5 ms·

What if we just, you know, walk a bit more instead? Or even cycle? I hear great things.

actionablefiber 4y ago
The pattern of zoning and development that the U.S. has used for the past 70 years assumes that nobody wants to walk or cycle anywhere and that they feel so strongly about it that they want cities to be built such that people will die if they attempt to do so. I grew up in a neighborhood where the elementary school was about half a mile away... on the other side of a five lane highway with no crosswalk and no sidewalk on the other side. Zero chance to assert your independence as a kid. Zero chance to live responsibly as an adult. A part of the reason people wish they had FSD so badly is because they want to be rescued from this fundamental failure of NA-style urban planning that necessities driving, all the time, across both short and long distances.
- 8jef 4y ago
  Good point
- pm90 4y ago
  This is changing though. Cities are getting bikes and bike lanes. They’re building dense developments close to transit. ebikes + protected bike lanes + TOD might be the solution.
  - actionablefiber 4y ago
    I certainly hope so, and I've since moved to a place that is much more friendly for cycling; however if you go back to where I'm from (which for the purposes of this topic really could be one of any untold hundreds of counties in the U.S.), there are no signs of improvement or change. It's just the largest urban cores that seem to slowly be getting it. There is a breathtakingly large amount of suburban sprawl where the conversation about this topic is completely broken, and for the people willing to admit there even is a problem, they believe that the solution is one more lane, or one more stop sign, or just educating drivers a little bit better and nobody wants to talk about things like traffic calming, or upzoning, or cycle paths or anything else that makes anything other than car trips safe and desirable.
caymanjim 4y ago
Clearly you live in a large city and find everything you want there.
- na85 4y ago
  I mean there's a reason for the slow and steady trend of North Americans leaving small towns for big cities.
  - mandeepj 4y ago
    > I mean there's a reason for the slow and steady trend of North Americans leaving small towns for big cities I heard the other way - people leaving cities for suburbs
    - 8jef 4y ago
      Suburbs needs to be close to big cities to be considered as such.
- rsynnott 4y ago
  This is a bit of an oddity of US urban planning. The US has maybe 10 big to very big cities, where people can get around on foot, and then a host of what are called cities in the US but are essentially just collections of shopping centres, office parks, industrial estates, vaguely near each other. It doesn't work like that in most countries; small cities and towns are navigable on foot and public transport.
  - iainmerrick 4y ago
    Public transport often means buses, though, so self-driving AI is still very relevant there. If you could replace double-decker buses that arrive every 15–30 minutes with self-driving minibuses that arrive every 3–5 minutes, that would be great! (for everyone except the bus drivers who lose their jobs)
    - 4y ago

The pattern of zoning and development that the U.S. has used for the past 70 years assumes that nobody wants to walk or cycle anywhere and that they feel so strongly about it that they want cities to be built such that people will die if they attempt to do so. I grew up in a neighborhood where the elementary school was about half a mile away... on the other side of a five lane highway with no crosswalk and no sidewalk on the other side. Zero chance to assert your independence as a kid. Zero chance to live responsibly as an adult. A part of the reason people wish they had FSD so badly is because they want to be rescued from this fundamental failure of NA-style urban planning that necessities driving, all the time, across both short and long distances.

8jef 4y ago
Good point
pm90 4y ago
This is changing though. Cities are getting bikes and bike lanes. They’re building dense developments close to transit. ebikes + protected bike lanes + TOD might be the solution.
- actionablefiber 4y ago
  I certainly hope so, and I've since moved to a place that is much more friendly for cycling; however if you go back to where I'm from (which for the purposes of this topic really could be one of any untold hundreds of counties in the U.S.), there are no signs of improvement or change. It's just the largest urban cores that seem to slowly be getting it. There is a breathtakingly large amount of suburban sprawl where the conversation about this topic is completely broken, and for the people willing to admit there even is a problem, they believe that the solution is one more lane, or one more stop sign, or just educating drivers a little bit better and nobody wants to talk about things like traffic calming, or upzoning, or cycle paths or anything else that makes anything other than car trips safe and desirable.

caymanjim 4y ago

Clearly you live in a large city and find everything you want there.

na85 4y ago
I mean there's a reason for the slow and steady trend of North Americans leaving small towns for big cities.
- mandeepj 4y ago
  > I mean there's a reason for the slow and steady trend of North Americans leaving small towns for big cities I heard the other way - people leaving cities for suburbs
  - 8jef 4y ago
    Suburbs needs to be close to big cities to be considered as such.
rsynnott 4y ago
This is a bit of an oddity of US urban planning. The US has maybe 10 big to very big cities, where people can get around on foot, and then a host of what are called cities in the US but are essentially just collections of shopping centres, office parks, industrial estates, vaguely near each other. It doesn't work like that in most countries; small cities and towns are navigable on foot and public transport.
- iainmerrick 4y ago
  Public transport often means buses, though, so self-driving AI is still very relevant there. If you could replace double-decker buses that arrive every 15–30 minutes with self-driving minibuses that arrive every 3–5 minutes, that would be great! (for everyone except the bus drivers who lose their jobs)
  - 4y ago