4 ms·

I don't know why more municipalities don't jump on this. In my area (I live in the US) we have a number of neighborhoods that are very walk-able and they are co

I don't know why more municipalities don't jump on this. In my area (I live in the US) we have a number of neighborhoods that are very walk-able and they are consistently the most competitive areas for housing. In all the spots, homes are expensive and that's even if they make it on the market because hardly anyone wants to sell when they live in a place like this.

potato3732842 1y ago
Because it's not actually politically tractable. Pretty much every one of these proposals has some implied back side or quiet part you don't say out loud to it that the exact same people who like the sound of walkability in the abstract would be unwilling to make. Think about how many people who support this stuff would be screaming bloody murder if some developer bought their neighbor's lot and coordinated with some other local developers to submit all their proposals for the most hard to approve stuff right at thanksgiving to take advantage of all the sped up paperwork and limits on how long government can sit on things and then built right up to the sidewalk.
- barbazoo 1y ago
  > Think about how many people who support this stuff would be screaming bloody murder if some developer bought their neighbor's lot and coordinated with some other local developers to submit all their proposals for the most hard to approve stuff right at thanksgiving to take advantage of all the sped up paperwork and limits on how long government can sit on things and then built right up to the sidewalk. Maybe show some of the negatives, your example as is doesn't sound that controversial.
- wpm 1y ago
  Hi there, I support this stuff and would not care in the slightest if someone built right up to the sidewalk because literally, who gives a shit? All my favorite places have their buildings built right up to the sidewalk! ITS GOOD! I'm tired of pretending it's not! What are we afraid of? Oh no! There isn't a pointlessly small patch of astroturf out front? I would be happy that people are building on all of their available land because it is scarce and it makes the units bigger.
kawfey 1y ago
IMO it's because we (americans) are in an oligarchy, and barring modifications to the urban fabric that stem from (often repetitive) loss of life, there are no massive corporations to bankroll or lobby for pedestrian and urban mobility enhancements. I mean, we just got a signalized crosswalk on a state highway to my city's most popular custard stand, 3 years after a student was killed by drivers and others were injured. https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local/17-year-old-hit-killed-car-outside-ted-drewes-chippewa/63-3d2d394f-7cae-4739-9c85-d90e8e3675cb https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local/17-year-old-hit-kill... || https://www.stlpr.org/news-briefs/2025-07-16/deadly-crossing-ted-drewes-safety-improvements-three-years-later https://www.stlpr.org/news-briefs/2025-07-16/deadly-crossing... and even still, the only thing separating the highway and a crowd of 100+ people in line for custard is a fence on an 8-12" tall curb https://maps.app.goo.gl/2pD9mSzr9yTAK1z19 https://maps.app.goo.gl/2pD9mSzr9yTAK1z19 I wish we had a society where the "real" felony is developing harmful infrastructure in the first place. Manslaughterers losing their license or going to jail, and band-aid fixes like paint, signals, and frangible fences do actually nothing to prevent the next fatality.
HDThoreaun 1y ago
The people who live in these areas dont want these things, and they control local politics. Typical hypocritical bullshit, "I can have my nice things but if anyone else does Ill be inconvenienced".

potato3732842 1y ago

Because it's not actually politically tractable. Pretty much every one of these proposals has some implied back side or quiet part you don't say out loud to it that the exact same people who like the sound of walkability in the abstract would be unwilling to make. Think about how many people who support this stuff would be screaming bloody murder if some developer bought their neighbor's lot and coordinated with some other local developers to submit all their proposals for the most hard to approve stuff right at thanksgiving to take advantage of all the sped up paperwork and limits on how long government can sit on things and then built right up to the sidewalk.

barbazoo 1y ago
> Think about how many people who support this stuff would be screaming bloody murder if some developer bought their neighbor's lot and coordinated with some other local developers to submit all their proposals for the most hard to approve stuff right at thanksgiving to take advantage of all the sped up paperwork and limits on how long government can sit on things and then built right up to the sidewalk. Maybe show some of the negatives, your example as is doesn't sound that controversial.
wpm 1y ago
Hi there, I support this stuff and would not care in the slightest if someone built right up to the sidewalk because literally, who gives a shit? All my favorite places have their buildings built right up to the sidewalk! ITS GOOD! I'm tired of pretending it's not! What are we afraid of? Oh no! There isn't a pointlessly small patch of astroturf out front? I would be happy that people are building on all of their available land because it is scarce and it makes the units bigger.

kawfey 1y ago

IMO it's because we (americans) are in an oligarchy, and barring modifications to the urban fabric that stem from (often repetitive) loss of life, there are no massive corporations to bankroll or lobby for pedestrian and urban mobility enhancements. I mean, we just got a signalized crosswalk on a state highway to my city's most popular custard stand, 3 years after a student was killed by drivers and others were injured. https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local/17-year-old-hit-killed-car-outside-ted-drewes-chippewa/63-3d2d394f-7cae-4739-9c85-d90e8e3675cb https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local/17-year-old-hit-kill... || https://www.stlpr.org/news-briefs/2025-07-16/deadly-crossing-ted-drewes-safety-improvements-three-years-later https://www.stlpr.org/news-briefs/2025-07-16/deadly-crossing... and even still, the only thing separating the highway and a crowd of 100+ people in line for custard is a fence on an 8-12" tall curb https://maps.app.goo.gl/2pD9mSzr9yTAK1z19 https://maps.app.goo.gl/2pD9mSzr9yTAK1z19 I wish we had a society where the "real" felony is developing harmful infrastructure in the first place. Manslaughterers losing their license or going to jail, and band-aid fixes like paint, signals, and frangible fences do actually nothing to prevent the next fatality.

HDThoreaun 1y ago

The people who live in these areas dont want these things, and they control local politics. Typical hypocritical bullshit, "I can have my nice things but if anyone else does Ill be inconvenienced".