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A well designed city makes most errands faster on foot than in a car. Even when cars are prioritized, traffic makes even the smallest errands a problem eventua
by digging 3y ago
A well designed city makes most errands faster on foot than in a car.
Even when cars are prioritized, traffic makes even the smallest errands a problem eventually; roads simply don't scale.
And cars are by far the loudest thing about cities at almost all times. They make the very air hostile with pollution and heat. And, worst of all:
> I simply hop in my vehicle and can be anywhere I want in 3-15 minutes
You do this at the direct expense of everyone else in your city. You make the streets unwalkable and the city unlivable. You are insulated from the sounds and dangers that you are creating around you. (I'm just using you as an example, I don't actually blame you for taking the only option you've been given.)
- HPsquared 3y agoCar-centric design makes things unwalkable; other models make things undriveable. It's a competition.
- digging 3y agoUndriveable isn't bad though. We don't really get any value from driving for everyday trips over walking/biking/transit. And any decent walkable designs don't prohibit necessary driving such as delivery and emergency services, so they're not truly undriveable. It is a competition, but dying from cancer is also a form of competition. We don't always have to give both sides equal standing.
- google234123 3y agoSome places are really hot/humid you know, it's nice not to have to bike and need a shower for a small errand
- alistairSH 3y agoSo prioritize e-bikes or scooters.
- digging 3y agoI live in one. I still walk when I'm able.
- acabal 3y agoThe point is that driving should not be required to live a full life, and in fact it's much more pleasant to live without cars everywhere. The goal of driving is to get from point A to point B. But when point A and point B are a 5 minute walk, why drive at all? Well, in America we designed our cities and suburbs to make the distance between A and B as large as possible. But we didn't have to do that!
- chung8123 3y agoAnd it isn't. If you prioritize your life around not driving you can still live a full life.
- dev1n 3y agoUnfortunately, in the U.S. this is not true.
- brewdad 3y agoIt can be but you have to make your choice of housing location priority number one. Then worry about employment, raising a family, etc. Not easy at all which is why so few do it.
- digging 3y agoYou also need a minimum amount of financial comfort and stability, which, in the US, is not easy for many people. Often the poorest neighborhoods are the most car-bound.
- cpursley 3y agoThe Netherlands begs to differ.
- rad_gruchalski 3y agoThat’s why there’s a 5 lane highway from Utrecht to Amsterdam?
- cpursley 3y agoBetween cities, yeah. But also trains, unlike America. And in Utrecht proper there’s multiple options for getting around that aren’t cars. The Netherlands does a great job (maybe the best) designing for multi-mode transportation, including cars.
- rad_gruchalski 3y agoI have to admit. The OV card is pretty cool.
- fomine3 3y agoYou can drive Tokyo but it's just expensive to park
- nayuki 3y agoResidential streets in Tokyo are narrow and sometimes barely fit one car. As for parking, well, it's market price. It's expensive because parking has been subsidized as the default in vast majority of the world.
- mperham 3y agoExcept driving is the only transportation option which regularly results in the death of people walking/biking outside of that car. Walking/biking/rail/bus kill virtually no one, cars kill tens of thousands annually. Discouraging driving is a reasonable public health measure for a safer society.
- Moldoteck 3y agoCarcentric design is also against drivability if you account for inevitable traffic jams
- ilyt 3y agoIMO the default mode of transport should be scooters. They don't take all that much space than a person(unlike car) but (like car) can move far faster The infrastructure is all here already. They pollute less (ICE) and the no pollution electric ones are far more affordable than EVs. Like 4 of them fit in one parking space. They have storage space for some small groceries too. Sadly winter and rain sucks.. i guess at least for rain those scooters with roofs could cover that.
- rad_gruchalski 3y agoYeah. Screw scooters. People riding those don’t care about pedestrians. I’ve been knocked out by one of those things. They’re more dangerous than cars. Cars at least move on designated roads while scooters just zip past pedestrians and can come from anywhere at any time.
- alistairSH 3y agoThey’re talking about Vespas not Razors.
- rad_gruchalski 3y agoHow do you know what they’re talking about?
- alistairSH 3y agoContext… You can fit well more than 4 kick scooters in a parking space. And kick scooters don’t have internal combustion engines. And motor scooters usually have a storage bin under the seat big enough for a helmet or two, or two bags of groceries.
- ilyt 3y agoContext...
- ilyt 3y agoI also vehemently hate those but I'm not talking about them. I meant the bigger ones driving on roads (small motorcycles), not the small e-scooters. No mixing up passenger and scooter traffic. My language have separate word for those types but english for some reason don't...