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Comment by citrin_ru | Hacker News Reader

There are multiple options between dense housing (high-rise apartment buildings) and a suburban sprawl of single family houses:

- Small (2-5 story) apartment buildings in an area where zoning doesn't prevent building of shops and other amenities

- 2 family houses

- Terrace housing (which is popular in the UK) - 2-3 story building side by side in a row, each has a separate entrance on one side and a small backyard on the opposite. Its my favorite - almost all advantages of living in a personal house but density is much higher than for US-style suburbs - shops are usually in a walking distance. If wish this option where considered in the US too.

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You are not wrong, but the person I was replying to implied that anything like apartments or even duplexes would be high density (i.e. reachable by extending one's arms).

In reality the truth is that if someone has it out for walking they are basically not worth engaging with. Ever. It's just the opposite of what people need which is to be as physically active as their body allows. It's not opinion that walking is good for you, and like a lot of exercise that applies even if you dislike the activity. Not everything in life that's good for us is easy unfortunately.

A small corrective, many people can't walk (i couldn't due to an illness a few weeks ago and used a wheelchair). I will say walkable cities generally are better for disabled folks. Almost all the difficulty i had moving around on a wheelchair was due ultimately car centric city planning that pervades the US.

Yes, although many people cannot drive either, so at best it's equal and at worst many more people cannot drive (all children, many elderly, anyone with severe vision or mobility impairments, PTSD from previous accidents, etc.)

So yes, you're correct, and absolutely cars still have a place to play for those who cannot walk (or indeed for anything where the car perfectly fills the niche, which it does for quite a few things). It's a useful tool, it just became far too dominant.

'Active transport' definitely gets attacked for not being inclusive enough of those who can't do x (where x is walk, cycle) etc. but it's usually unfair. A bit like criticising animal rights activists for not having a solution to the starvation that might occur if we immediately banned all animal products from being sold. It's just not what anyone is really wanting.

I believe the American term for terrace house is row house, and it’s certainly not uncommon, it’s a fixture of our older city residential neighborhoods. Though it’s correct to say that it’s almost illegal to build now in most parts of the US.

But row houses are definitely a thing here too.

Sunset District, San Francisco, CA, has a lot of terraced housing similar to the UK, but with much wider roads.

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