4 ms·

I read the article, and still don't see what is being proposed. > we need to intentionally return to our traditional pattern of development, one based on creat

I read the article, and still don't see what is being proposed. > we need to intentionally return to our traditional pattern of development, one based on creating neighborhoods of value, scaled to actual people. When we do this, we will inevitably rediscover our traditional values of prudence and thrift as well as the value of community and place. So, less suburbs and more what?

ryukafalz 4y ago
Walkable cities and walkable small towns.
- ghaff 4y ago
  What does a walkable small town mean? I can walk to a pub, maybe some other food place, and a small market? The town I live in, like many around New England, has a cute little town center where the library and town hall are but there's not a lot else there. I'm certainly not living there without a car even if I were in the center. I've spent some time doing walking tours in England and it doesn't seem much different.
  - presentation 4y ago
    Strongtowns isn’t totally anti car; it sounds like your small New England town is in the line of things they consider desirable. My small Midwestern childhood suburb would have me drive at least 15 minutes to get to the nearest business, which was a big box supermarket with a parking lot that would take 10 minutes to walk across, plus crossing a highway sized median in order to get to the next business over. Meaning totally unwalkable, which is how most of the USA is - no town center with anything worth going to, meaning no community worth being a part of, and really high infrastructure costs for a very unproductive area.
    - ghaff 4y ago
      > it sounds like your small New England town is in the line of things they consider desirable. I don't know. It's mostly old farming towns around where I live. They don't generally have a lot of retail businesses--although the bigger ones may have some on the main street going through town. They're pleasant towns but you're mostly not walking to get places. To grocery shop I'm driving 15 minutes or to the nearest small city next door. My town is the oldest one in the neighborhood (1600s) and my house is a couple hundred years old. But it was mostly farms so everything is pretty spread out.
  - ryukafalz 4y ago
    The place you’re describing sounds like it’s less far-gone than much of the US. Lots of places on the East coast are like that because they predate cars by quite a lot, though many have also sprawled a lot later on. A few things I would expect from a walkable small town: - You’re able to easily walk to a grocery store - Kids are able to easily and safely walk or bike to school - Kids are able to easily and safely walk or bike to their friends’ houses Most of the US, from what I’ve seen, doesn’t meet those standards.
    - ghaff 4y ago
      In the semi-rural towns right around me, you mostly can't do those things. There are usually nice small town centers but not a lot of houses in the immediate center (which is also near the elementary school; the regional high school is the next town over). There's also very little in the way of businesses. And most of the town is pretty spread out along various country lanes. It's very pleasant but it isn't really walkable.
hispanic 4y ago
> So, less suburbs and more what? Sprawling, automobile-centric development enforced by exclusionary zoning has been the prevailing land-use model in the US and Canada for so long (starting soon after the close of WWII) that few people alive today know anything different. Streetcar suburbs (even with the streetcars now long gone) are a model of development that Strong Towns endorses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcar_suburb https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcar_suburb https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/8/27/in-praise-of-streetcar-suburbs https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/8/27/in-praise-of-s...

ryukafalz 4y ago

Walkable cities and walkable small towns.

ghaff 4y ago
What does a walkable small town mean? I can walk to a pub, maybe some other food place, and a small market? The town I live in, like many around New England, has a cute little town center where the library and town hall are but there's not a lot else there. I'm certainly not living there without a car even if I were in the center. I've spent some time doing walking tours in England and it doesn't seem much different.
- presentation 4y ago
  Strongtowns isn’t totally anti car; it sounds like your small New England town is in the line of things they consider desirable. My small Midwestern childhood suburb would have me drive at least 15 minutes to get to the nearest business, which was a big box supermarket with a parking lot that would take 10 minutes to walk across, plus crossing a highway sized median in order to get to the next business over. Meaning totally unwalkable, which is how most of the USA is - no town center with anything worth going to, meaning no community worth being a part of, and really high infrastructure costs for a very unproductive area.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    > it sounds like your small New England town is in the line of things they consider desirable. I don't know. It's mostly old farming towns around where I live. They don't generally have a lot of retail businesses--although the bigger ones may have some on the main street going through town. They're pleasant towns but you're mostly not walking to get places. To grocery shop I'm driving 15 minutes or to the nearest small city next door. My town is the oldest one in the neighborhood (1600s) and my house is a couple hundred years old. But it was mostly farms so everything is pretty spread out.
- ryukafalz 4y ago
  The place you’re describing sounds like it’s less far-gone than much of the US. Lots of places on the East coast are like that because they predate cars by quite a lot, though many have also sprawled a lot later on. A few things I would expect from a walkable small town: - You’re able to easily walk to a grocery store - Kids are able to easily and safely walk or bike to school - Kids are able to easily and safely walk or bike to their friends’ houses Most of the US, from what I’ve seen, doesn’t meet those standards.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    In the semi-rural towns right around me, you mostly can't do those things. There are usually nice small town centers but not a lot of houses in the immediate center (which is also near the elementary school; the regional high school is the next town over). There's also very little in the way of businesses. And most of the town is pretty spread out along various country lanes. It's very pleasant but it isn't really walkable.

hispanic 4y ago

> So, less suburbs and more what? Sprawling, automobile-centric development enforced by exclusionary zoning has been the prevailing land-use model in the US and Canada for so long (starting soon after the close of WWII) that few people alive today know anything different. Streetcar suburbs (even with the streetcars now long gone) are a model of development that Strong Towns endorses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcar_suburb https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streetcar_suburb https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/8/27/in-praise-of-streetcar-suburbs https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/8/27/in-praise-of-s...