Live data from Hacker News

How do you fix a stroad?

strongtowns.org

391–400 of 411 posts

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#391

I feel like almost all roads I see in a dense Indian city like Mumbai is a stroad. I don't think a distinct classification of a road and street as defined by strong towns can be made in a city that has heavy occupancy and pre-existing development. Then looking at a state like Kerala that is so urbanised and heavily populated I have seen a lot of houses with gates opening up into a national highway. How can anyone fix…

I don't know how it would be fixed, but in the west it would simply be forbidden to build a house driveway onto a highway. If the road is being upgraded into a highway, they would alter the driveway so it no longer connects to the highway: a service/access/frontage road, or some other route.

> it would simply be forbidden to build a house driveway onto a highway.

Sometimes the house comes first and then the highway is built later.

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From that proposal: "The housing crisis is often presented as a zero-sum conflict. More houses must be built to avoid rising homelessness, falling home ownership, and wider economic stagnation. But they can only be built by forcing them through against the will of local people, either by imposing high-rise on our historic centres, or by concreting over our countryside with more suburban housing estates. On this analy…

The more I read of this proposal the more I like it. It feels realistic. I feel like it properly addresses the reasons people oppose development and offers a practical way out of the bind.

I know right? Reading it is like a pleasant balm. Sensible and humane, especially compared to a lot of the other stuff the UK government gets up to nowadays. I really hope it gets through Second Reading in 2022.

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#394
post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we'd only drive there, despite it being, again, directly across the street That is just bizarre. And it's important to understand how inefficient this is to need a car to cross the street; you need parking space on this side, parking space on the other side, you need to get on and off the stroad, causing wear, interfering with and slowing down the other traffic, which is mostly through traffic that's not interested…

>And it's important to understand how inefficient this is to need a car to cross the street; you need parking space on this side, parking space on the other side, you need to get on and off the stroad, causing wear, interfering with and slowing down the other traffic, which is mostly through traffic that's not interested at all in your house or that Korean market. It's unbelievably inefficient. But is this inefficien…

> But is this inefficiency and resultant drag on prosperity balanced out by making the market more efficient to access for people up and down the road?

If the current configuration really is the most efficient, why does the government feel the need to mandate it (through parking minimums)? Wouldn't private interests build it anyway?

I think big parking lots can be justified sometimes. But what we now is not "build big parking lots when efficient", it's "build big parking lots everywhere, even when it's not needed".

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm so confused by the idea that Tokyo is somehow bike-centric. Perhaps there's another Tokyo somewhere in Japan that is not a subway-and-taxi centric metropolitan area where bikes are rarely seen. It's a pedestrian-friendly city, though, I'll give you that.

Tokyo has a far higher bike rate than any major American city: https://cityclock.org/blogs/cycling-mode-share-data-700-citi... Keep in mind that "Tokyo" isn't just the super dense, most central area of the metro. Tokyo technically covers a huge swathe of land, including towns that are basically suburbs. And while Japanese cities don't usually include much bike-specific infrastructure, in practice many of the narrow r…

I have spent a ton of time in Tokyo. I am fascinated by this. I actually suspect they are including the delivery bikes, which are not really the same thing, and the cited study, which I will try and track down, has poor data hygiene.

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#396
post #151
post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Well-designed cities don't rely on 18-wheelers When was the last time you saw a delivery to any restaurant or grocery store? They're almost all from 18 wheelers. Furniture store? 18 wheeler. Appliance, electronics...all still 18 wheelers. > cargo is then transshipped onto "street-sized" delivery vehicles for last-mile delivery to homes and retail shops. No, it's really not. Not in large US cities, at least.

That's the point. Most large US cities are not well-designed.

When was the last time you saw a delivery to any restaurant or grocery store in the US, large city or small that wasn't an 18 wheeler?

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tokyo has a far higher bike rate than any major American city: https://cityclock.org/blogs/cycling-mode-share-data-700-citi... Keep in mind that "Tokyo" isn't just the super dense, most central area of the metro. Tokyo technically covers a huge swathe of land, including towns that are basically suburbs. And while Japanese cities don't usually include much bike-specific infrastructure, in practice many of the narrow r…

I have spent a ton of time in Tokyo. I am fascinated by this. I actually suspect they are including the delivery bikes, which are not really the same thing, and the cited study, which I will try and track down, has poor data hygiene.

Hmm, I don’t really see why that wouldn’t count. Do car/truck work vehicles not count for car mode share?

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#398
post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just elitism, it's actual racism, quite simply. Can you imagine the outrage if it was "overweight, black trash, gang tattoos of aesthetics"?

It’s not the same. Black Americans are still fighting for their right to not get shot at by police. White America is seething that Trump had his election “stolen” from him and is scheming to put him back in power in 2024.

Don’t see how acceptability of racism follows from police shootings

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have spent a ton of time in Tokyo. I am fascinated by this. I actually suspect they are including the delivery bikes, which are not really the same thing, and the cited study, which I will try and track down, has poor data hygiene.

Hmm, I don’t really see why that wouldn’t count. Do car/truck work vehicles not count for car mode share?

Because they are basically strictly mopeds and not used for ordinary people.

The cited study there is unknown because it’s not actually cited.

Re: How do you fix a stroad?

#400
post #396
post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the point. Most large US cities are not well-designed.

When was the last time you saw a delivery to any restaurant or grocery store in the US, large city or small that wasn't an 18 wheeler?

I don't see how this refutes my point.
Post reply on HN