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Are you calling it unfriendly because it's set up to make jaywalking hard? We got tired of drunk tourists getting creamed because they wandered into traffic.
by LorenPechtel 4y ago
Are you calling it unfriendly because it's set up to make jaywalking hard? We got tired of drunk tourists getting creamed because they wandered into traffic. And the crowds are heavy enough that turning across a pedestrian flow is problematic in peak hours. Thus it has been engineered to as much as possible separate pedestrians from cars.
- lucideer 4y agoI'm calling it unfriendly because it's a highway cutting through an area fully suited to being entirely pedestrianised. You can't even drive to the front of casinos (they have car park entrances at the back), yet the vast majority of real estate outside them is given up to traffic lanes, with precious little left to the people wandering around them spending. There isn't even that much traffic on the strip, the road-to-footpath ratio of land allpocation is absurd. It's unfriendly because you have to walk so damn far to get around lanes that have little business existing in the first place.
- LorenPechtel 4y agoI have walked between various casinos at times--and never have I felt I was being made to walk unduly out of my way to do so. The games they play with scale make you think things are closer than they are. And, yes, parking is generally in back--that's actually being pedestrian friendly! If parking was in front a pedestrian would have to cross a lot more parking lot to reach the casino. And if you think there isn't much traffic on the strip you've just been there at the wrong time.
- saagarjha 4y agoMaybe it should be set up for pedestrians first and cars second…
- weberer 4y agoThere are whole networks of pedestrian paths connecting buildings. You can walk from A to B just fine without having to step outside and leave the air conditioned zone. The outside temperature in Las Vegas in the summer isn't very suitable for pedestrian use. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas#Climate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas#Climate
- refurb 4y agoYeah, I'm kinda surprised at the comments. The Strip is way more pedestrian friendly than most cities it's size.
- lucideer 4y agoI'm European so I must admit my experience of US cities is relatively limited. I know in general US cities have a terrible reputation for pedestrian-centric planning but even by US standards I found the Strip bad. The Strip is even bad by Vegas standards: not only is Fremont entirely pedestrianised, Downtown in general is very walkable: pavement width matches foot traffic, amenities are close together, & traffic moves much more slowly than on the Strip / crossing-timing is relatively frequent. For comparison, I've only really visited SoCal extensively (SD is super walkable, SF is as long as you're fit/not disabled, LA is worst than downtown LV but still nowhere near as bad as the Strip imo). East US I've seen Philly & Chicago which were both even better than CA.
- LorenPechtel 4y agoFremont is 4 blocks, the Strip is the better part of 4 miles. Fremont has no meaningful cross traffic beyond those going there, the Strip is crossed by 3 major streets that most certainly carry cross traffic. (There's also one more that is bridged/tunneled so you do not interact with the Strip--that one would be unaffected.) And if you take out the Strip the properties on the west side are going to scream because it's now hard for customers to reach them.
- lucideer 4y agoI don't see your point. You seem to be making excuses for the Strip being the way it is (i.e. "it's bad for these reasons") whereas the gp was arguing it's not that bad actually. I never said there weren't reasons behind it, just that it is very bad. > if you take out the Strip the properties on the west side are going to scream because it's now hard for customers to reach them. I mean if you blindly remove something from any badly designed system without replacing it or providing some alternative then yes, it'll probably get worse. That seems uncontroversial.
- watwut 4y agoYou can separate cars away without making short distances into massive hikes for pedestrians. > Are you calling it unfriendly because it's set up to make jaywalking hard? You can give priority to pedestrians, slow down the cars and put in obstacles for cars. You can build large roads to go around and up in places where pedestrians are likely to want to go.
- LorenPechtel 4y agoIn other words, kill the casinos on the west side. They would not survive the loss of customers this would cause. Priority to pedestrians = gridlock. I've sat through multiple light cycles as it is because of pedestrians.