5 ms·

What do you suggest? Houston has its own set of problems.

davidw 7y ago
Houston, like many American cities, massively subsidizes sprawl and an auto-centric (or auto-only) lifestyle. They may not have zoning, but they do have things like parking minimums throughout much of the city. And in their favor, it is a place where many people can afford to live, something that can't be said of places like the San Francisco bay area. Where I lived in Italy, I could walk to: * My kids' schools * A small grocery store * A cafe * A takeout pizza place * Our doctor * A tram stop * A small park With a bike, many more places were within easy reach. How many places in the US allow so many different things so close together?
- taurath 7y ago
  Most towns downtown area, and most major metro areas. The real problem - they were seen for over 50 years by white americans as an undesirable place to live (high amount of minorities, crime), and are just now catching up and moving in. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight Its a big part of racial politics in the US - and now as all the current tech workers move back into the cities, there's a problem of gentrification where minorities are being pushed out of their neighborhoods due to cost increases. Affordable, with a nice walkable downtown, low crime, and access to well paying jobs is the holy grail for almost any town - there are very few that achieve it. Generally as downtown gets nicer it gets less affordable. If we had a good way to actually spread out wealth and jobs, the smaller towns could improve and there would be many desirable local places to live. Until then, people will enclave themselves away in their suburbs. There will also always be those who want to live in more rural, large spaces.
  - davidw 7y ago
    Most downtowns were built up before they got zoning laws: that's part of why they tend to be a bit better from that point of view. Also, where I lived in Italy was a suburban area and it still managed to have all those amenities.
    - taurath 7y ago
      Towns and villages in Europe are almost always highly compact compared to the US - I put it to that auto ownership was a bit lower and trains could be more efficient. Plus the relatively homogenized cultured meant there was less of a need to have sub enclaves on things other than economic class.
      - davidw 7y ago
        > Towns and villages in Europe are almost always highly compact compared to the US That's a political choice. I mean, yes, the US has a lot of land and fewer people, but there are plenty of places that might be more compact if it were legal.
        dragonwriter 7y ago
        > That's a political choice. Well, yes, in that, among other things, many European towns and cities are shaped by political choices made when population to length of enclosing wall ratio was an important political consideration.
        davidw 7y ago
        The neighborhood I lived in and described above was mostly all post-WWII construction.
        taurath 7y ago
        Right, but local control is a pretty large part of our governance. Its not like zoning laws are mandated federally - they remain in place because the representatives of that local area do not remove it.
  - marcus_holmes 7y ago
    Australia has the same problems as America regarding sprawl and autocentrism. I now live in Berlin, which is incredibly walkable, prioritises bicycles over cars (except on the autobahns), and has I think four different train systems (u-banh, s-banh, trams and intercity), plus a great bus service. Oh, and now about half a dozen scooter and bike hire apps, plus Uber (and clones), and at least 3 short-term car hire apps. I lived in Perth for ~10 years without a car, and it was painful. The contrast is incredible. Given that Berlin was completely rebuilt in the same timescale that Perth was built, it's got nothing to do with history. It's about attitude. Everyone has to expect to live in an apartment (or townhouse), without a car, near their work, and demand adequate public transport (and use it when it arrives). It is the Holy Grail, but it's not some mythical artifact unobtainable by a rational set of people working towards the common good.
- jimmaswell 7y ago
  why would I want to walk so much all day? I had my fill of that lifestyle in college just walking around campus.
- lurquer 7y ago
  The Houston Metroplex is nearly 10% the area of the entire country of Italy. The former essentially didn’t exist before automobiles. The latter was laid out for pedestrian travel. So, I don’t get your point... why would you expect to find anything comparable between a city in Italy and Houston? Are there towns in the US where everything is within biking distance? Of course. Hundreds — maybe thousands — of such towns and villages; indeed, far more in the US than in Italy.

Houston, like many American cities, massively subsidizes sprawl and an auto-centric (or auto-only) lifestyle. They may not have zoning, but they do have things like parking minimums throughout much of the city. And in their favor, it is a place where many people can afford to live, something that can't be said of places like the San Francisco bay area. Where I lived in Italy, I could walk to: * My kids' schools * A small grocery store * A cafe * A takeout pizza place * Our doctor * A tram stop * A small park With a bike, many more places were within easy reach. How many places in the US allow so many different things so close together?

taurath 7y ago
Most towns downtown area, and most major metro areas. The real problem - they were seen for over 50 years by white americans as an undesirable place to live (high amount of minorities, crime), and are just now catching up and moving in. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight Its a big part of racial politics in the US - and now as all the current tech workers move back into the cities, there's a problem of gentrification where minorities are being pushed out of their neighborhoods due to cost increases. Affordable, with a nice walkable downtown, low crime, and access to well paying jobs is the holy grail for almost any town - there are very few that achieve it. Generally as downtown gets nicer it gets less affordable. If we had a good way to actually spread out wealth and jobs, the smaller towns could improve and there would be many desirable local places to live. Until then, people will enclave themselves away in their suburbs. There will also always be those who want to live in more rural, large spaces.
- davidw 7y ago
  Most downtowns were built up before they got zoning laws: that's part of why they tend to be a bit better from that point of view. Also, where I lived in Italy was a suburban area and it still managed to have all those amenities.
  - taurath 7y ago
    Towns and villages in Europe are almost always highly compact compared to the US - I put it to that auto ownership was a bit lower and trains could be more efficient. Plus the relatively homogenized cultured meant there was less of a need to have sub enclaves on things other than economic class.
    - davidw 7y ago
      > Towns and villages in Europe are almost always highly compact compared to the US That's a political choice. I mean, yes, the US has a lot of land and fewer people, but there are plenty of places that might be more compact if it were legal.
      - dragonwriter 7y ago
        > That's a political choice. Well, yes, in that, among other things, many European towns and cities are shaped by political choices made when population to length of enclosing wall ratio was an important political consideration.
        davidw 7y ago
        The neighborhood I lived in and described above was mostly all post-WWII construction.
      - taurath 7y ago
        Right, but local control is a pretty large part of our governance. Its not like zoning laws are mandated federally - they remain in place because the representatives of that local area do not remove it.
- marcus_holmes 7y ago
  Australia has the same problems as America regarding sprawl and autocentrism. I now live in Berlin, which is incredibly walkable, prioritises bicycles over cars (except on the autobahns), and has I think four different train systems (u-banh, s-banh, trams and intercity), plus a great bus service. Oh, and now about half a dozen scooter and bike hire apps, plus Uber (and clones), and at least 3 short-term car hire apps. I lived in Perth for ~10 years without a car, and it was painful. The contrast is incredible. Given that Berlin was completely rebuilt in the same timescale that Perth was built, it's got nothing to do with history. It's about attitude. Everyone has to expect to live in an apartment (or townhouse), without a car, near their work, and demand adequate public transport (and use it when it arrives). It is the Holy Grail, but it's not some mythical artifact unobtainable by a rational set of people working towards the common good.
jimmaswell 7y ago
why would I want to walk so much all day? I had my fill of that lifestyle in college just walking around campus.
lurquer 7y ago
The Houston Metroplex is nearly 10% the area of the entire country of Italy. The former essentially didn’t exist before automobiles. The latter was laid out for pedestrian travel. So, I don’t get your point... why would you expect to find anything comparable between a city in Italy and Houston? Are there towns in the US where everything is within biking distance? Of course. Hundreds — maybe thousands — of such towns and villages; indeed, far more in the US than in Italy.