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

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

nathenry.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

371–380 of 398 posts

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

#371

Post by ianburrell »

Pxtl wrote: post #87
jrochkind1 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is that most USA urban neighborhoods in, say, 1960 (or 1930), met the 15 minute criteria. Still, I'd guess you'd be right that it would be enormously expensive and difficult to bring this back. But it was once this way, and it was human decisions that made it not this way. If we want it to be this way again and start, it can be eventually.

Imho it was pre-war when it peaked. You look at rust-belt cities that were designed to be suburban but transit-oriented and you see a good balance; 3-bedroom houses where everybody has a back-yard but not necessarily a driveway, and the cities were irrigated with street-cars. Minor arteries would have corner stores and there were local shopping districts.

One reason Seattle does well on walkability is that it has a lot of streetcar suburbs.

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

#372

Post by seanmcdirmid »

teucris wrote: post #114

Incredible analysis! As a Seattleite I can say the conclusions here are very close to accurate, with the key additional note being that distance is not the only thing that defines walkability. Seattle has some of the most confounding civil engineering I’ve ever seen, and I’ve lived in five cities and visited dozens more. Here are some things that make a pedestrian life near impossible in my neighborhood: - two high-t…

Not to mention highway 99 where the pedestrians are just as crazy, if not more so, than the motorists. The guy coasting down the highway in a shopping cart takes the cake.

I put a lot of thought into the house I bought in Ballard, my kid won’t have to cross a four lane road (15th) till he hits high-school.

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

#373

Post by seanmcdirmid »

jdeibele wrote: post #340
mulmen wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Washington takes privacy and the presumption of innocence seriously. You can read the relevant state law here: https://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.63.170 . The cameras can't take pictures of the driver or occupants and court time is accrued when anyone other than the registered owner committed the infraction: (f) Automated traffic safety cameras may only take pictures of the vehicle and vehicle license p…

Oregon has a slightly different approach: the photograph has to show the driver. They then mail a notice to the registered owner. The last I knew, it was possible to say "no, that's not me" without being required to say who it was. You do have to send in a copy of your driver's license so they can (presumably) compare the two photos. https://www.portland.gov/police/divisions/photo-enforcement makes it sound like a bu…

In Beijing, the infractions are attached to the vehicle, and you have to pay all your fines on the plate before you can renew your registration every year.

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

#374

Post by seanmcdirmid »

hinkley wrote: post #270
teucris wrote: post #114

Incredible analysis! As a Seattleite I can say the conclusions here are very close to accurate, with the key additional note being that distance is not the only thing that defines walkability. Seattle has some of the most confounding civil engineering I’ve ever seen, and I’ve lived in five cities and visited dozens more. Here are some things that make a pedestrian life near impossible in my neighborhood: - two high-t…

Stuck in traffic I often wondered why downtown Seattle is in the worst spot possible on the east side of Puget Sound. For a small town it's a fine spot, for a major metropolitan area it's right at the chokepoint of a narrow north-south corridor. That may be one of the reasons. If you're in Kent and you want to sell strawberries to Everett you basically have to go through Seattle. The other is that Seattle originally…

You can take 405 to bypass Seattle, but these days that’s hardly any better. Just two north south corridors to consider.

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

#375

Post by seanmcdirmid »

ahoy wrote: post #89
kortilla wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has any city been able to do that? With the current hands-off punishment of theft, stores have multiple incentives working against them to open in low income neighborhoods.

Retail theft as a new/major issue is mostly a lie, told by corporations and parroted by the media who love a crimewave story, even if its fabricated. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/business/walgreens-shopli...

No it’s not. My local grocery store has incidents hourly, heck, you can get lucky and see it for yourself where some guy just walks out with a basket full of stuff (security can’t really stop them given liability). If it were fabricated, we wouldn’t see it happen in person so much.

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

#376

Post by seanmcdirmid »

insane_dreamer wrote: post #216
kortilla wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has any city been able to do that? With the current hands-off punishment of theft, stores have multiple incentives working against them to open in low income neighborhoods.

Is there a problem with thievery of apples, oranges, asparagus and beetroots? I don't have the numbers but I would bet money that most store thievery is cigarettes, alcohol, maybe sodas, and small electronics, pills at CVS, etc. So no, I don't think theft is the major factor.

Laundry detergent, baby milk powder are pretty popular if they aren’t locked up already. QFC in Capitol Hill had to lock up ice creams which is surprising to me since it can’t be fenced. Lego’s are popular at local neighborhood Targets, they were being fenced at Pike Place Market for awhile. I saw some lady buying up shop lifted paper towels on third and pine once when waiting for the bus (before they closed the stop down last year). I’m like WTF, really? If it isn’t perishable, it’s probably fair game.

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

#377

Post by whateveracct »

poly_morphis wrote: post #297
whateveracct wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a lot of fun places a 20-ish minute drive from Seattle. It's definitely worth it to have a car. And Tacoma is only 45 minutes away.

What's in Tacoma that would warrant a 45-minute drive?

It's just a cool place to hang out for a day. Many great restaurants, interesting and cool stores, museums, live music, a cool ae-card, other attractions, a great zoo, a great waterfront.

Olympia's got cool stuff too but it's not as close. It's close to Tacoma though.

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

#378

Post by teucris »

loeg wrote: post #362
dweinus wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately so. There are some egregious ones up there like that, but also if you step one block off of any major thoroughfare the sidewalk ends, yet there is still consistent traffic. This includes streets that connect schools, libraries, parks, etc. There were 271 pedestrian injuries in Seattle last year, 17 were fatal. Source: https://remoteapps.wsdot.wa.gov/highwaysafety/collision/data...

> There are some egregious ones up there like that, but also if you step one block off of any major thoroughfare the sidewalk ends, yet there is still consistent traffic. Sure, but again, those streets by and large did not feel unsafe to me (on foot). > There were 271 pedestrian injuries in Seattle last year, 17 were fatal. This datapoint is just not responsive to the discussion, unless you're saying those injuries h…

> Sure, but again, those streets by and large did not feel unsafe to me (on foot).

I’m not sure about you or your situation but feelings of safety vary wildly among people. As a parent of young children, sharing a street with cars does not instill a feeling of safety unless visibility is astoundingly good.

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

#379

Post by teucris »

loeg wrote: post #363
teucris wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are dozens of pockets of streets with no sidewalks that seem safe until you find that they are significant overflow routes (of which there are many given Seattle’s various traffic struggles)

I was curious if you had any examples in mind.

- Beacon Ave and adjoining streets west of Kubota gardens

- Renton Ave and adjoining streets north of Genesee St

- Several blocks east and west of Greenwood Ave north of 105th St

- Multiple areas around NE 95th St north of Wedgewood

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

#380

Post by doktorhladnjak »

dag11 wrote: post #328
marssaxman wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Street traffic is allowed through Pike Place Market because the vendors want it that way. The Market is an irreplaceable treasure and I think we generally ought to support the preferences of the people who make it work, for fear of "fixing what ain't broke". How much damage can drivers do at 1 MPH, anyway?

Do the vendors specifically want cars as a whole, or specifically their cars and delivery vehicles? We could allow just the latter, and prohibit cars that aren't in service of the market. Similar to the "Healthy Streets." The rules won't be 100% honored of course, but it'd likely reduce a substantial amount of the traffic there. Especially if towing is on the table for non-Market-affiliated cars parked there.

The vendors want cars in that street because otherwise pedestrians would walk down it instead of on the narrow sidewalk which goes right by their businesses. They literally want the traffic so that people are more likely to go into their shops.
Post reply on HN