2 ms·

> especially in an urban area and doubly so in a randomly planned urban area like seattle Seattle is a wonderful planned city with very predictable roads, and

> especially in an urban area and doubly so in a randomly planned urban area like seattle Seattle is a wonderful planned city with very predictable roads, and very safe drivers. I want to see how a tesla navigated Boston. That’s a city that wasn’t planned, has much more aggressive drivers, and inclement weather much more often.

fnordpiglet 4y ago
Have you actually driven in seattle residential streets? I’m making no claims about Boston, but that first statement is objectively wrong.
- vineyardmike 4y ago
  Yes I have. It’s mostly a north/south grid everywhere, broken up a bit by neighborhood (eg belltown is different than Queen Anne). Some of the smaller neighborhoods (Mt Baker, near university, etc) aren’t great grids but you shouldn’t need to traverse them unless you live in it. It varies a bit by neighborhood, but for the most part Avenues run north/south and streets run east west. Makes it very easy to navigate. Much of the city also uses numbered names, for avenues. If you’re trying to get to 22nd ave and you’re on 17th, you know you need to travel west - along a street (any street) and you should reach it. On a larger level, the city planners have done a great job wrt gradual density increases in the city, and consistent up zoning along transit corridors. They’ve done a good job at promoting biking and alternative transit by building out a useful set of bike paths (if imperfect). I think the link expansions missed the mark, cost too much, and will take too long to build, but that doesn’t impact driving experience. I think the city should have dumped a ton of street cars (like in SLU and cap hill) across the city instead. Boston, by comparison, is based on animal trails, and the grid is not consistent within a neighborhood, and is non existent across neighborhoods. The street names give you almost no insight into where you’re going. Compare the cities here: https://geoffboeing.com/2018/07/comparing-city-street-orientations/ https://geoffboeing.com/2018/07/comparing-city-street-orient... Oh and as far as drivers go, Boston drivers are way way more aggressive. I won’t claim they’re worse at driving or break more laws, but they’re used to way more traffic, and they’re way more aggressive.

fnordpiglet 4y ago

Have you actually driven in seattle residential streets? I’m making no claims about Boston, but that first statement is objectively wrong.

vineyardmike 4y ago
Yes I have. It’s mostly a north/south grid everywhere, broken up a bit by neighborhood (eg belltown is different than Queen Anne). Some of the smaller neighborhoods (Mt Baker, near university, etc) aren’t great grids but you shouldn’t need to traverse them unless you live in it. It varies a bit by neighborhood, but for the most part Avenues run north/south and streets run east west. Makes it very easy to navigate. Much of the city also uses numbered names, for avenues. If you’re trying to get to 22nd ave and you’re on 17th, you know you need to travel west - along a street (any street) and you should reach it. On a larger level, the city planners have done a great job wrt gradual density increases in the city, and consistent up zoning along transit corridors. They’ve done a good job at promoting biking and alternative transit by building out a useful set of bike paths (if imperfect). I think the link expansions missed the mark, cost too much, and will take too long to build, but that doesn’t impact driving experience. I think the city should have dumped a ton of street cars (like in SLU and cap hill) across the city instead. Boston, by comparison, is based on animal trails, and the grid is not consistent within a neighborhood, and is non existent across neighborhoods. The street names give you almost no insight into where you’re going. Compare the cities here: https://geoffboeing.com/2018/07/comparing-city-street-orientations/ https://geoffboeing.com/2018/07/comparing-city-street-orient... Oh and as far as drivers go, Boston drivers are way way more aggressive. I won’t claim they’re worse at driving or break more laws, but they’re used to way more traffic, and they’re way more aggressive.