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The promise of a 20-minute neighborhood is not trading 20 minutes stuck in traffic in your car for 20 minutes stuck on a crowded train. The promise is that most

The promise of a 20-minute neighborhood is not trading 20 minutes stuck in traffic in your car for 20 minutes stuck on a crowded train. The promise is that most everyday needs can be met within the radius of 20 minutes of "active transport" like walking, cycling, or scootering. Frequent public transport service just further extends that radius.

marshmallow_12 6y ago
How such an arrangement would work in London, for example, is beyond my comprehension.
- techsupporter 6y ago
  I'm not sure what you mean? London is one of the places I can readily imagine this existing. Where I live in Seattle, an area that isn't even in the downtown or Capitol Hill core, I am a maximum of 15-minute walk from two parks, a library, three shopping areas, two grocery stores, health care offices, and a major transit center. At the transit center, two bus routes that go to different parts of the city (an important thing, since two bus routes going to roughly the same place are basically the same bus) arrive every 12-15 minutes virtually the entire calendar day. Does that not sound like something that many parts of London already have?
  - marshmallow_12 6y ago
    Not that i'm aware. Many shops i need are in large, industrial areas, far away by foot. And 20 minute walks everywhere simply eats up my day. I hate using the buses, driving is far, far easier and faster.
    - koyote 6y ago
      Wait, what part of London are you from? I lived there for a decade and only knew a single person who had a car (because they had to commute out west towards Slough). Driving in London does not make any sense, it's expensive (congestion charge, parking), slow and impractical. Especially when London is made up of what is basically dozens of villages, all with their own high street. I lived in many different parts of London and never had to walk more than 15-20 minutes to get anything I ever needed. Rarely I'd have to hop on the tube to get something specialised (which would probably not even be available outside of a large city like London).
  - c54 6y ago
    What part of Seattle are you in? I could imagine this maybe in the Roosevelent/Ravenna area, or perhaps near Northgate/Greenwood?
    - techsupporter 6y ago
      Think “bridge is out.”

marshmallow_12 6y ago

How such an arrangement would work in London, for example, is beyond my comprehension.

techsupporter 6y ago
I'm not sure what you mean? London is one of the places I can readily imagine this existing. Where I live in Seattle, an area that isn't even in the downtown or Capitol Hill core, I am a maximum of 15-minute walk from two parks, a library, three shopping areas, two grocery stores, health care offices, and a major transit center. At the transit center, two bus routes that go to different parts of the city (an important thing, since two bus routes going to roughly the same place are basically the same bus) arrive every 12-15 minutes virtually the entire calendar day. Does that not sound like something that many parts of London already have?
- marshmallow_12 6y ago
  Not that i'm aware. Many shops i need are in large, industrial areas, far away by foot. And 20 minute walks everywhere simply eats up my day. I hate using the buses, driving is far, far easier and faster.
  - koyote 6y ago
    Wait, what part of London are you from? I lived there for a decade and only knew a single person who had a car (because they had to commute out west towards Slough). Driving in London does not make any sense, it's expensive (congestion charge, parking), slow and impractical. Especially when London is made up of what is basically dozens of villages, all with their own high street. I lived in many different parts of London and never had to walk more than 15-20 minutes to get anything I ever needed. Rarely I'd have to hop on the tube to get something specialised (which would probably not even be available outside of a large city like London).
- c54 6y ago
  What part of Seattle are you in? I could imagine this maybe in the Roosevelent/Ravenna area, or perhaps near Northgate/Greenwood?
  - techsupporter 6y ago
    Think “bridge is out.”