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A list of changes to make it easier to build beautiful and walkable places

chrisbarber.co

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Re: A list of changes to make it easier to build beautiful and walkable places

#121

Post by barbazoo »

Aurornis wrote: post #104
bix6 wrote: post #15

My dream is for my section of my town to ban cars. It’s already heavy pedestrian but if the cars went away (and everyone had to walk or e-bike or mobility scooter in the zone) it would be a utopia. Sure there’d be some issues to address and frustrations but we’d figure it out. The net would be amazingly positive.

> (and everyone had to walk or e-bike or mobility scooter in the zone) E-bikes are very popular where I live. At first it was great to see people of all ages out biking everywhere. But now everyone has started modifying their e-bikes to be overpowered and not require any pedaling. A lot of the cheap e-bikes have trivial procedures to unlock the power limit. Anyone who can search Reddit can figure out what to buy and…

The problem is people not cars or bikes because we rarely take into account how what we do affects other people. Riding my bike, I try to always consider the delta in speed between me and other folks. Sure I can speed along the walkway if there's no one else but as soon as there are or could be people around, I better slow down. Not only for safety but also to reduce stress on whoever is slower. Maybe we're too focussed on ourselves, maybe our community has broken down, maybe we don't consider each other real fellow humans.

Re: A list of changes to make it easier to build beautiful and walkable places

#122

Post by barbazoo »

potato3732842 wrote: post #71
_fat_santa wrote: post #39

I don't know why more municipalities don't jump on this. In my area (I live in the US) we have a number of neighborhoods that are very walk-able and they are consistently the most competitive areas for housing. In all the spots, homes are expensive and that's even if they make it on the market because hardly anyone wants to sell when they live in a place like this.

Because it's not actually politically tractable. Pretty much every one of these proposals has some implied back side or quiet part you don't say out loud to it that the exact same people who like the sound of walkability in the abstract would be unwilling to make. Think about how many people who support this stuff would be screaming bloody murder if some developer bought their neighbor's lot and coordinated with some…

> Think about how many people who support this stuff would be screaming bloody murder if some developer bought their neighbor's lot and coordinated with some other local developers to submit all their proposals for the most hard to approve stuff right at thanksgiving to take advantage of all the sped up paperwork and limits on how long government can sit on things and then built right up to the sidewalk.

Maybe show some of the negatives, your example as is doesn't sound that controversial.

Re: A list of changes to make it easier to build beautiful and walkable places

#123

Post by iambateman »

hexis wrote: post #82
iambateman wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come on down! Columbia SC is experiencing a bit of a renaissance…there’s growth all over the city and a lot of optimism. Life isn’t perfect, and we have serious problems like any other city, but I took my kids bike riding through downtown yesterday evening and felt safe.

I am glad you are enjoying it, but Columbia, SC has an extremely high murder rate, even for the US which in general has terribly high murder rates.

Unfortunately, we do. For various historical and demographic reasons, my exposure to this risk is extremely low. But yes, it is a massive problem.

Re: A list of changes to make it easier to build beautiful and walkable places

#124

Post by iambateman »

gishglish wrote: post #83
iambateman wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come on down! Columbia SC is experiencing a bit of a renaissance…there’s growth all over the city and a lot of optimism. Life isn’t perfect, and we have serious problems like any other city, but I took my kids bike riding through downtown yesterday evening and felt safe.

Is it doing better than 5-6 years ago? I lived there for a few years, and while the river walks were very pleasant, I don’t have much to say about it particularly otherwise. The job market was pretty bad, basically limiting you to State gov or one of the handful of insurance companies around and state government work is rough (easily the most fulfilling job I’ve had, but the salary was just way too low. Seems hard to…

Better, yes. The market has grown a ton, and was ranked #1 in the country recently. Our tax base is weak, which makes it hard to compete with GVL and CHS, plus we have worse weather.

But the Bull Street district is in a totally different place from when you were here, which creates a feeling of “coming liveliness.”

Also Scout Motors is dropping a multi billion dollar plant in Columbia which will help job market

Definitely not Greenville, but we are getting there.

Re: A list of changes to make it easier to build beautiful and walkable places

#125

Post by supplied_demand »

hexis wrote: post #9

These are all great, I love city life and would embrace every single item, but without addressing the dramatic decline in public safety in virtually all US cities, none of these will matter at all.

