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That one image very powerfully captures the total and utter idiocy of car-centric development. Imagine if that thin sprinkling of actual buildings were reconfigured into one dense, car-free urban core…

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That isn't car centric development, that is urban development in a city that fell into hard times. The whole area in the picture is about one square mile (i.e. it was the dense core of the city), and during boom times it was full of buildings. Many of the buildings were torn down when their owners could no longer afford to maintain them and they were replaced with parking lots because they look a lot better than overgrown fields. As the city revitalizes, the parking lots will be built over and turned back into buildings.

I suppose we have different standards for what constitutes car-centric development. Even if all those parking lots were built up, I see a whole lot of pavement and not a lot of pedestrian / cycling infrastructure nor greenery (I looked on street view). I mean, there are 18-wheeler semis on those streets!

Add to that urban freeways with enormous junctions ringing this supposedly dense core, cutting off surrounding areas from car-free access.

Yes, the city center has some tall buildings. The car is still dominant on its streets though.

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