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Comment by Philip-J-Fry | Hacker News Reader

The solution is walkable towns/cities. Not deliveries hahaha.

Sure, how has that worked over the past fifty years? Let’s try deliveries now and see if that helps

Walkable cities have been working great since the dawn of cities. They continue to work fine where they are allowed to exist.

They've always been allowed to exist in the US.

But the US also allows suburbs, and it turns out a ton of people prefer those, having backyards for their kids.

I love cities but I'm also well aware that tons of people don't want to be stuck in cities.

Walkable cities are actually illegal in much of the US due to zoning laws right now. The reason you don't see shops in residential suburban developments is not because there is no demand, it's because it's literally illegal.

Having walkable and bikeable destinations is compatible with back yards. It just needs to be legal to build it.

its illegal because the voters dont want it

To me it looks like lobbies have more power than voters.

There really is no NIMBY lobby. NIMBY laws exist because NIMBY voters demand them.

In general, I believe that it's the highway lobby who shaped the US into what it is today, not the NIMBY people. I think they have much more power than nimby, even if in certain situations, they seem to be on the same side. So what I say is that industry interest weighs more than voter interest.

It mostly hasn't worked in the US because cities mostly haven't been doing it. It seems to work great in other places.

A lot of problems are easy if you can get everyone to coordinate. Wishful thinking is not a plan though.

You don't need to get everyone to coordinate. You need politicians to not listen to the lobby of home owners and real estate companies worried about their investments (in other words, ignore the NIMBYs). Change the zoning laws, incentivize developing mixed use, prioritize pedestrian and cycling infrastructure and stop prioritizing cars and parking.

Works completely perfectly in Japan.

Outside of big cities in Japan, car ownership is quite high (usually 2 cars per household).

I live in Japan, so I know how it works.

You have to get pretty damn rural before you need anything more than a bike to access a convenience store.

Obviously the absolute overwhelming majority of Japanese live in cities anyway, so it's not really comparable to the US.

Ah, so many ways I wish the US was more Japan-like. And I really mean it. But I also sadly know it will never happen.

I agree, but changing zoning is more difficult

Just rebuild society. Easy!

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