I have a crazy idea:
Why don't we build more walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods and better public transit?
Why don't we build more walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods and better public transit?
For example, many people do not want to live on a street full of stores.
Walkable? Yea, absolutely. But noise? Horrible. 4AM a truck backing up because of a delivery. 3AM some drunk guy singing and hanging against the trash bins. And noise the WHOLE day.
I'll take my suburban space where I need to take the car to go and get groceries.
And how am I going to walk home with my packet of Costco toilet paper? There is no way I am paying a premium for some fancy cornerstone which stocks only the 2 roll packages.
4AM deliveries and drunk people are not a reality in most neighbourhoods. I visited family in a small village and the noise from the combine harvester on the fields and trucks of harvest going by was significantly higher then the background noise on my street at night. Also nothing stops you from still owning a car (but using it less), or taking a car-share or cargo bike to Costco.
Thing is noone forces you to live in a dense urban environment. Everyone should have the freedom to choose, while paying the actual cost (with externalities).
Obvious Plug for not-just-bikes on youtube. Great channel that goes into good detail on these matters.
>There is no way I am paying a premium for some fancy cornerstone which stocks only the 2 roll packages.
Me neither. In walkable cities, big supermarket chains adapt so you get the benefits of scaling without driving to a warehouse style monstrosity.
For example, I have 5 "supermarket"s (3 different chains) in 10 minute walking distance and never had to drive for groceries. If I ever have to buy anything more than I can carry, which is once or twice a year at max for a party or whatever, I bring a "bazaar car"[0] (sorry, don't know what it's called in English). For daily groceries, I just stop by for 3-5 minutes (or sometimes 10 if I am that indecisive) and get what I need on my way back home.
And this city is very car centric, but it is still walkable thanks to mixed use zoning basically everywhere and okish public transit. Again, this doesn't mean there aren't any quiet residential areas. Most residential areas with a 2 minute walk to the nearest shopping street are pretty quiet.
Everybody wants to save the world, but nobody wants to change their habits.
[0] https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=pazar+arabas%C4%B1&iax=imag...
It's called a shopping caddy or shopping trolley[0] :)
Not a native speaker myself either but I also wondered what the english word is. Maybe a native speaker can chime in an tell us if there's a slang term for these caddies.
For people looking to buy one, I suggest getting triple-wheeled ones (3 wheels on both sides). They can easily climb stairs while pulling them so you don't have to pick it up every time.
It's a non sequitur argument to say "not everyone wants to live there" ergo "no, we can't have more of this." It doesn't follow.
There are people who desire to live that way and can't find it. There's room for both suburbs and more walkable neighborhoods.
Then there are people who don't even know an alternative exists. The car dependency is so ingrained in their brain since birth that a "walkable city with no need for a car" makes no sense to them. Here are some "arguments" I heard from Americans:
*How will I get my groceries?
*What about cold weather?
*I don't want to wait an hour for a bus.
*What about the people with disabilities?
*Public transit increases crime
*My freedom!
*I don't want to be in the same bus/train with other people
*I don't want to walk after a day of work
*I want to go out drinking at night (even remembering this one makes me laugh hard)
What's even worse, due to all the Hollywood influence, even people here started to think suburbs are good planning.
This was not really planned per se. In some sense, it kind of just happened.
Sorry to hear people in other countries are being influenced in that way.
What is even funnier is, people here who actually think American suburbs are good wouldn't even last 3 days living there. They would either get hit by a car while trying to walk, starve to death because they don't own a car to go buy groceries or die of boredom.
It sounds like I'm exaggerating, but hear me out. Turkish people have the tendency to create dense living areas. Cities are very dense. Even in villages, 4-5 story apartments are common. Suburbs are mostly apartments, too. Single family houses are very rare in cities. 70% of the people live in apartments[0]. We like to be close to other people due to culture and the feeling of safety. We even have proverbs like "don't buy a house, buy a neighbor" signifying the importance of neighborhood. Many neighbors have eachother's keys in case of emergency. This creates a lifestyle where you have to interact with many people ever since you are born. Imagine being used to that lifestyle, but living in the American suburbs.
[0] https://interaktif.konda.com.tr/turkiye-100-kisi-olsaydi
I'm sure they can dream up some creative solution.
PS: I think you forgot your sarcasm tag. It looks like this:
/s
Yeah. At first, I was going to reply with "the sarcasm is obvious", then I remembered that some people just fail to notice sarcasm, then I also remembered that they fail because there are enough lunatics on internet who would actually unironically write something like my comment.
Also, I will assume you are a fellow railfan, because of your name.