8 ms·

I'm probably wrong, but I feel like in the style of city that urban advocates like "No Just Bikes" advocate for, there would be lots more "ancillary business ow

by nox101 3y ago

I'm probably wrong, but I feel like in the style of city that urban advocates like "No Just Bikes" advocate for, there would be lots more "ancillary business owners such as meal providers" because the cities would be designed to be walkable and so instead of driving 3-4 miles to the nearest big box car lot you'd walk 1/2 a mile to your local "pedestrian and bicycle only shopping street" with a bunch of small shops, restaurants, and cafes. Most of "car infested suburbia" is void of "ancillary business owners" because it's just miles and miles of tract homes

Nursie 3y ago
> Most of "car infested suburbia" is void of "ancillary business owners" because it's just miles and miles of tract homes This is a planning and zoning decision really. It sounds like you're describing the US. In the UK for instance, things are often a lot more mixed up. There are lots of small towns and small cities which have acted as feeder or dormitory towns for London. These all have their town centres which are likely seeing a boost from workers who are in the town a lot more of the week now. And here in Perth (Australia) where I'm not really even in a suburb (we went a bit rural), it's only a mile to my nearest cafe, very easy to do on a bike or scooter. Each of the suburbs proper tend to have one or two areas set aside for retail and food service, small malls or strip-malls or even just a cafe and a pharmacist tucked away somewhere. Plus a decent(ish) network of bike paths. It's very car friendly here compared to the UK but there is still stuff accessible without 100% needing a car. By the way - I'm all for the 15 minute city idea, it sounds great. Seems to me that implies more local centres, more dispersion of ancillary businesses and services out into the suburbs etc. High-density doesn't have to be the only option for that sort of plan if people are actually spending their days in their suburbs, IMHO.
refurb 3y ago
This reads like designing a city for 20-something singles whose highest priorities are nightlife and dining. What about the rest of us?
- nox101 3y ago
  I'm pretty sure much of the world disagrees with that assessment. Lots 30s and 40 somethings with children and lots of older people living in walkable cities. The problem in the USA is that there's very little of this style of living. It's all tract housing and suburban style apartment complexes and almost no walkable cities. I'd be nice to have more of them since we already have plenty of suburbs and traffic.
  - refurb 3y ago
    For a lot of the world that’s the only affordable housing. Single family homes are just out of reach financially. I know in Asian, many (but not all) of the people I know in apartments would love a house but can’t afford it.
    - ryandrake 3y ago
      I agree. Different people like different environments and living arrangements. One size does not fit all. Personally, I like suburban single family home living, and I would never go back to dense urban apartment living unless I was forced to at gunpoint. Options are good.
      - sagarm 3y ago
        And yet it's not possible to build new walkable communities, despite the high price of existing ones indicating there's plenty of demand.
- fmobus 3y ago
  Plenty of happy families in my building here in Germany, judging by how active kids are in the playground. Heck, we even have a kindergarten right next to the building, schools within walking distance (and kids actually walk to them - alone), three different groceries within 5 minutes, not a single surface parking lot in sight.
  - 3y ago
gedy 3y ago
> Most of "car infested suburbia" is void of "ancillary business owners" because it's just miles and miles of tract homes Well because until recently, you couldn't work there in suburbia. It feels like the "suburban office campus" fell out of vogue in like the 60s-70s

by nox101 3y ago

Nursie 3y ago

> Most of "car infested suburbia" is void of "ancillary business owners" because it's just miles and miles of tract homes This is a planning and zoning decision really. It sounds like you're describing the US. In the UK for instance, things are often a lot more mixed up. There are lots of small towns and small cities which have acted as feeder or dormitory towns for London. These all have their town centres which are likely seeing a boost from workers who are in the town a lot more of the week now. And here in Perth (Australia) where I'm not really even in a suburb (we went a bit rural), it's only a mile to my nearest cafe, very easy to do on a bike or scooter. Each of the suburbs proper tend to have one or two areas set aside for retail and food service, small malls or strip-malls or even just a cafe and a pharmacist tucked away somewhere. Plus a decent(ish) network of bike paths. It's very car friendly here compared to the UK but there is still stuff accessible without 100% needing a car. By the way - I'm all for the 15 minute city idea, it sounds great. Seems to me that implies more local centres, more dispersion of ancillary businesses and services out into the suburbs etc. High-density doesn't have to be the only option for that sort of plan if people are actually spending their days in their suburbs, IMHO.

refurb 3y ago

This reads like designing a city for 20-something singles whose highest priorities are nightlife and dining. What about the rest of us?

nox101 3y ago
I'm pretty sure much of the world disagrees with that assessment. Lots 30s and 40 somethings with children and lots of older people living in walkable cities. The problem in the USA is that there's very little of this style of living. It's all tract housing and suburban style apartment complexes and almost no walkable cities. I'd be nice to have more of them since we already have plenty of suburbs and traffic.
- refurb 3y ago
  For a lot of the world that’s the only affordable housing. Single family homes are just out of reach financially. I know in Asian, many (but not all) of the people I know in apartments would love a house but can’t afford it.
  - ryandrake 3y ago
    I agree. Different people like different environments and living arrangements. One size does not fit all. Personally, I like suburban single family home living, and I would never go back to dense urban apartment living unless I was forced to at gunpoint. Options are good.
    - sagarm 3y ago
      And yet it's not possible to build new walkable communities, despite the high price of existing ones indicating there's plenty of demand.
fmobus 3y ago
Plenty of happy families in my building here in Germany, judging by how active kids are in the playground. Heck, we even have a kindergarten right next to the building, schools within walking distance (and kids actually walk to them - alone), three different groceries within 5 minutes, not a single surface parking lot in sight.
- 3y ago

gedy 3y ago

> Most of "car infested suburbia" is void of "ancillary business owners" because it's just miles and miles of tract homes Well because until recently, you couldn't work there in suburbia. It feels like the "suburban office campus" fell out of vogue in like the 60s-70s