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Anecdote from the old country. I used to live in a relatively small city in the old country ( 50K maybe ). As a kid, I was able to walk just about anywhere. And

Anecdote from the old country. I used to live in a relatively small city in the old country ( 50K maybe ). As a kid, I was able to walk just about anywhere. And I did. As most of my friends, I did what I could to get my DL equivalent and as soon as I got it, I drove everywhere I could. I think this is the point that occasionally is forgotten in these conversations. It is not just that the infrastructure forces behavior ( in US, in most areas it does ), but the convenience factor makes it a very hard proposition to just ban cars from cities ( in a way similar to France's ). But it is hard to argue against convenience and established routines. People do not like change.

akgerber 7y ago
The convenience factor is also engineered. It's not convenient to drive unless there is ample parking at every destination, and policies in the US and many other countries has basically banned building new places without ample parking. Providing this parking requires a large amount of land, which makes walking slow, unpleasant, and dangerous.
- bostonpete 7y ago
  Policies dictate required parking? Seems like something developers would naturally do anyways. If you build commercial space without ample parking you're going to have trouble finding tenants...
  - tropo 7y ago
    This is true for an isolated rural business. In other cases, a business benefits from having customers park at neighboring businesses. If parking is provided, it will be taken by customers of other businesses.