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Has nothing to do with wealth and everything with zoning laws. If there's mixed use, enough density to justify good public transport then cities without cars th

Has nothing to do with wealth and everything with zoning laws. If there's mixed use, enough density to justify good public transport then cities without cars thrive (just like they did before cars were invented). Your "observation" outs you as someone that spent most of his life in the US where most cities were designed around cars. US cities are awful, by the way. Imagine this: a bunch of folks come to a completely unexploited continent, rape and pillage until they ran out of land and then proceeded to create one of the most unhealthy societies ever. It's easy to be economically successful when there's tons of resources and nobody to share them with, the true measure of a society it's how most of their people live: without public healthcare, no welfare protections, lonely, stressed out, sicker than their european counterparts.

sideshowb 8y ago
You're right that Euro style compact cities are better than urban sprawl, though plenty of people still own cars in them, and those who don't still benefit from the option of doing so should they choose. I'm not saying it can't work at all, I'm saying there is a risk of unintended consequences if you take that option away, and that risk should be considered/managed. Your rant against the US, while it has some merits, is misdirected at me; I have lived in Europe all my life and cycled to work for around 20 years (alas no longer). Perhaps my post outs me as someone who grew up in a rural area in a country that invests poorly in public transport (1 bus per day to the village, how's that supposed to work for shopping?) and as an adult I have hobbies which require transporting equipment to remote locations (e.g. mountain biking, mountaineering, performing musician). I can't see myself enjoying the well being benefits those things bring me and my family without regular ability to drive a car to our door.

sideshowb 8y ago

You're right that Euro style compact cities are better than urban sprawl, though plenty of people still own cars in them, and those who don't still benefit from the option of doing so should they choose. I'm not saying it can't work at all, I'm saying there is a risk of unintended consequences if you take that option away, and that risk should be considered/managed. Your rant against the US, while it has some merits, is misdirected at me; I have lived in Europe all my life and cycled to work for around 20 years (alas no longer). Perhaps my post outs me as someone who grew up in a rural area in a country that invests poorly in public transport (1 bus per day to the village, how's that supposed to work for shopping?) and as an adult I have hobbies which require transporting equipment to remote locations (e.g. mountain biking, mountaineering, performing musician). I can't see myself enjoying the well being benefits those things bring me and my family without regular ability to drive a car to our door.