== without addressing the dramatic decline in public safety in virtually all US cities==

Can you expand on this? What timeframe? Which cities? Which crimes?

Violent crime is down precipitously in pretty much every US city right now.

Re: A list of changes to make it easier to build beautiful and walkable places

#126

Post by CGMthrowaway »

bix6 wrote: post #15

My dream is for my section of my town to ban cars. It’s already heavy pedestrian but if the cars went away (and everyone had to walk or e-bike or mobility scooter in the zone) it would be a utopia. Sure there’d be some issues to address and frustrations but we’d figure it out. The net would be amazingly positive.

We don't need to "ban" cars, removing parking minimums effectively does this in a friendlier way while allowing for some vehicles (only the most necessary) and vehicles where they are most needed (businesses will still build parking, just not a "required" excessive amount).

In fact removing parking minimums would probably do 50% of the work of this whole list. Combine that with mixed-use zoning, more units per lot (including reducing FAR/height limits) and narrower streets, and dare I say you are 80-90% of the way there. It only takes a few high-impact changes.

Re: A list of changes to make it easier to build beautiful and walkable places

#127

Post by hombre_fatal »

CGMthrowaway wrote: post #126
bix6 wrote: post #15

My dream is for my section of my town to ban cars. It’s already heavy pedestrian but if the cars went away (and everyone had to walk or e-bike or mobility scooter in the zone) it would be a utopia. Sure there’d be some issues to address and frustrations but we’d figure it out. The net would be amazingly positive.

We don't need to "ban" cars, removing parking minimums effectively does this in a friendlier way while allowing for some vehicles (only the most necessary) and vehicles where they are most needed (businesses will still build parking, just not a "required" excessive amount). In fact removing parking minimums would probably do 50% of the work of this whole list. Combine that with mixed-use zoning, more units per lot (i…

Since they specify a section of their city, I think they just mean fully pedestrianizing that section by blocking off some streets with bollards, letting people roam the full street, letting restaurants put out tables.

While you're talking about how to transform a city more systemically.

It is kinda crazy to see parts of cities where hundreds of people are confined to sidewalks on a Friday night waiting to cross a street for the convenience of a tiny fraction of people who insist on driving. Every city has at least a few blocks that make sense to block off from cars.

Re: A list of changes to make it easier to build beautiful and walkable places

#128

Post by supplied_demand »

hexis wrote: post #54
chaps wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chicago, friend. :) I'm reminded of being on an airplane sitting next to a cop who told me, "Did you know that Chicago is the murder capitol of the world?". It was fun to show her that Chicago isn't actually even in the top 10 of the US in terms of homicide. Where do you get your news from that makes you think crime is going up?

I get my information about dangerous public spaces with my eyes, ears, and memory that it used to be safer very recently.

Chicago has had fewer shootings this year than any time in at least a decade. There are plenty of news articles on it if you care to read up. Those of us who actually live here can visibly notice the difference.

[0] https://news.wttw.com/2025/07/11/shootings-homicides-chicago...

[1] https://chicagocrusader.com/violent-crime-in-chicago-sees-bi...

[2] https://www.wbez.org/cpd/2025/05/01/chicago-hasnt-seen-an-ap...

Re: A list of changes to make it easier to build beautiful and walkable places

#129

Post by wpm »

potato3732842 wrote: post #71
_fat_santa wrote: post #39

I don't know why more municipalities don't jump on this. In my area (I live in the US) we have a number of neighborhoods that are very walk-able and they are consistently the most competitive areas for housing. In all the spots, homes are expensive and that's even if they make it on the market because hardly anyone wants to sell when they live in a place like this.

Because it's not actually politically tractable. Pretty much every one of these proposals has some implied back side or quiet part you don't say out loud to it that the exact same people who like the sound of walkability in the abstract would be unwilling to make. Think about how many people who support this stuff would be screaming bloody murder if some developer bought their neighbor's lot and coordinated with some…

Hi there, I support this stuff and would not care in the slightest if someone built right up to the sidewalk because literally, who gives a shit?

All my favorite places have their buildings built right up to the sidewalk! ITS GOOD! I'm tired of pretending it's not! What are we afraid of? Oh no! There isn't a pointlessly small patch of astroturf out front?

I would be happy that people are building on all of their available land because it is scarce and it makes the units bigger.

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