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I don’t think that’s actually true. There is certainly a very noisy minority that would like us to believe that they’re the majority, but revealed consumer pref
by ashtonkem 5y ago
I don’t think that’s actually true. There is certainly a very noisy minority that would like us to believe that they’re the majority, but revealed consumer preference does not seem to reinforce this statement.
Consider the street closures during the pandemic for outdoors eating. The parking crowd has screeched endlessly about the traffic and parking issues caused by this, but the majority of the populace love these areas now. A bunch of them are actually becoming permanent.
Similarly, the cute, street car suburbs with high walkability and insufficient parking are absurdly expensive everywhere I’ve ever lived. Turns out people like living places that are nice, and that sufficient parking is a relatively minor deciding factor.
- nradov 5y agoNo it's true. The street closures during pandemic were mostly in downtown commercial areas and were broadly supported by restaurant owners. They hardly impacted residential areas. Politicians who try to increase charges or reduce availability for residential street parking inevitably face a lot of resistance. Building a new walkable neighborhood is fine. Trying to drastically alter an existing neighborhood is nearly impossible.
- ashtonkem 5y agoThere are also examples from Europe where mayors have outright banned or drastically reduced access for cars, and won re-election over the complaints of car owners. And these aren’t podunk towns either, one of them is Paris. Of course, the counter argument is “but Paris has a good metro system”, to which I say maybe we should fix that.