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How to make cheap West Texas land worth even less: Build homes on it, but don't include garages or driveways; instead tell prospective buyers that they need to

How to make cheap West Texas land worth even less: Build homes on it, but don't include garages or driveways; instead tell prospective buyers that they need to keep their pickup trucks outside of town. EDIT (as I feel I was overly snarky): I don't think there's anything wrong with thought experiments like this, and I've wondered to myself what a brand-new city or town might look like. I do think the no-car thing would be an incredibly hard sell in rural Texas though. The reality is that most modern towns aren't self-sufficient. Maybe there's a dentist, or maybe you have to drive to the next town over for one. Maybe there's a used sporting goods store, or maybe you have to drive an hour to one when the kids grow out of their cleats, etc. I think something like this would stand a better chance if it were right outside of a city. Maybe an old farm in what is now the suburbs - you could build a dense, walkable town that also connects to the big city via mass transit.

ghaff 5y ago
A 600 person town isn't remotely self-sufficient in the modern developed world. You could in principle build something walkable that, given sufficiently pleasant surroundings, some people would be willing to trade against walking to do most of their errands or hopping in a car to go anywhere. But you'd need the public transit links and I'm guessing many would still want to own a car on the outskirts (as in a college/corporate campus) and provide access of some sort for the disabled, etc.
defen 5y ago
> Maybe there's a dentist, or maybe you have to drive to the next town over for one. As part of the plan he specifically says "save an excellent spot in the town center to offer at low cost to whomever decides to practice dentistry there"
- lastofthemojito 5y ago
  Yep, that's why I included the dentist example. So maybe, if the town actually succeeds in attracting and retaining a dentist, people don't need to leave town for that service. But there are many other services people want or need, some of which won't be available locally. It's a big world out there, but cars have made it so much smaller. I'd imagine people in this town would still be constantly hopping in their cars to run to Costco, go on dates, take grandma to chemo, etc. There's a reason most car-less Americans live in NYC, DC, SF, etc. You can get everything you need there without a car. Small-town America does not offer the same and I doubt this idea would change that.

ghaff 5y ago

A 600 person town isn't remotely self-sufficient in the modern developed world. You could in principle build something walkable that, given sufficiently pleasant surroundings, some people would be willing to trade against walking to do most of their errands or hopping in a car to go anywhere. But you'd need the public transit links and I'm guessing many would still want to own a car on the outskirts (as in a college/corporate campus) and provide access of some sort for the disabled, etc.

defen 5y ago

> Maybe there's a dentist, or maybe you have to drive to the next town over for one. As part of the plan he specifically says "save an excellent spot in the town center to offer at low cost to whomever decides to practice dentistry there"

lastofthemojito 5y ago
Yep, that's why I included the dentist example. So maybe, if the town actually succeeds in attracting and retaining a dentist, people don't need to leave town for that service. But there are many other services people want or need, some of which won't be available locally. It's a big world out there, but cars have made it so much smaller. I'd imagine people in this town would still be constantly hopping in their cars to run to Costco, go on dates, take grandma to chemo, etc. There's a reason most car-less Americans live in NYC, DC, SF, etc. You can get everything you need there without a car. Small-town America does not offer the same and I doubt this idea would change that.