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The 15-Minute City: Where Urban Planning Meets Conspiracy Theories

nytimes.com

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Re: The 15-Minute City: Where Urban Planning Meets Conspiracy Theories

#21
post #13

Remember the conspiracy theory that the present administration wanted to ban gas stoves? It was a lie. They only want to ban half of them, and it wasn't even the President, it's an agency - https://www.eenews.net/articles/doe-rule-may-block-50-of-new...

Huh? The DOE works for the president, and if you read the article you posted, the 50% number is dubious.

Re: The 15-Minute City: Where Urban Planning Meets Conspiracy Theories

#22
post #10

[flagged]

Urban sprawl was official US Government policy from the end of WW2 until only fairly recently. It's not the natural order of things. Toll free interstate highways, government underwritten mortgages. Suburbs are attractive with those interventions. At the local level strict zoning still chokes off housing construction and mandated minimum parking results in the majority of urban land sitting idle ready for peak parking demand one day a year instead of actual use as a destination.

Re: The 15-Minute City: Where Urban Planning Meets Conspiracy Theories

#23
post #7

In the most-detailed example of such initiatives described in the article, the steps taken in Oxford include ALPR-camera-triggered automated fines for driving on certain roadways at certain times of certain days to those "without a permit" (who is eligible for the special permits, how eligibility is determined, etc. is not discussed) and actual blocking of other streets using bollards (and heavy planters and other ob…

This is not that different from neighborhoods that ban through through truck traffic, or only allow residents to park curbside. There is a fundamental trade-off between favoring people transiting through an area and residents. As someone traveling through you want wide straight roads with high speed limits. As a resident through traffic burdens you with pedestrian danger, air pollution, noise, and more crashes. So yo…

it becomes different when there is automated, remote enforcement associated with fines

Re: The 15-Minute City: Where Urban Planning Meets Conspiracy Theories

#26
post #7

In the most-detailed example of such initiatives described in the article, the steps taken in Oxford include ALPR-camera-triggered automated fines for driving on certain roadways at certain times of certain days to those "without a permit" (who is eligible for the special permits, how eligibility is determined, etc. is not discussed) and actual blocking of other streets using bollards (and heavy planters and other ob…

I didn't get the controversy in the article until I saw the camera-based enforcement, restricted access, etc. I lived in a "15 minute city" in downtown Boston, MA (USA) for quite some time and it worked very well, even without restriction.

Re: The 15-Minute City: Where Urban Planning Meets Conspiracy Theories

#27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Driving through a park is already prohibited. The initiative is describing paved roadways. In Oxford, the ability to drive on particular existing streets (streets, not parkland) is to be turned into a privilege, allegedly at certain times on certain days, and those who use those existing roadways without having new, specific permits will be automatically fined. From the article: Officials in Oxford approved a plan la…

You're still not actually describing a conspiracy though are you? And it is standard for roads to stop being roads, to become limited or no access to vehicles etc. Suddenly we're meant to think the illuminate are behind the fact only the park staff can drive through the park or only local residents can park in some places. But it's not true. Just say "I like driving and want to drive a lot". There is no need to prete…

>There is no need to pretend that the UN and GoldmanSachs are plotting against you!?

Plotting against me? Nonsense. At best I'm just a number to them. In reality I'm probably not even that, I'm part of a statistic. They don't give two shits about me, about what god I worship, about what drugs I do, about how I spend my day, about any of it, so long as the dollars flow.

I am far, far more concerned about some jerk in some high class neighborhood who lives 15mi from me who has delusions of thinking they know what's best for the world and the money to take a good crack at implementing their fantasy to the detriment of everyone outside their bubble.

(The above is in general and is not specific to urban planning or any other social or economic issue)

Re: The 15-Minute City: Where Urban Planning Meets Conspiracy Theories

#29

The role of large cities has typically been to act as an economic and cultural hub to their surrounding area. Cities that restrict access for outsiders to their economic and cultural areas will probably thrive in the short-term, but over the long term I suspect they will be replaced in their role as a regional hub by cities that don't.

Automobile dependent zoning regulations favor making driving easy to the detriment to everything else. Entire neighborhoods were bulldozed to make room for highways. Preserving unlimited free parking comes at the expense of rent zooming up due to the new supply of real estate being blocked. There are other ways for people to get downtown. Parking can be pushed to the periphery of the business & entertainment district…

The root cause is the hubris to think we can "centrally plan but not really" utopia with these sorts of broad brush regulatory and carrot/stick policy changes.

Suburban sprawl (though they had different words for it) was very much the "15-minute city" urban planning buzzword of its day.

As an aside sidewalks are SOP these days in all but the most rural of road projects so progress is being made.

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