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How do you fix a stroad?

strongtowns.org

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Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#291

Post by [deleted] »

moooo99 wrote: post #220
arsome wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because what they have flowing in abundance is a loss in many other ways. Public transit is a generally a worse experience in all but the most urban of places, and even then there's often enough problems that make it significantly less desirable. Biking in the winter? Doable, but also pretty miserable in much of the world. People like personal transportation and big detached houses with yards. Car-centric cities are…

> People like personal transportation and big detached houses with yards. Car-centric cities are the price we pay for these things. Maybe people don’t even like Personal transport that much, maybe they only use it because of the lack of suitable alternatives? Maybe many people don’t have the „single family home whatever it takes“ attitude and would much prefer a suitable apartment in a somewhat dense walkable neighbo…

[deleted]

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#292

Post by goodpoint »

Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #208
trinovantes wrote: post #75

The Not Just Bikes youtube channel was quite the rabbit hole. It has convinced me that I really hate North American car-centric cities. It's a shame there's basically no country in the anglosphere designed for pedestrians like most European countries.

Britain is in the anglosphere. We’re not exactly the Netherlands but we’re a whole heap ahead of the US, and getting (very slowly) better. Same goes for New Zealand.

UK has plenty of soul-crushing sprawls around every city.

> whole heap ahead of the US

That's a very low bar to clear, come on.

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#293

Post by orwin »

refurb wrote: post #237
pcmoney wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We as a society, in many aspects, used to eat AND build better when we were poorer. It is a matter of desire and priority. Also McDonalds is only cheaper if you’re in a food desert. Which areas that rely on stroads rarely are. Also, notice how the building around stroads and most “modern” buildings get knocked down and rebuilt every 10 years? Seems like something only a rich society could afford to do.

We as a society, in many aspects, used to eat AND build better when we were poorer Spoken like someone whose never been poor.

My biological grandfather is actually on the lowest decile of income in the US, i am quite sure he eat better than me and most of the people here. And most people in his community fare the same way.

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#294

Post by goodpoint »

CanceledAccount wrote: post #285
paganel wrote: post #280

> Slow traffic; prioritize human movement over auto mobility; This will most probably bring extra gentrification plus damn the businesses that might need that extra road-traffic for recurring clients. Bicycle-ing in a downtown-ish area is mostly done by people like us (yuppies, more or less), the person who has to get tho his/her job at Walmart or at a logistics center at 5-6AM doesn't have time for this, and after h…

Redesigning infrastructure always produces winners and losers. Slowing down traffic will always make someone’s commute longer. Unfortunately, making these decisions is hard but necessary, because the trade offs are worth it. Gentrification is when a place becomes more desirable to live. It’s caused by people enjoying themselves. Gentrification is wealth creation. If housing prices rise too much, you can build more ho…

> Gentrification is when a place becomes more desirable to live. It’s caused by people enjoying themselves

Absolutely not. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentrification

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#295

Post by orwin »

rdl wrote: post #276
zionic wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m mostly outraged that the YouTube algorithm keeps showing me his crap just because I like cities skylines. His content is trash and despite consistently disliking it YouTube just won’t learn.

I wish there were a way to "block" youtube channels. I feel similarly about this specific content source, but there are a bunch of others who are far worse on other topics.

There is a way, at least in europe? "Do not recommend the channel" in the options.

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#296

Post by [deleted] »

analog31 wrote: post #155
yarnton99 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just trying to find some positive examples of American small towns. As a European, if I were to relocate to the US, where would I find strong town communities? I know for example Ithaca, NY, might qualify. Other examples in the South, Midwest, etc? Also stroads are not just an American problem. I have found horrible stroads in places where you would never expect them such as Oxford or Copenhagen.

Look for cities with universities and ~ 250k population.

[deleted]

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#297

Post by zerocount »

pcmoney wrote: post #79

Has anyone ever put a picture of a stroad up as art/instagram etc like you see with downtown NYC, Paris, small european villages, shanghai, rural mountain towns, old downtowns in America etc? Of course not. It is the McDonald’s of city planning. Cheap, ugly, bad for you but also shockingly expensive once the medical/infrastructure maintenance bill comes due. Its the overweight, white trash, lower back tattoo of aesth…

I like those lower back tattoos, sitting above a nice looking ass. That's a party girl and who doesn't like to party? lol

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#298

Post by p_l »

mithras wrote: post #230
princeb wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nope. I live in a country with high quality transit and the first thing people buy when they can afford it is a car. I, too, live in a country with high quality transit and also got a car when i had a family and i could afford a car. i have about 1400 km per year on it. having a car and driving it are two different things.

If you have high quality transit, you might also have "share" cars available, doesn't that come out way cheaper if you only use it so little?

If I had a car, my yearly distance might have been similar. But that's because a car would give me most utility in areas that aren't handled by the "shared" car systems, i.e. longer trips outside of public transport system, especially with cargo that can't be reliably transported on a personal trip on train and the like.

And I'd probably still keep to taxis in the city, can't be arsed to drive :D

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#299

Post by atombender »

yarnton99 wrote: post #128
pcmoney wrote: post #79

Has anyone ever put a picture of a stroad up as art/instagram etc like you see with downtown NYC, Paris, small european villages, shanghai, rural mountain towns, old downtowns in America etc? Of course not. It is the McDonald’s of city planning. Cheap, ugly, bad for you but also shockingly expensive once the medical/infrastructure maintenance bill comes due. Its the overweight, white trash, lower back tattoo of aesth…

Just trying to find some positive examples of American small towns. As a European, if I were to relocate to the US, where would I find strong town communities? I know for example Ithaca, NY, might qualify. Other examples in the South, Midwest, etc? Also stroads are not just an American problem. I have found horrible stroads in places where you would never expect them such as Oxford or Copenhagen.

As a European, Ithaca does not look very walkable to me, even though it's a pretty small city. Fewer stroads is good, of course. But unless you live in Ithaca's very small city core — which is not dense — then you find yourself in typical American suburban sprawl, and Ithaca's only form of public transit is the city bus.

Zoning remains one of the biggest problems in American city planning. The lack of mixed zoning means you end up with a rigid segregation of urban areas, residential areas, and semi-industrial "big-box store stroad hell" areas. What's often missed in discussions about urban density is that in Europe, living in a residential area often means you still have access to amenities by walking, which is almost never true in the US.

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#300

Post by throwaway0a5e »

lmm wrote: post #204
arsome wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because what they have flowing in abundance is a loss in many other ways. Public transit is a generally a worse experience in all but the most urban of places, and even then there's often enough problems that make it significantly less desirable. Biking in the winter? Doable, but also pretty miserable in much of the world. People like personal transportation and big detached houses with yards. Car-centric cities are…

> People like personal transportation and big detached houses with yards. Then why are even small houses in walkable neighbourhoods so expensive? Maybe not everyone wants to live like that, but there's clearly demand for that kind of living too. Let's build some for people who want it.

>Then why are even small houses in walkable neighbourhoods so expensive

Location

Location

Location

These small houses are pretty much all necessarily in urban areas and the prices reflects what overpaid doctors lawyers and techies are willing to pay for convenience. The not un-walkable suburbs that are roughly the same distance from the city centers suffer pretty much the same price increase for the same reason.

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