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Not just bikes: https://youtu.be/uxykI30fS54 https://youtu.be/uxykI30fS54 It's an example of what I'm referring to. Cities were designed to push for cars. Peop

Not just bikes: https://youtu.be/uxykI30fS54 https://youtu.be/uxykI30fS54 It's an example of what I'm referring to. Cities were designed to push for cars. People wanted cars because cities were designed to exclude people that didn't have one.

refurb 4y ago
Other way around. Cities were designed for people who had cars.
- washadjeffmad 4y ago
  You can have cities designed for cars that aren't hostile to other modes of transport. It's just nonexistent in practice in the US. See anti-bike lane movements, lack of over and underpasses for pedestrians, sidewalks that quite literally connect nothing and go nowhere, local laws that prohibit walking on roads where there is no other access between locations, no crossings, signage, or road markings for pedestrians in commercial areas, etc. Go to a modern local shopping strip, park near the road, and walk the sidewalks. See if there's ramp or stair access between all parking lots and appropriate crossings between them. See if there are indicators before all curbs and paths for a blind person or someone in a wheel chair or with a stroller to travel. Being designed for cars only would imply useless designs wouldn't exist. They do, so we know that something is governing these things, just poorly and not in the favor of not-cars.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
avalys 4y ago
People wanted cars because, for most of the US, they are the only practical transportation method. And even the people who live in the few dense urban areas that could get by without cars don’t want to cut themselves off from access to the rest of the country, so they invariably still owned one and wanted to use it.
- jason0597 4y ago
  > People wanted cars because, for most of the US, they are the only practical transportation method. And that's because government zoning at the time prioritised suburban single-family house zoning, which in turn created the car-dependent culture. It didn't have to be this way, Rotterdam isn't built this way for example.
  - tablespoon 4y ago
    > And that's because government zoning at the time prioritised suburban single-family house zoning, which in turn created the car-dependent culture. It didn't have to be this way, Rotterdam isn't built this way for example. Could that be because the people actually wanted single-family homes?
    - avalys 4y ago
      And that the US was a wealthy country with enormous amounts of undeveloped land?

refurb 4y ago

Other way around. Cities were designed for people who had cars.

washadjeffmad 4y ago
You can have cities designed for cars that aren't hostile to other modes of transport. It's just nonexistent in practice in the US. See anti-bike lane movements, lack of over and underpasses for pedestrians, sidewalks that quite literally connect nothing and go nowhere, local laws that prohibit walking on roads where there is no other access between locations, no crossings, signage, or road markings for pedestrians in commercial areas, etc. Go to a modern local shopping strip, park near the road, and walk the sidewalks. See if there's ramp or stair access between all parking lots and appropriate crossings between them. See if there are indicators before all curbs and paths for a blind person or someone in a wheel chair or with a stroller to travel. Being designed for cars only would imply useless designs wouldn't exist. They do, so we know that something is governing these things, just poorly and not in the favor of not-cars.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

avalys 4y ago

People wanted cars because, for most of the US, they are the only practical transportation method. And even the people who live in the few dense urban areas that could get by without cars don’t want to cut themselves off from access to the rest of the country, so they invariably still owned one and wanted to use it.

jason0597 4y ago
> People wanted cars because, for most of the US, they are the only practical transportation method. And that's because government zoning at the time prioritised suburban single-family house zoning, which in turn created the car-dependent culture. It didn't have to be this way, Rotterdam isn't built this way for example.
- tablespoon 4y ago
  > And that's because government zoning at the time prioritised suburban single-family house zoning, which in turn created the car-dependent culture. It didn't have to be this way, Rotterdam isn't built this way for example. Could that be because the people actually wanted single-family homes?
  - avalys 4y ago
    And that the US was a wealthy country with enormous amounts of undeveloped land?