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Is Seattle a 15-minute city? It depends on where you want to walk

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Re: Is Seattle a 15-minute city? It depends on where you want to walk

#91

Post by duxup »

dublinben wrote: post #66
duxup wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup, kids busing to school is very common in the US too. I agree about a bus stop. Heck even suburban schools around me are trying to stop everyone from dropping off their kid with their car in person. It's just a hassle / traffic.

That’s the inevitable consequence of the local decisions that have made it dangerous or impossible to walk to school. Many school districts then see an opportunity to save money by charging families to ride the bus. Ergo, massive traffic jams of parents individually driving kids to school.

The suburban schools I’m thinking of are perfectly walkable.

There’s also ample bussing.

The parents just want to pick their kids up.

Re: Is Seattle a 15-minute city? It depends on where you want to walk

#92

Post by TurkishPoptart »

As the mental health and drug crisis grows, I simply don't want to walk anywhere, and don't want my family walking places. Plus, it's incredibly inconvenient to do grocery shopping on foot. Yes, I know that people do it and it's possible and I've done it when living elsewhere.

Still, this 15-minute city is an initiative created by the WEF which should be ignored and not implemented. If the WEF is so concerned about the "carbon footprint" of regular citizens driving to work and to the store, a much more effective solution would be to ban private jets. Bill Gates' flight to Davos on a private jet (to urge people to eat fake meat) exhausts more carbon in one trip than my family's entire car usage.

Re: Is Seattle a 15-minute city? It depends on where you want to walk

#93

Post by dsfyu404ed »

logifail wrote: post #32
trillic wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're called food deserts and they exist all over the United States. Even in big cities. They are not the same as a food dessert.

> They're called food deserts and they exist all over the United States. Even in big cities. Wiki (sorry) appears to define that as "an area that has limited access to affordable and nutritious food" I appreciate their point, but "no grocery store" really isn't the same as "limited access to affordable and nutritious food".

>no grocery store" really isn't the same as "limited access to affordable and nutritious food".

Without a grocery store you are at best in a "pick one" situation, at least in the US.

Re: Is Seattle a 15-minute city? It depends on where you want to walk

#94

Post by dabbledash »

duxup wrote: post #70
dabbledash wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's possible that we lost this because, while people do genuinely like it, they like quiet, space, and privacy more.

Is there something that tells us that those traits are specific to white people?

I think you misread me? I said "while people like those things" Maybe you read "white people like those things"?

Re: Is Seattle a 15-minute city? It depends on where you want to walk

#95

Post by jimmaswell »

allturtles wrote: post #65
hammock wrote: post #38

The way “supermarkets” are in the US, I don’t WANT to be a 15 minute walk from one. They are usually surrounded by a mile of blacktop and concrete, for all the drive-in shoppers in the front and all the trucks offloading goods or picking up deliveries in the back. Would much rather be near a decent small or midsize grocery with no or limited off-street parking, and which receives its deliveries on the street in the e…

This comment seems to be based on a misconception of what "supermarket" means. These days supermarket pretty much == grocery store. The grocery stores that existed before supermarkets (with limited selection, probably no meat department, maybe no self-service, maybe no prices listed on the items) don't exist anymore. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarket . edit: this is in a U.S. context, I don't know how the…

Does this fit your definition of the kind of grocery store that doesn't exist anymore? They have a few misc. items, but it's almost all just food, and a fairly small building.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/KSnn5Fq37DQwiSpAA

Re: Is Seattle a 15-minute city? It depends on where you want to walk

#96

Post by JieJie »

hammock wrote: post #38

The way “supermarkets” are in the US, I don’t WANT to be a 15 minute walk from one. They are usually surrounded by a mile of blacktop and concrete, for all the drive-in shoppers in the front and all the trucks offloading goods or picking up deliveries in the back. Would much rather be near a decent small or midsize grocery with no or limited off-street parking, and which receives its deliveries on the street in the e…

That's actually what kills walkability in my neighborhood, the ridiculous acreage of parking lots in North Seattle near 130th and Aurora Ave. Most of my neighbors are in senior housing and are pretty much afraid to cross the street, so the three grocery stores a block away might as well be on the moon.

Re: Is Seattle a 15-minute city? It depends on where you want to walk

#97

Post by ahoy »

david927 wrote: post #34
jgwil2 wrote: post #9

Really neat visualization. Would love to see it for other cities (perhaps Paris would be a good one for comparison, since it's touted as the fifteen-minute city par excellence).

I don't see how Paris is the best example. I would nominate Zurich. Strangely, I live with my wife and daughter in Boise, Idaho and we don't own a car. The high school, my work, grocery stores, etc. are all within a short walk.

Almost every town in the US used to have these kinds of livable zones. Every "historic downtown" used to be a place where people lived and worked. You'd walk to the pharmacy, or the hardware store, or the grocery. You could live your whole live without a car payment yoked around your neck.

It bums me out that we had that taken from us. I'm glad you found one of the places where you can still make it work!

Re: Is Seattle a 15-minute city? It depends on where you want to walk

#98

Post by mtalantikite »

hammock wrote: post #38

The way “supermarkets” are in the US, I don’t WANT to be a 15 minute walk from one. They are usually surrounded by a mile of blacktop and concrete, for all the drive-in shoppers in the front and all the trucks offloading goods or picking up deliveries in the back. Would much rather be near a decent small or midsize grocery with no or limited off-street parking, and which receives its deliveries on the street in the e…

It's different in most parts of NYC, they're more like what you're describing as wanting (and I agree with you). The original supermarket in my neighborhood, about a block away, has no parking and a loading zone in front of it to receive shipments. I've always liked these regular NYC supermarkets.

A Whole Foods moved in down the street a few years back and they do have a parking garage under the building, but I'd guess most customers aren't using that. I wouldn't be mad if it went away tomorrow though.

We're of course a very different city than pretty much all other cities in the US, as we're not at all car dependent in most parts of the city.

Re: Is Seattle a 15-minute city? It depends on where you want to walk

#99

Post by costcofries »

hammock wrote: post #38

The way “supermarkets” are in the US, I don’t WANT to be a 15 minute walk from one. They are usually surrounded by a mile of blacktop and concrete, for all the drive-in shoppers in the front and all the trucks offloading goods or picking up deliveries in the back. Would much rather be near a decent small or midsize grocery with no or limited off-street parking, and which receives its deliveries on the street in the e…

I'm not American but I really agree with this comment. Each time I do go to America, everything just feels very.. American. Lots of concrete, big vast spaces of industrial, roads that seem far too wide and just overall very, overwhelming and big.

Just my personal observations of course.

Re: Is Seattle a 15-minute city? It depends on where you want to walk

#100

Post by ghaff »

mikeyouse wrote: post #79
ghaff wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing the income criteria is satisfied in a lot of rural areas however.

Yeah, you're not wrong, here's the 2010 map; https://assets.aecf.org/m/blogimg/blog-exploringamericasfood...

That map looks to me as if it's much more about poorer rural areas that are more than 10 miles from a grocery store than inner cities.
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