Current Events > Why is the internet so obsessed with "walkable" cities

(+) Yeah! (+)

I suppose it depends on where in Astoria we're talking about https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b6c1993c.jpg

But I find it hard to buy that anywhere is gonna take you "1.5-2 hours" when the subway and buses are running at daytime headways.

My favorite part of this topic is people acting like walking places is such a massive ordeal, meanwhile European and Asian cities have been doing it forever with no complaints.

Beany posted...

Yeah, people are advocating for better public transport. It can be done, it just takes the political will to spend the funds.

In other words, it can't be done.

RchHomieQuanChi posted...

My favorite part of this topic is people acting like walking places is such a massive ordeal and inconvenience, meanwhile European and Asian cities have been doing it forever with no complaints.

Tbf, the US is much more spread out than Europe or Asia.

RchHomieQuanChi posted...

My favorite part of this topic is people acting like walking places is such a massive ordeal and inconvenience, meanwhile European and Asian cities have been doing it forever with no complaints.

We still rely a lot on cars anyways, and I say that as someone who doesn't even have a licence.

But yeah, it's doable and just needs public transport.

I dare anyone to pick a random spot in my city (vienna), which isn't completly at the outskirts, hills or nature reserves, and tell me what kind of stuff they would need.

Everything should be reachable within a few minutes.

The biggest challenge to this is always the job, because you can't just work in the office most convenient to you.

LonelyStoner posted...

Tbf, the US is much more spread out than Europe or Asia.

That's a big issue for traveling between cities, but should not be an issue for traveling within cities.

LonelyStoner posted...

Tbf, the US is much more spread out than Europe or Asia.

Yes, but that doesn't make the haphazard way a ton of cities are built in the US defensible.

RchHomieQuanChi posted...

My favorite part of this topic is people acting like walking places is such a massive ordeal and inconvenience, meanwhile European and Asian cities have been doing it forever with no complaints.

If every place I needed to go were a mile away, I'd be happy as a blue jay.

But it's not. Commuting by foot would take four hours out of my day.

pazzy posted...

Yes, but that doesn't make the haphazard way a ton of cities are built in the US defensible.

True. I live in a college town and Im convinced that it was designed by leftover architect grads.

RetuenOfDevsman posted...

If every place I needed to go were a mile away, I'd be happy as a blue jay.

But it's not. Commuting by foot would take four hours out of my day.

Depends on "every place".

everything within a mile is hard, but that's where public transport is supposed to be put into place.

LonelyStoner posted...

True. I live in a college town and Im convinced that it was designed by leftover architect grads.

I'm convinced our cities were all designed by automotive execs.

I'm also convinced exterminators mix sugar in their sprays but that's a different topic.

Karovorak posted...

Depends on "every place".

everything within a mile is hard, but that's where public transport is supposed to be put into place.

*shrugs*

We can talk all day about what's supposed to be but that doesn't make it happen.

RetuenOfDevsman posted...

*shrugs*

We can talk all day about what's supposed to be but that doesn't make it happen.

Yeah, because the public transport is lacking.

As I said, you can try to pick any place in my city, and I'm sure I would be able to find everything you need without having to rely on a car.

The only issue is always the job. A gym or grocery store may be always around the corner, but the job could be at another random location making it a bit of a hazzle. In the worst case you could have to drive from one end of the city into the center, just to change trains and drive to another end of the city.

Karovorak posted...

Yeah, because the public transport is lacking.

As I said, you can try to pick any place in my city, and I'm sure I would be able to find everything you need without having to rely on a car.

The only issue is always the job. A gym or grocery store may be always around the corner, but the job could be at another random location making it a bit of a hazzle. In the worst case you could have to drive from one end of the city into the center, just to change trains and drive to another end of the city.

Both city design and public transportation need help though. Transportation needs help more IMO, but both are needed for things.

RetuenOfDevsman posted...

If every place I needed to go were a mile away, I'd be happy as a blue jay.

But it's not. Commuting by foot would take four hours out of my day.

So youd be happy as a blue jay in a walkable city?

Living in a major city at all is a nightmare existence.

RchHomieQuanChi posted...

My favorite part of this topic is people acting like walking places is such a massive ordeal and inconvenience, meanwhile European and Asian cities have been doing it forever with no complaints.

I mean it is a huge deal.
european roads and Asian roads are also more narrow (if you ever noticed that BTW).

since the 1950s, transportation has been a major focus in the us, which is why the roads here are massive.

bike routes are possible, but they become hazardous when said bike routes merge with traffic. Drivers in general only look out for passenger vehicles

but yeah, walking isnt the best means of transportation when everything here in the us is too spread out.

the only real solution to this if more cities do things you see in Cyberpunk 2077, where multi complex buildings have raised footpaths making it possible to travel from building to building with minimal oncoming traffic interference increasing the walkability across towns

lydiaquayle posted...

Are you disabled? Seems quite easy if you're only walking 10-15 minutes. 80 year old grandmothers do it every day with carts and suitcases.

