4 ms·

I think this comes down to how badly designed cities are now since we've been nearly 50 or so years into the single use zoning regulation scheme. What we've got

I think this comes down to how badly designed cities are now since we've been nearly 50 or so years into the single use zoning regulation scheme. What we've gotten in return for this experiment is lower tax revenue, higher infrastructure costs, and ungodly amounts of commute time. If anything, this is a great time for cities of all sizes to down size their physical footprint and get more multi-use zoning in play. It'll take decades but we might actually start looking like Amsterdam or Barcelona in a half a century or more.

claudiulodro 5y ago
The most popular way of living in the survey was suburban. People want that single home, bunch of personal space lifestyle: > The majority of Americans today are willing to sacrifice easy access to amenities to have more space to themselves and distance from their neighbors I 100% don't endorse the suburbs, but it is interesting how different the results of the survey were compared to what I've been reading in HN comments for years!
- ladyattis 5y ago
  Well they're going to have to pay more to have that single family home with a huge yard rather than having urban centers subsidizing their lifestyle choices. I know that's mean but they chose to have semi-rural density that shouldn't be serviced by centralized water treatment plants and the like.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  I wonder how much of that is due to not having alternatives to compare it to other than the kind of cities that parent is talking about.
- thehappypm 5y ago
  Have you noticed that everyone who lives in the city in their 20s is saving up to buy a house? Not “a big apartment downtown”, a house. The dream is still a house and that implies suburbia.
eanc 5y ago
What caused single-use to take over?
- fayten 5y ago
  There are quite a few factors, I'd encourage checking out the following videos by Not Just Bikes and Climate Towns that cover a broad range of city planning and zoning in the US. Strong Towns Play List by Not Just Bikes (This heavily covers city planning issues in the US): https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJp5q-R0lZ0_FCUbeVWK6OGLN69ehUTVa https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJp5q-R0lZ0_FCUbeVWK6OGLN... The Suburbs Are Bleeding America Dry by Climate Towns (This covers zoning): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfsCniN7Nsc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfsCniN7Nsc How The Auto Industry Carjacked The American Dream (This covers the auto industries impact on US cities.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOttvpjJvAo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOttvpjJvAo Dutch Cities are Better for the Climate (and my sanity) by Not Just Bikes (Not super relevant to zoning, but it's part 1 of The Suburbs Are Bleeding America Dry so I figured I'd link it.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO6txCZpbsQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO6txCZpbsQ These are pretty snarky, but fun videos and the authors list their sources. Their video descriptions are worth checking out just to find a ton of reading material on each topic.

claudiulodro 5y ago

The most popular way of living in the survey was suburban. People want that single home, bunch of personal space lifestyle: > The majority of Americans today are willing to sacrifice easy access to amenities to have more space to themselves and distance from their neighbors I 100% don't endorse the suburbs, but it is interesting how different the results of the survey were compared to what I've been reading in HN comments for years!

ladyattis 5y ago
Well they're going to have to pay more to have that single family home with a huge yard rather than having urban centers subsidizing their lifestyle choices. I know that's mean but they chose to have semi-rural density that shouldn't be serviced by centralized water treatment plants and the like.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
I wonder how much of that is due to not having alternatives to compare it to other than the kind of cities that parent is talking about.
thehappypm 5y ago
Have you noticed that everyone who lives in the city in their 20s is saving up to buy a house? Not “a big apartment downtown”, a house. The dream is still a house and that implies suburbia.

eanc 5y ago

What caused single-use to take over?

fayten 5y ago
There are quite a few factors, I'd encourage checking out the following videos by Not Just Bikes and Climate Towns that cover a broad range of city planning and zoning in the US. Strong Towns Play List by Not Just Bikes (This heavily covers city planning issues in the US): https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJp5q-R0lZ0_FCUbeVWK6OGLN69ehUTVa https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJp5q-R0lZ0_FCUbeVWK6OGLN... The Suburbs Are Bleeding America Dry by Climate Towns (This covers zoning): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfsCniN7Nsc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfsCniN7Nsc How The Auto Industry Carjacked The American Dream (This covers the auto industries impact on US cities.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOttvpjJvAo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOttvpjJvAo Dutch Cities are Better for the Climate (and my sanity) by Not Just Bikes (Not super relevant to zoning, but it's part 1 of The Suburbs Are Bleeding America Dry so I figured I'd link it.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO6txCZpbsQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO6txCZpbsQ These are pretty snarky, but fun videos and the authors list their sources. Their video descriptions are worth checking out just to find a ton of reading material on each topic.