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Or build out infrastructure in those areas too. In suburbs, there's plenty of room for separate bike paths and trains. It doesn't require everyone to move int
by wffurr 7y ago
Or build out infrastructure in those areas too. In suburbs, there's plenty of room for separate bike paths and trains. It doesn't require everyone to move into Soviet-style superblocks and towers.
- torpfactory 7y agoTrains don’t work in suburbs not because of space limitations - there just aren’t enough paying customers per mile of track to make the economics work.
- Decade 7y agoThere are not enough taxpaying residents to make roads work, either. https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2019/4/30/my-city-has-massive-infrastructure-liabilities-so-do-99-of-the-cities-in-america https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2019/4/30/my-city-has-ma...
- squeaky-clean 7y agoYou NEED roads though. Even if you can reach 100% of the city through walking and public transportation, what do you do when you move? Take a train trip for your sofa, and another for your dining room table, and so on? How do local stores and restaurants get their goods delivered? How do you get packages larger than an envelope delivered to your home? How do emergency services and fire rescue reach your home? Do towns exist with public transportation but no roads?
- esotericn 7y agoHeh, yeah. The 'apartment living on a bike' hypothesis is really at odds with itself in this sense, I feel. If you own and live in a place long term then you can slowly bring materials to it, build up furniture, etc, it all works and makes sense. But really this all seems to be based on hyper-specialism. The moving company is the only one allowed to use the roads. You've no space for tools or materials, so no DIY, get the joiners in. And so on and so forth. Personally I find that really depressing. You may as well just plug yourself into the wall and turn on VR.
- Zxian 7y agoYou need _some_ roads, but not to the extent of your typical suburban sprawl. Where I live (Vancouver, Canada), there are sufficient roads for most travel, but the city also has relatively high quality public transit and decent bike routes. I don't think GP meant that a city should have no roads, but rather that transportation infrastructure is almost always going to be an expenditure for a city. America has simply chosen to prioritize cars over other transportation options. Higher density minimizes the need for cars.
- adrianN 7y agoThis is a typical neighborhood road in Berlin https://www.google.de/maps/@52.4463121,13.309308,3a,75y,244.23h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s7OkWeg3tHxGENApPU9Gg6g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D7OkWeg3tHxGENApPU9Gg6g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D231.62077%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 https://www.google.de/maps/@52.4463121,13.309308,3a,75y,244.... This is a road in central Tokyo https://www.google.de/maps/@35.705447,139.7784828,3a,75y,260.8h,68.41t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sqS7kwYhSeNLhPmViFiR83g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DqS7kwYhSeNLhPmViFiR83g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D176.78474%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.de/maps/@35.705447,139.7784828,3a,75y,260... This is a random road in San Mateo https://www.google.de/maps/@37.5600243,-122.3067183,3a,75y,39.12h,80.09t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sIxelJi-OgHbvaV3OM7P4yw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DIxelJi-OgHbvaV3OM7P4yw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D110.32812%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.de/maps/@37.5600243,-122.3067183,3a,75y,3... You need roads, but you don't need roads that as wide as those in American urban sprawl
- benplumley 7y agoI feel almost agoraphobic when I look at pictures of suburban USA. I think it's a combination of flat landscape, low buildings, wide roads, no mature trees (your example notwithstanding) and no real features on the horizon. Off topic, what's going on in the Berlin example? The whole left side of the photo looks like it's been redacted, are the homeowners requesting their houses be removed?
- ggm 7y agoTrains work fine in the suburbs, when the burbs are built around the belief trains either will, or do exist.
- CamperBob2 7y agoNot everyone can ride bikes, and trains just take you from one place where you don't want to be to another place where you don't want to be.
- esoterica 7y agoMost of the places I want to be are right next to subway stops. Just because you live somewhere with garbage transit doesn’t mean transit is inherently bad.
- icebraining 7y ago> Not everyone can ride bikes And those unfortunate souls will have to buy cars, but the roads will be much less congested now that most are on bike paths. A single free lane is faster than three packed ones.
- wffurr 7y agoThere's a rehab hospital here in Boston that does assistive bike rides. They have a wide variety of bicycles and tricycles and can get just about anyone out there pedaling with either hands or feet. Yes, pretty much everyone can ride bikes. Or scooters. Or velomobiles. Or hang gliders. There is some human-powered vehicle out there for everyone. We just have to get out of this local maxima based around driving oil-burning SUVs.