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Public transportation unfortunately can't deal with mixed-use areas. It can deal with a nice big downtown commute center, but that's the opposite of mixed-use,
by ianb 15y ago
Public transportation unfortunately can't deal with mixed-use areas. It can deal with a nice big downtown commute center, but that's the opposite of mixed-use, and by definition someone works in all those non-residential locations.
- enjo 15y agoThis is a head scratcher. Downtowns, by their nature, are the very epitome of mixed use. They are almost always populated (to some extent), sport shops and restaurants, as well as providing employment. It doesn't get more "mixed use" than that. Public transit systems are at their most efficient in these environments. In my experience the cities that offer the best mixed use neighborhoods have the best transit systems, if for no other reason than high density, mixed use areas provide the highest economic impetus for transit in the first place.
- ianb 15y agoHow many downtowns are livable and enjoyable after 6pm? Some have pockets of activity, usually built with lots of subsidies and great effort (and they often have an eery feel of the-city-as-imagined-by-suburbanites). Skyscrapers are density without any of the advantages of density (http://newurbannetwork.com/news-opinion/blogs/michael-mehaffy/14138/more-low-down-tall-buildings http://newurbannetwork.com/news-opinion/blogs/michael-mehaff...). Even Manhattan, a kind of endless downtown, is at its best in the somewhat lower density areas that have fewer skyscrapers.