Good for those 80 year old grannies. I for one don't want to make it a daily chore to go grocery shopping, or even weekly chore which is why I load up.

Solid_Snake07 posted...

Living in a major city at all is a nightmare existence.

I cant see why anybody would want to live anywhere else, to be honest.

I dont want to live anywhere near a gas station or bus stop

Glob posted...

I cant see why anybody would want to live anywhere else, to be honest.

Much lower cost of living, less traffic, less people, less crime

Plenty of reasons. Everything the city has to offer can be enjoyed on a day or weekend trip into it.

i dont want to live totally out in the sticks, but living in the middle of a major population hub? Coming from someone whos lived in a few of them, fuck all that

Walking is fun but also sometimes I need a car

When it's nice out, I can walk to work. I'm walking to see an outdoor concert tonight. My kids also walks to work (you can see the restaurant from my front door).

I used to spend over $100/week on gas. Now I spend about $30/month

My biggest gripe with walkable cities is easily solved with grocery delivery which could be easily afforded since less cars per family would be needed. You still can own cars, and drive out of the city. I don't think you'd be like locked in and on foot for everything, if buses can exist as public transport, then so can private vehicles.

InfinityMonster posted...

This is not how it works here in NYC. It's not EZ mode at all. Hour+ long commutes are very common with both buses and subways and you often have to take both along with walking.

To get from Astoria to by Citi Field right now, it will take an hour and you have to take 2 trains and a bus and one end is right by the station. It's only 5 miles and it's the middle of the night. It shows 10 minutes by car. This will increase to like 30 minutes by car in the daytime, while public will be like 1.5-2 hours.

Yeah, thats another thing. Most of these big citys like NYC have much longer and worse commutes than outside of it because taking public transportation and walking are usually objectively slower than driving in most places.

https://stacker.com/new-york/new-york-city/new-york-city-has-2-worst-average-commute

NYC has the second worst commute in the nation

Solid_Snake07 posted...

Much lower cost of living, less traffic, less people, less crime

Plenty of reasons. Everything the city has to offer can be enjoyed on a day or weekend trip into it.

i dont want to live totally out in the sticks, but living in the middle of a major population hub? Coming from someone whos lived in a few of them, fuck all that

Less traffic, I get. I dont understand how less people is a positive. I like people.

I live in a capital city and my cost of living is laughably low and I have no fear of crime here whatsoever.

SammyLiimex posted...

Yeah, thats another thing. Most of these big citys like NYC have much longer and worse commutes than outside of it because taking public transportation and walking are usually objectively slower than driving in most places.

https://stacker.com/new-york/new-york-city/new-york-city-has-2-worst-average-commute

NYC has the second worst commute in the nation

I do wonder about this statistic: to what extent does it reflect commute length vs willingness to commute?

By which I mean: very few people are commuting an hour to work in, say, Des Moines, but people will literally go the extra mile for NYC because the financial benefits of doing so are greater. Even if Des Moines had just aggressively bad infrastructure, its average commute would be lower. It also speaks to the affordability of housing in Manhattan, which is one of if not the most expensive area of the country. People live further out.

But I also think there's something to be said for an hour commute by train, where you can read or play Switch or scroll on your phone, being something different from an hour behind the wheel.

Antifar posted...

I do wonder about this statistic: to what extent does it reflect commute length vs willingness to commute?

That statistic factors in driving commute. New York is horrible in that respect.

Glob posted...

Less traffic, I get. I dont understand how less people is a positive. I like people.

I live in a capital city and my cost of living is laughably low and I have no fear of crime here whatsoever.

Some towns are totally unsuited for large numbers of people. In rural or badly-designed areas where cars are king, traffic slows to a halt during holidays or events that attract crowds.

mistymermaid posted...

Some towns are totally unsuited for large numbers of people. In rural or badly-designed areas where cars are king, traffic slows to a halt during holidays or events that attract crowds.

Im really not sure which position youre trying to argue against here.

You mention rural areas in a negative way, but Ive already said I cant imagine not wanting to live in a city. Then you talk about badly-designed areas, but thats not really an argument against cities either, just badly designed ones.

Walkable cities is a great goal to work towards, but the best part is hearing right winger conspiracy theorists work themselves into a frothy mess over how its going to end with them locked up behind walls into small gulags.

Can they ever actually deal with reality? Why is everything a new apocalypse for them.

Saw this pop up on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/1di3zrz/why_some_walkable_distances_are_not_actually/

City planners got payed to fuck everything up

mistymermaid posted...

Some towns are totally unsuited for large numbers of people. In rural or badly-designed areas where cars are king, traffic slows to a halt during holidays or events that attract crowds.

how many rural areas really have events that attract big crowds?

thronedfire2 posted...

how many rural areas really have events that attract big crowds?

You'd be surprised. There's a hot air balloon festival they have once a year not too far from me, and it's one of the most miserably overcrowded and over trafficked events of the year and I wish I didn't have to go because of it.