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Higher speeds. Suburban streets/roads/stroads optimize for traffic safety, not pedestrian safety. The wide roads and large front yards promote higher driving s
by Swizec 4y ago
Higher speeds. Suburban streets/roads/stroads optimize for traffic safety, not pedestrian safety.
The wide roads and large front yards promote higher driving speeds. For a long time the thinking was even that front yards can work as a place for cars to stop safely if they fly off the road.
They talk about this in Strong Towns iirc
- hcurtiss 4y agoI think it's more likely because there are very few kids playing outside in urban areas. There are kids in the Pearl and the South Waterfront in Portland. It is rare to see them play outside, much more rare to see them playing in the street. On the other hand, kids playing catch or riding their bikes on suburban streets is a daily occurrence in my neighborhood. That's definitely going to drive up interactions with cars, but the motor vehicle rates you cite above are still exceedingly low.
- HDThoreaun 4y agoThat's just not true though. There are tons of kids playing in the street here in chicago. Maybe you just don't live near many children?
- mrep 4y agoReally? I grew up in the suburbs of chicago and we didn't really play in the streets. We played basketball in one of our parents driveways or at the local park and played football in one of our parents front/back yards or at the local park. Now I live in Lake View during the summer and I haven't really seen any kids playing in the streets either. Where are you at in Chicago and what do they play if I may ask?
- tptacek 4y agoI'm in Oak Park, just across Austin from Chicago, and kids play in the streets all the time. Basketball and baseball, mostly. The comment upthread suggests kids aren't even riding bikes in the streets. I mean, come on.
- hcurtiss 4y agoKids play outside on the sidewalk/street in urban Chicago? I've never been to Chicago, but my wife went to school at University of Chicago, and she says she never saw any such thing. The area around the university is pretty rough, but still. And I'm in downtown Portland all the time, and no, there are no kids playing on the sidewalk/street. Not even in the little urban parks, or at least very, very few.
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- tptacek 4y agoWhat's "urban Chicago"? The loop? Kids do not play on the street in the loop. This is what the loop looks like: https://www.google.com/maps/place/jackson+and+lasalle+chicago/@41.8781484,-87.6318146,3a,75y,268.91h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sClednYDB0r5i6-h6rNNxzw!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x880e2cbc4c686ba5:0xe43db217f2542b3f?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj30ubXx_P8AhUSg4kEHTHkAL4QxB16BAgPEAM https://www.google.com/maps/place/jackson+and+lasalle+chicag... Most of Chicago doesn't look like the loop. It's a big city. The University of Chicago is in Hyde Park, 10 minutes south of the loop. It's one of the safest neighborhoods in the city. This is what Hyde Park looks like: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7995114,-87.5981733,3a,75y,193.87h,95.26t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sxlzo0m5sP6AKyxo3-pGbCA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Dxlzo0m5sP6AKyxo3-pGbCA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D108.0558%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7995114,-87.5981733,3a,75y,1... Kids play on the sidewalks and in the streets in Chicago all the time. I mean: of course they do? It's a city of 2.7 million people. Did you think all the kids were just kept inside all the time?
- notch898a 4y agoMay also be type of vehicle. Big farm truck in suburbs/rural, can't see anyone under ~3ft well when they're right up on you unless you're really intentionally looking down. Also could be the children are improperly trained. False sense of security, whereas in the city it's basically entrenched in anyone that as soon as you set foot outside that the cars are trying to slaughter everyone so kids & adults alike are always on alert. Whenever I live in the city I basically assume if I'm not in a city park a car is on the prowl to run me over at any minute, which means I'm not really caught unawares.
- CalRobert 4y agoI live on 3 acres in a rural area and "if you go in to the road a driver will slaughter you" was the most important lesson we had to teach our kid.
- notch898a 4y agoYes that was the lesson. Not "if you go outside a driver will slaughter you" which is the lesson in the city, and probably a more accurate one. You still go outside but you know you're in the slaughterhouse. Farm kid by your own admission doesn't realize they're still in the slaughterhouse when off the road.
- JAlexoid 4y agoThat may have been the case like 30-40 years ago, but it's not the case now.
- zip1234 4y agoSure children can be trained, but children will still go in the road because they are children. Based on current laws, this is acceptable collateral damage so that cars can go fast.