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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

#171

Post by wpm »

rickydroll wrote: post #152
wpm wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine though, some people might not be able to afford a place with more sound-proofing. Mandating it doesn't magically make it free. This is how we ended up in the situation we have in the first place where its too expensive to get a roof over your head because of hundreds of little rules and stipulations. Would I prefer to sleep under a highway overpass or sleep in an apartment where the bedroom doesn't have a win…

Just because someone thinks they can stand higher noise levels doesn't mean they should. Urban noises and light levels are associated with a significant number of adverse health outcomes. Like food and medications, housing shouldn't compromise your health. The original start of this whole thread included a list of things the author wanted to see happen, which falls into the same category as legislating preferences, o…

The loudest thing I have to deal with living in Chicago is the roar of car traffic on Western Ave (at times it hits 80-90dB), fucking leaf blowers, and the shitheads on my block who floor their shitty dirt bikes every once in a while. Motors, usually internal combustion, make up the bulk of my noise floor.

I'd deal with having to hear the neighbors fighting every once in a while vs never having to hear some small-penised individual revving his stupid engine ever again. One way of getting closer to that is building more dense housing cheaper. If we're talking about urban noise floors, start at the real fucking problem.

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

#172

Post by HDThoreaun »

HEmanZ wrote: post #59
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.

How would you get groceries tho? Everyone would starve! (Ive had multiple family members who said this after I mentioned I didn’t have a car for 4 years while living in a major city)

I will say after not having a car for close to a decade and walking/biking everywhere who just recently left the city being able to drive to the grocery store has been really, really nice. I didnt even realize how much stress in my life was because of how much a pain in the ass walking to the grocery store was.

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

#173

Post by HDThoreaun »

_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.

The people who live in these areas dont want these things, and they control local politics. Typical hypocritical bullshit, "I can have my nice things but if anyone else does Ill be inconvenienced".

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

#174

Post by rafram »

abraxas wrote: post #51
cjbarber wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Me too. Do you mean USA cities or worldwide? I'm told that some of the most walkable cities worldwide are: Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Vienna, and Barcelona. Which other ones should be on there and which ones from USA? Devon also made this list: https://airtable.com/appcoaCeTbl22Few2/shrWJYzc04FQZIkP5

I visited Amsterdam this summer. It's amazing, almost eerie how you get off the train at Cetraal station and you are greeted by a city that is nearly silent. Instead of the usual groan of the combustion engines you just hear the gentle sounds of bicycle chains all around you.

> almost eerie how you get off the train at Cetraal station and you are greeted by a city that is nearly silent

This was exactly my experience. Blew my mind. I walked down a street that was being repaved, so there were construction vehicles actively tearing up the road surface, and it was still quieter than an average block on a normal day in New York City.

I think the lack of heavy HVAC equipment on every building helps too. Living in a mild climate has a lot of perks.

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

#176

Post by bpt3 »

rickydroll wrote: post #112
harmmonica wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you say is true to an extent, but I think you're underestimating a couple of things. First, some real estate developers enjoy very good margins, particularly those who purchase land, entitle the land and either build the improvements themselves or sell the land to someone who follows through with the construction. That is to say that even when prices/rents compress there tends to still be opportunity for develop…

The Substack article I linked in my previous post presents a compelling case for why and when builders stop building. Your position that we could fix that by removing regulations. I think that's not a wise course of action because many of the housing regulations are written in blood, and if you're going to eliminate regulations, you need to understand why they were there in the first place and how much blood is behin…

Things like the soundproofing regulation you are advocating for are written in blood?

And there is no example of oversupply not leading to price drops in residential construction. See every existing city with population declines as an example, or what happens in areas with growth when the increase in housing units exceeds household growth.

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

#178

Post by ahmeneeroe-v2 »

larrik wrote: post #170
ahmeneeroe-v2 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Greedy developers" is a signal someone doesn't know anything about real estate. It's up there with "late-stage capitalism" as a sure sign someone doesn't understand the subject matter.

Well, mother-in-law's developer collapsed in the middle of building their development, and managed to empty the escrow accounts using forgery and fraud on the way out the door. That's not really the same scale as what we're talking about here, so much, though. Being from Connecticut, this case comes to mind as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelo_v._City_of_New_London Where a developer planned some huge build, fo…

You named two developments vs the entirety of the modern physical world that you interact with every day.

Edit: also you misrepresented one of the examples. The developer did NOT use the power of eminent domain. The elected officials of the City of New London used eminent domain.

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

#179

Post by 1234letshaveatw »

marssaxman wrote: post #144
1234letshaveatw wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "walkability" obsessed are becoming insufferable

After you've had a taste of life in a walkable neighborhood, it is really hard to go back.

It's much harder to give up having a large piece of property

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

#180

Post by mikewarot »

marssaxman wrote: post #144
1234letshaveatw wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "walkability" obsessed are becoming insufferable

After you've had a taste of life in a walkable neighborhood, it is really hard to go back.

I live in a walkable neighborhood... I see people going past to use the trail at the end of the block all the time. There are plenty of food establishments within walking distance from me. The problem is there's one of THE major expressways through the US that goes around the southern end of Lake Michigan about 1 KM north of us, and our main street often, and unpredictably, is forced to handle most of that traffic.

I maintain we're in a special case, for just 3 roads (Ridge, Calumet, and 45th) walkability should only be a secondary concern, not the primary one.

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