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Walkable Streets Are More Economically Productive

strongtowns.org

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Re: Walkable Streets Are More Economically Productive

#31

Post by ebiester »

pxeboot wrote: post #12

I wonder what city will be the first to ban private cars and allow all streets to work this way.

You don't need to ban cars. You just need to design around people instead of cars. Remove parking minimums. Don't put on-street parking but rather leave it to the free market to handle parking solutions (Yes, that means people pay to park.) Subsidize public transit but road maintenance must be paid by automobile-based taxes. Don't require density, but always zone for the next bigger thing. (The neighborhood is single house? Allow duplexes and MIL units. Is that the neighborhood? Allow 3 story buildings. Don't go from single house to giant skyscrapers, but rather build incrementally bigger.)

That means that there will be fewer automobiles, fewer large roads, and less traffic, lending to more density and more maintainable infrastructure.

Re: Walkable Streets Are More Economically Productive

#32

Post by emodendroket »

roymckenzie wrote: post #26

Lol America. Where walkable streets are justified by economics and not humanities.

A lot of people enjoy their quiet suburban neighborhoods and don't have any particular desire to live in a dense city so to convince them these guys need to start talking about dire economic consequences.

Re: Walkable Streets Are More Economically Productive

#35

Post by emodendroket »

oftenwrong wrote: post #8
jnordwick wrote: post #2

> Streetscape enhancements add value to an area and are associated with higher rents and the attraction of new businesses. In addition there is good evidence to show that improving walking and cycling environments raises private property values by significant amounts. Nobody doubts this. Actually everybody sees this as the problem. I love NYC, but i also hate it. There is a price for density: crime, trash, prices, ov…

Density doesn't necessarily lead to those things. For example, Tokyo is very dense, but has a low level of crime, and is quite clean. Poverty is found in urban, suburban and rural areas. This same site has a good series of articles on suburban poverty: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/12/6/best-of-2016-s...

Yes, there's the one example everyone loves to trot out. Japan is different from the US in a lot of ways and we can't just wave a wand and turn New York into Tokyo (or Cleveland into Sapporo, for that matter).

Re: Walkable Streets Are More Economically Productive

#36

Post by baud147258 »

matt4077 wrote: post #21
jnordwick wrote: post #2

> Streetscape enhancements add value to an area and are associated with higher rents and the attraction of new businesses. In addition there is good evidence to show that improving walking and cycling environments raises private property values by significant amounts. Nobody doubts this. Actually everybody sees this as the problem. I love NYC, but i also hate it. There is a price for density: crime, trash, prices, ov…

> crime, trash, prices, overcrowding, urban decay, poverty and homelessness, etc. I fail to see how that description actually fits today's New York, or most other large US cities. It may have been true in the 80s. But just the change over time proves that these aren't necessary consequences of high density. You may also wish to take a walk around Paris, Venice, or Barcelona to see how attractive urban environments ca…

For Paris, you can also find ugly parts of urban environments, with the worst in the urban sprawl around the city.

Re: Walkable Streets Are More Economically Productive

#37

Post by jimmaswell »

crispyambulance wrote: post #15
_m8fo wrote: post #5

I've often wondered why somone moderately wealthy doesn't just start a super dense town, e.g. everything within 100 acres, and be within 10 miles of a major city. Create tons of these at a 50K people/sqmi density and implement some sort of hub spoke transportation with the major city being the hub and it could work!

That concept has already been implemented. Urban planners who practice it call it "new urbanism". It has been a mixed bag, but is better than the "malls-connected-by-highways" approach of many suburban development s.

Too much density decreases the quality of life. Overcrowdedness, very long waiting times at every establishment or government office, increased ease of pickpockets etc. to "disappear into the crowd", higher prices. You already see all this in many existing cities; you want that, but worse? I'll take malls connected by highways over that any day. Malls are nice and cars are a better experience than transit/walking in every facet besides the fact of not being able to web browse on a phone while doing it.

Re: Walkable Streets Are More Economically Productive

#38

Post by kuschku »

crispyambulance wrote: post #24
pxeboot wrote: post #12

I wonder what city will be the first to ban private cars and allow all streets to work this way.

"The first" was probably a town incorporated in the middle ages. Many towns in Europe that have public squares and donkey sized streets ban private cars in their historic cores (or limit them to special permits).

Even earlier. There are historic reports from rome during the time of the senate, banning carts in some streets and areas of the cities during certain times of the day.

Re: Walkable Streets Are More Economically Productive

#39

Post by emodendroket »

jimmywanger wrote: post #7
jnordwick wrote: post #2

> Streetscape enhancements add value to an area and are associated with higher rents and the attraction of new businesses. In addition there is good evidence to show that improving walking and cycling environments raises private property values by significant amounts. Nobody doubts this. Actually everybody sees this as the problem. I love NYC, but i also hate it. There is a price for density: crime, trash, prices, ov…

> There is a price for density: crime, trash, prices, overcrowding, urban decay, poverty and homelessness, etc. Density without strict oversight, perhaps. Hong Kong, Macau, and Singapore seem to be counterexamples.

Wow, so all we have to do is accept totalitarian rule? Where do I sign?

Re: Walkable Streets Are More Economically Productive

#40

Post by to3m »

crispyambulance wrote: post #24
pxeboot wrote: post #12

I wonder what city will be the first to ban private cars and allow all streets to work this way.

"The first" was probably a town incorporated in the middle ages. Many towns in Europe that have public squares and donkey sized streets ban private cars in their historic cores (or limit them to special permits).

There's minimal car access during business hours to the walled part of York: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York#Transport
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