4 ms·

I haven't been to Times Square in a while, but I have to assume that's a good example of a busy pedestrian zone in America.

TulliusCicero 8y ago
I wouldn't say so. It felt more accidental to me than anything else. Like they just took a place designed for cars, shut the cars out, and yeah it's busy because it's in NYC and there's plenty of density and shops, but the actual urban design itself still felt largely bad and dumb. Maybe it's changed since I've been, though.
- romwell 8y ago
  > Like they just took a place designed for cars NYC was developed in its current form, with high-rises and all, well before cars were commonplace[1]. So no, they didn't take a place designed for cars, and yes, that's why it actually works when you take the cars out of the equation again. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_New_York_City#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_N...
  - TulliusCicero 8y ago
    > NYC was developed in its current form, with high-rises and all, well before cars were commonplace[1]. Ha, no it was not. Oh, it was originally developed sans cars, that's true. But that's not the same thing as its current form. Cities are continually being redeveloped after all. You think Amsterdam was always so bike-friendly? Try googling for what it was like in the early 70's, before the "Stop De Kindermoord" campaign.
    - romwell 8y ago
      Please do tell how NYC has been radically re-developed since 1920's.
dylan604 8y ago
There are examples of this working in other cities. The 3rd St Promenade in Santa Monica comes to mind.
- enjo 8y ago
  The 16th street mall in Denver and the Pearl Street Promenade in Boulder for two more examples.
kevin_thibedeau 8y ago
Times square is basically just a tourist trap and not representative of a commercial zone that serves the local residential population. Locals are only there because of the transit access.
- romwell 8y ago
  > Locals are only there because of the transit access. Spoiler: that's one of the major reasons why city centers work. Transportation hubs are also commercial hubs.
  - ajmurmann 8y ago
    Almost off topic: that to me was one of the most interesting learnings from playing Second Life. Because you could teleport anywhere, location only mattered for having a view. There were hardly any interesting clusters of structures. This made it hard to organically discover fun stuff. If the world hadn't had teleportation from anywhere to anywhere but some kind of portal system, I think it would have been way more interesting.
- Wowfunhappy 8y ago
  Native NYC'er here, I absolutely go to Times Square. For starters, it's where most of the largest broadway shows are! In terms of shopping, the stores are all chains, so nothing is "unique" per se. However, getting to Times Square is super convenient because it's a transit hub.
  - MetallicCloud 8y ago
    Really? I only lived in NYC for 2.5 years, and even I avoided Times Square like the plague. The only time I ever went there was to show it to out of town friends, and even then it was begrudgingly.
- CPLX 8y ago
  > Locals are only there because of the transit access. Plus the fact that there are probably 150,000+ jobs within a three block radius.
Ericson2314 8y ago
The tourist hordes make the comparison harder; it's a whole nother form of foot traffic. But Broadway from Columbus circle to Union square is almost car free, so the non-Times Square portions are probably a better example.

TulliusCicero 8y ago

I wouldn't say so. It felt more accidental to me than anything else. Like they just took a place designed for cars, shut the cars out, and yeah it's busy because it's in NYC and there's plenty of density and shops, but the actual urban design itself still felt largely bad and dumb. Maybe it's changed since I've been, though.

romwell 8y ago
> Like they just took a place designed for cars NYC was developed in its current form, with high-rises and all, well before cars were commonplace[1]. So no, they didn't take a place designed for cars, and yes, that's why it actually works when you take the cars out of the equation again. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_New_York_City#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_N...
- TulliusCicero 8y ago
  > NYC was developed in its current form, with high-rises and all, well before cars were commonplace[1]. Ha, no it was not. Oh, it was originally developed sans cars, that's true. But that's not the same thing as its current form. Cities are continually being redeveloped after all. You think Amsterdam was always so bike-friendly? Try googling for what it was like in the early 70's, before the "Stop De Kindermoord" campaign.
  - romwell 8y ago
    Please do tell how NYC has been radically re-developed since 1920's.

dylan604 8y ago

There are examples of this working in other cities. The 3rd St Promenade in Santa Monica comes to mind.

enjo 8y ago
The 16th street mall in Denver and the Pearl Street Promenade in Boulder for two more examples.

kevin_thibedeau 8y ago

Times square is basically just a tourist trap and not representative of a commercial zone that serves the local residential population. Locals are only there because of the transit access.

romwell 8y ago
> Locals are only there because of the transit access. Spoiler: that's one of the major reasons why city centers work. Transportation hubs are also commercial hubs.
- ajmurmann 8y ago
  Almost off topic: that to me was one of the most interesting learnings from playing Second Life. Because you could teleport anywhere, location only mattered for having a view. There were hardly any interesting clusters of structures. This made it hard to organically discover fun stuff. If the world hadn't had teleportation from anywhere to anywhere but some kind of portal system, I think it would have been way more interesting.
Wowfunhappy 8y ago
Native NYC'er here, I absolutely go to Times Square. For starters, it's where most of the largest broadway shows are! In terms of shopping, the stores are all chains, so nothing is "unique" per se. However, getting to Times Square is super convenient because it's a transit hub.
- MetallicCloud 8y ago
  Really? I only lived in NYC for 2.5 years, and even I avoided Times Square like the plague. The only time I ever went there was to show it to out of town friends, and even then it was begrudgingly.
CPLX 8y ago
> Locals are only there because of the transit access. Plus the fact that there are probably 150,000+ jobs within a three block radius.

Ericson2314 8y ago

The tourist hordes make the comparison harder; it's a whole nother form of foot traffic. But Broadway from Columbus circle to Union square is almost car free, so the non-Times Square portions are probably a better example.