3 ms·

I don't know how to capture the hostility of suburbia any more perfectly than a walk down the El Camino in Sunnyvale. Try this on street view for a few blocks.

I don't know how to capture the hostility of suburbia any more perfectly than a walk down the El Camino in Sunnyvale. Try this on street view for a few blocks. Imagine yourself on the sidewalk. This is the world that the "urban cores in the USA are actively hostile places to be" consensus has given us. Maybe the cities this was built in response to really were some kind of unimaginable horror. But I'm pretty sure the cure is worse than the disease. https://www.google.com/maps/@37.3655957,-122.0294912,3a,75y,335.01h,92.46t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sQChOLWpYc6t6aaAhcMU-_w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@37.3655957,-122.0294912,3a,75y,...

kccqzy 7y ago
Try a walk down University Ave in Palo Alto. That is the kind of place we mean.
- closeparen 7y ago
  A lot of older suburbs have a main street like this, including the one I grew up in. They're grandfathered from before the zoning code, not allowed anywhere else in the municipality, and sometimes illegal to replicate even on the same lots [0]. Sunnyvale is what's allowed to exist at scale and to grow all across America. [0] http://cityobservatory.org/the-illegal-city-of-somerville/ http://cityobservatory.org/the-illegal-city-of-somerville/
bsder 7y ago
And what does that area have an hyperabundance of? Parking spaces and road lanes. You can choose to optimize for car throughput or not. Or you can choose to make your spaces look like this: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3082077,-71.3535296,3a,75y,262.78h,89.12t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1spl2_FMQL6CbFPiLM5EJRvA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dpl2_FMQL6CbFPiLM5EJRvA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.TACTILE.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D229.76057%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3082077,-71.3535296,3a,75y,2... Your call.
- closeparen 7y ago
  But the town in your example didn't: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3001691,-71.357662,3a,75y,73.65h,90.68t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s4g0VcGnqZPUO0Ma_bfpu6A!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D4g0VcGnqZPUO0Ma_bfpu6A%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D168.72224%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3001691,-71.357662,3a,75y,73... Residential and commercial space are both required. Picturesque low-density residential zones kind of force the commercial areas to be like this; how else would people get to them?

kccqzy 7y ago

Try a walk down University Ave in Palo Alto. That is the kind of place we mean.

closeparen 7y ago
A lot of older suburbs have a main street like this, including the one I grew up in. They're grandfathered from before the zoning code, not allowed anywhere else in the municipality, and sometimes illegal to replicate even on the same lots [0]. Sunnyvale is what's allowed to exist at scale and to grow all across America. [0] http://cityobservatory.org/the-illegal-city-of-somerville/ http://cityobservatory.org/the-illegal-city-of-somerville/

bsder 7y ago

And what does that area have an hyperabundance of? Parking spaces and road lanes. You can choose to optimize for car throughput or not. Or you can choose to make your spaces look like this: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3082077,-71.3535296,3a,75y,262.78h,89.12t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1spl2_FMQL6CbFPiLM5EJRvA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dpl2_FMQL6CbFPiLM5EJRvA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.TACTILE.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D229.76057%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3082077,-71.3535296,3a,75y,2... Your call.

closeparen 7y ago
But the town in your example didn't: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3001691,-71.357662,3a,75y,73.65h,90.68t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s4g0VcGnqZPUO0Ma_bfpu6A!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D4g0VcGnqZPUO0Ma_bfpu6A%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D168.72224%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3001691,-71.357662,3a,75y,73... Residential and commercial space are both required. Picturesque low-density residential zones kind of force the commercial areas to be like this; how else would people get to them?