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The role of large cities has typically been to act as an economic and cultural hub to their surrounding area. Cities that restrict access for outsiders to their

The role of large cities has typically been to act as an economic and cultural hub to their surrounding area. Cities that restrict access for outsiders to their economic and cultural areas will probably thrive in the short-term, but over the long term I suspect they will be replaced in their role as a regional hub by cities that don't.

supertrope 4y ago
Automobile dependent zoning regulations favor making driving easy to the detriment to everything else. Entire neighborhoods were bulldozed to make room for highways. Preserving unlimited free parking comes at the expense of rent zooming up due to the new supply of real estate being blocked. There are other ways for people to get downtown. Parking can be pushed to the periphery of the business & entertainment districts. Walk, take a shuttle, or taxi in from there. Parking in a parking garage and walking two blocks is reasonable. Pedestrianized main drags are more lively as people don't feel the pressure of cars bearing down on them as they cross the street. Cars are great tools. We've just gone overboard and don't even throw pedestrians (and dismounted motorists) a bone in the form of sidewalks, safe ways to cross the street, reasonably useful mass transit, and ways to cross over highways without walking an extra mile.
- dsfyu404ed 4y ago
  The root cause is the hubris to think we can "centrally plan but not really" utopia with these sorts of broad brush regulatory and carrot/stick policy changes. Suburban sprawl (though they had different words for it) was very much the "15-minute city" urban planning buzzword of its day. As an aside sidewalks are SOP these days in all but the most rural of road projects so progress is being made.
  - pjc50 4y ago
    You can't not centrally plan a city. Thousands of decisions have to be made every year about roads and traffic.
  - supertrope 4y ago
    There's some good reforms that decrease government intervention. Legalizing apartments, duplexes, additional dwelling units, by loosening zoning. Ending mandated minimum parking requirements to let the market set the supply of parking instead of having city planning officials go off dogma or old laws. The mortgage interest tax deduction has been reduced thanks to the standard deduction exceeding itemizing in all but the most expensive states.

supertrope 4y ago

Automobile dependent zoning regulations favor making driving easy to the detriment to everything else. Entire neighborhoods were bulldozed to make room for highways. Preserving unlimited free parking comes at the expense of rent zooming up due to the new supply of real estate being blocked. There are other ways for people to get downtown. Parking can be pushed to the periphery of the business & entertainment districts. Walk, take a shuttle, or taxi in from there. Parking in a parking garage and walking two blocks is reasonable. Pedestrianized main drags are more lively as people don't feel the pressure of cars bearing down on them as they cross the street. Cars are great tools. We've just gone overboard and don't even throw pedestrians (and dismounted motorists) a bone in the form of sidewalks, safe ways to cross the street, reasonably useful mass transit, and ways to cross over highways without walking an extra mile.

dsfyu404ed 4y ago
The root cause is the hubris to think we can "centrally plan but not really" utopia with these sorts of broad brush regulatory and carrot/stick policy changes. Suburban sprawl (though they had different words for it) was very much the "15-minute city" urban planning buzzword of its day. As an aside sidewalks are SOP these days in all but the most rural of road projects so progress is being made.
- pjc50 4y ago
  You can't not centrally plan a city. Thousands of decisions have to be made every year about roads and traffic.
- supertrope 4y ago
  There's some good reforms that decrease government intervention. Legalizing apartments, duplexes, additional dwelling units, by loosening zoning. Ending mandated minimum parking requirements to let the market set the supply of parking instead of having city planning officials go off dogma or old laws. The mortgage interest tax deduction has been reduced thanks to the standard deduction exceeding itemizing in all but the most expensive states.