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Old cities suck. Their layout is literally derived from concentric walls to keep invaders out. I love the history and architecture, but from a usability perspec

• davidw 10y ago
  Plenty of Roman cities were laid out in a grid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_plan#Ancient_Roman_civilization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_plan#Ancient_Roman_civili... But in terms of the US, I'm talking more about stuff from around 100 years ago.
• rsajan 10y ago
  If by usability you mean ease of commuting then many old cities have been able to address this by building new infrastructure while preserving their character. Amsterdam is an old, concentric, beautiful and imo quite user friendly city (as long as you don't drive a car). Commuting is very easy either by bike, tram, metro, or train. For me the ideal city is both aesthetically pleasing and easy to get around (among many other things I'm omitting here). Make it beautiful and make it efficient. That's a challenge - but feasible.
• Ericson2314 10y ago
  Safety > Cleanliness was the argument back then (not to assume they know they were filthy). Take both of those out of the equation, and there are still other reasons for density.