3 ms·
As a sibling already mentioned, one does not preclude the other. I don't know why the US does it the way it does it and other countries seem to strive for it to
by tharkun__ 5y ago
As a sibling already mentioned, one does not preclude the other. I don't know why the US does it the way it does it and other countries seem to strive for it too nowadays, even the ones that have done it properly so far.
Especially in the US I don't see an issue with both building out and being walkable or livable without cars. One just has to plan it properly. There are tons of medium sized cities around the world that get some of it right already, possibly by accident. I don't think we need to go Tokyo style or New York style density with millions upon millions of people being crammed into skypscrapers and every inch of soil covered in asphalt or concrete. Sure there's Central Park but not much more and it's so full of people it's unbelievable. So many people all crammed into one space generates so many issues that otherwise don't exist.
I think lots of medium sized cities, say 150-500k, can easily provide enough public transport to make it liveable, provide enough green space to make it liveable and provide city centers with lots of concrete and asphalt for those that want that to make it completely walkable. Before you say that its impossible, I have lived in such cities and they work just fine. In my younger years I lived in such a downtown and everything was within walking distance. Work, groceries, pubs even stores. And it was absolutely safe to walk all over downtown, half drunk in the middle of the night to get from one pub to the next or home. Sure, to go to IKEA I had to take a car and drive to the outskirts of the next city of similar size. But how often do I go to IKEA? Once, when I moved in. The a bit older me had to then make a choice of moving to a particular side of town to be close enough to the office and such. With remote work it wouldn't matter. I could've stayed where I was. Get to the city center? 15 minute train ride after walking 5 minutes to the train.