5 ms·
Getting feet on the street is probably one of the most impactful things a city can do. It reduces pollution, improves the inhabitants' health, improves the loo
by fpgaminer 9y ago
Getting feet on the street is probably one of the most impactful things a city can do. It reduces pollution, improves the inhabitants' health, improves the look of the city (people will demand nicer neighborhoods if they have to walk through them), and it reduces crime (eyes watching).
My wife and I finally live somewhere with high walkability. It's wonderful, and highly underrated.
Of the many things that affect walkability, intersections aren't generally high on my list. But we do have one of these pedestrian scrambles near us and, as pedestrians, it _is_ a lot nicer. It has a rather large impact radius too: since it's the quickest way to get from the left side of the road to the right side (or vice versa), we can plan our walking path a couple blocks ahead and avoid having to cross at other intersections.
But like I said, intersections aren't high on my list for things that make cities pedestrian-friendly. Having quiet, nice looking side streets that connect all the various significant locations is the most important thing.
We avoid walking along major roads at all costs. For people who don't walk, it's hard to appreciate just how loud and droning busy streets can be. Walking along peaceful side streets is just that; peaceful. Miles can whiz by. But walking next to major streets is physically draining and turns the walk into a slog. Major streets also often lack big trees, which provide shaded respites during the walk in summer, and they're generally dull and give no flavor for the city.
The next important thing is having a good sprinkling of the necessities around: places to eat, stores, parks, etc. When things are close by, it's easy to convince yourself and others to walk instead of drive. "It's a beautiful day outside and this restaurant is only half a mile that way. Let's go for a walk!"
Walking around my city makes me feel more connected to it; adds a sense of pride. It gives you eyes on how the city is really doing; areas that are improving and areas that need help. Imagine if every denizen had that perspective!
And for programmers, like most of us here, I can't think of anything better. It gets you out of the chair, and walking is a great elucidator of thoughts and bugs.
- f4rker 9y ago>Getting feet on the street is probably one of the most impactful things a city can do. This is a very naive comment. Most people dont no want to walk 1 mile, let alone 2 or 3. Walking 1 mile takes almost 30 to 45 minutes. If the weather is PERFECT people are happy to walk a few blocks. But outside of that most people do not want to engage in serious walking. Many cities are not walk friendly due to their temps in summer or winter or both. Walking in 100 degree or 30 degree temp is very not fun. Walking serious distance CONSISTENTLY is also kind of rough on your feet, knees and hips. Bicycle friendliness is way better. Bikes are very cheap (the bike I ride full time cost $125) and even people with very low levels of fitness can easily bike 1 or 2 miles. 1 mile on a bike takes about 15 minutes or so. Cycling is very easy on the body and one can move a decent amount of goods/weight with relative ease. If you bike in 100 degree temps (I have for years) riding gives you a breeze. You dont realize how hot it is until you come to a stop. If you bike in 30 degree temps (I have for years) riding will warm you up. source : Have ridden and walked full time for 5+ years My grocery store round trip is 2.2 miles and Ive made that walk hundreds of times carrying groceries. The walk adds about 40+ minutes of time to the grocery store visit. It takes considerable effort and fitness and is not for the meek. The same trip on a bike is much faster and much easier.
- ant6n 9y agoTransit is also a very big component in making a walkable city, and mixed use zoning. These can come together by creating more dense mixed use centers around transit stations, forming many little town centers -- and overall a polycentric city. Then many people will have services, shops and commercial activity (jobs) within raking distance, as well as the means to reach other centers or downtown quickly.
- brewdad 9y agoMixed use zoning is my biggest frustration with the suburb I currently live in. The city has done a nice job of increasing density to levels approaching that of the the "big city" we share a metro area with. The trouble lies with the fact that sq mile areas still tend to be entirely residential or commercial with no intermixing. This leads to driving since there is no good way to walk to shops or restaurants. It could be so much better.
- Arcanum-XIII 9y agoHonnestly, I'm not convinced about your argument, because creating a walk only part on a previously mixed road requires lot of planning and motivation beforehand, otherwise it's just a failure. The previous mayor of Brussels city imposed it on one of the major road in the center — a wide, full of shop road. They did not put the hard work upfront, so it's mostly a closed road for not so obvious reason with some crummy decoration "waiting for improvement some days in the future". What was a busy neighbourhood is turning quite nasty : it's ugly, shop are closing because people don't have way to get to them, insecurity is on the rise, incivility coming from cyclist are way up, emergency services are complaining about access — so the only "advantage" is the reduced pollution in this specific street. Traffic hasn't reduced otherwise, it's just elsewhere clogging more street than usual. So I'm not convinced it's the perfect answer : it's probably part of the answer, but city planning need to change so it could be done properly and we're not there yet.
- TulliusCicero 9y agoWalking along arterials doesn't have to be bad. I moved from the states to Munich, here walking is soooo much nicer, because the sidewalks on the arterials are generally wider, and there's usually more separation between the sidewalk and cars (often a bike path and/or tree/grass line).
- undersuit 9y agoI wish my city was more proactive about pedestrians, but they allowed the city to grow for years without sidewalks in our residential areas, and we can't even pass legislation to get the small amount of sidewalks we do have cleaned of snow and ice in the winter. Only the oldest parts of the city are walkable, newer parts of the city you just walk on the side of the road and people give you odd looks.
- cvigoe 9y agoAnyone interested in nature in cities, urban planning and new urbanism should vhe l out "Happy City" by Charles Montgomery. A really enjoyable read.