living in a shopping mall. 2) The freedom to create buildings and institutions that are meaningful to the residents who reside there. Churches, schools, sporting cl…

1 is a quintessential first world problem. If the value prop of the neighborhood is good people won't care how it looks.

2 is doing to doom it long term though IMO

Re: Culdesac Tempe: The first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US

#115

Post by keepper »

Ah yes, nothing like building a "sustainable" community in the dessert.

Yes, there's sarcasm in there.

But part of long term human sustainability is well, figuring out the areas we should not fight the environment ( more than reasonable ) to be able to sustain a human population.

Re: Culdesac Tempe: The first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US

#116

Post by ethanbond »

notJim wrote: post #109
stemlord wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ive seen several attempts at master planned neighborhoods with little town center type things with the idea that youd rarely have to leave, around South Florida growing up, and even lived in one for a few years. They all failed miserably. I feel like ones that succeed are just lucky. These communities can have basic predetermined guidelines to how growth can happen but the actual growth needs to happen organically. Y…

I’m skeptical that all planning is necessarily doomed to fail. Towns already do a considerable amount of planning via their zoning rules, and subdivisions are planned as well. The example here just seems like a subdivision, but planned for walkability rather requiring you to drive. Where did the place you lived in go wrong?

Well… most towns/subdivisions with zealous planning suck. The best cities in the world appear to be very organically grown. Maybe this is an illusion?

Re: Culdesac Tempe: The first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US

#118

Post by baby »

_huayra_ wrote: post #27

These efforts seem well-intentioned but doomed to fail because it requires government action to make the rest of the area work , i.e. be more walkable / bikeable. It's great you can bike from your pricey apartment to your friend's, but try getting passed by a bunch of distracted drivers going 50mph faster than you on the arterial stroad when getting to the nearest reasonably-sized grocery store that is 10 miles away…

It needs to be an entire district, not just a few buildings.

Re: Culdesac Tempe: The first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US

#119

Post by baby »

hamburgerwah wrote: post #59

It should be pointed out that this "neighborhood" is just a mixed use apartment complex of 760 rental units that does not currently exist yet though construction has sort of started. All pictures shown are renderings and this link is basically content marketing for it. They seem to cost ~$200-300 more per month than a market studio with parking in the same area.

Yeah it really doesn't sound as attractive as an entire district built without cars being the first-class citizen.

Re: Culdesac Tempe: The first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the US

#120

Post by baby »

sib wrote: post #117

As a borderline introvert, all I can say is, "wow, that looks extremely crowded and uncomfortable right outside my 'front door'." (And I have lived in Manhattan and in a mid-sized city in Germany, although I currently live in Los Angeles.)

Yeah this seems more like coliving than an a european neighborhood.
Post reply on HN