I just had an uncomfortable argument with my neighbour about electric cars. The man coached Olympic skiers and won gold medals with a combination of good physical training and adept psychology.
I wouldn’t usually argue, especially with someone who has been materially very kind to me when others mostly ignored my circumstances but I can at least say that I haven’t owned or driven a vehicle in twenty five years and frankly I wish they would mostly just go away, but alas cars and urban sprawl is everywhere taking up more and more space and critical resources.
It all started innocently enough with his complementing Elon Musk on his AI assisted auto piloted Teslas which he argued made driving cars so much safer, how electric cars are so much better for the environment, and I admit that’s largely true, electric cars are better. However in my lifetime I saw how new multi lane autoroutes shattered urban and rural communities alike, not to mention the accumulated lack of provisional maintenance and crumbling infrastructure now evident everywhere. I suggested that perhaps he consider not buying a new vehicle and do without, that it’s not a desirable benefit because what we really need going forward is fewer cars. He was adamant about his personal needs and wouldn’t even consider the possibility, convinced that nobody could take that away from him. I retorted that I would (as if I could or should and I feel ashamed for saying so). Basically, I doubt new electric cars will change anything, things are the same insofar as where I think we need to be and his vision of the future is somehow now fundamentally and diametrically opposed to mine.
Here’s my optimistic take. I claimed that the military industrial complex could be redeployed in response to the growing climate crisis by building on peaceful initiatives and sharing resources. INTBAU UN-Habitat and World Bank figures claim that by 2030 up to three billion people will need new housing and basic infrastructure. Sustainable, indigenous, traditional, local, and vernacular design solutions have the potential to create built environments that are inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
These kinds of surveys always make me wonder how many Americans even experienced a walkable lifestyle ever. If stereotypes of walkable cities involve crime, noise, visible poverty, and lack of privacy then it seems obvious why plenty of people don't want to live there. I myself thought "sure it'd be nice to have a grocery store within biking distance but I'm pretty happy in my private suburb". I didn't have my eyes opened until fairly recently when I had an extended stay in Germany.
It all comes back to messaging, in the end. How else will we persuade people who have never really experienced true walkability that they actually do want it?
My daughter lives in Philadelphia, but in a suburban part of the city. She's a 30 second walk to a train station that goes into the city center. It's great. I love to visit the city. We once lived right in Boston. It was wonderful to be able to walk to the office or to restaurants.
Now, we live in rural Maine. There are no stores, restaurants, or anything else within walking distance. Thete are no sidewalks. But it's beautiful. Right now there are several turkeys just outside my window, foraging under the bird feeders. Just before dark, we usually see a young fox doing the same thing as the turkeys. Occasionally, the fox and turkeys occupy the same space, eying each other warily. We like to sit outside before making dinner, watching the birds and smelling the nicotiana flowers which open late in the day. We'll usually stroll out to the vegetable garden and pick up something for dinner. It's great. We love living here. Would I like to be able to walk to the grocery store? Sure. But the tradeoffs are acceptable.
Before I retired, I was a lawyer. I mostly worked from home. Working from home has had a profound effect on where people are able to live. I
It seems to me that many people that say that they prefer to live in the city do so because they know that they can afford to escape the city on weekends and vacations...
I love the idea of 15 minute cities. The culture in America is so focused on profit instead of happiness, I think people imagine some kind of homesteading fantasy will bring them happiness through control. Driving 26 minutes to work on a regular basis is not freedom but I am a victim of Cold War survival planning. Spread it all out so the nukes don’t kill us all, I guess. But a walkable city where people could interact may frighten a lot of younger people with little value for human interaction, as they are used to interaction only through the silicon obsession device.
Lloyd, you’re not wrong! I'm a little late on the comments, but 40% is a lot of people and given the cost of living in walkable communities the supply is far short of demand. So why don’t we meet demand so people can choose how they want to live?
The real issue here though is not what people prefer, but what people can actually afford. Suburban lifestyles and driving are heavily subsidized (see StrongTowns.org) and financially unsustainable. Do the math, remove the subsidies, and then have people pay the actual cost of their lifestyle choices.
Right now I’m paying taxes to have a massive highway expansion make my neighborhood less livable, so people who chose to live in suburbs 30 miles outside the city can commute without delay (or so developers and politicians can get rich building more stuff). I don’t need this highway. Why am I paying for asthma?
And there’s the answer.
We don’t have walkable neighborhoods for the 40% who want them because if I don’t need my car, I’m not going to be so willing to subsidize yours. And all the commercial (and political) interests that depend on us driving won’t let that happen. Transportation in America is a socialist system, and we all have to participate whether we want to or not for it to stay solvent.
So I live in the suburbs but in a walkable area (30 minutes to restaurants shops library coffee, etc) and we walk or bike to everything we can. I find that there are two issues with people walking for necessities. First it is associated with poverty and this gives it a negative association. Second is the weather, ie too hot raining too cold. Recently I was walking to the library and one of my neighbors who was driving by asked if she could give me a ride (because she was concerned I was walking in the heat) and she could not conceive that I wanted to walk and it was not too hot to do so. (And I realize that is not true for everyone)
I just had an uncomfortable argument with my neighbour about electric cars. The man coached Olympic skiers and won gold medals with a combination of good physical training and adept psychology.
I wouldn’t usually argue, especially with someone who has been materially very kind to me when others mostly ignored my circumstances but I can at least say that I haven’t owned or driven a vehicle in twenty five years and frankly I wish they would mostly just go away, but alas cars and urban sprawl is everywhere taking up more and more space and critical resources.
It all started innocently enough with his complementing Elon Musk on his AI assisted auto piloted Teslas which he argued made driving cars so much safer, how electric cars are so much better for the environment, and I admit that’s largely true, electric cars are better. However in my lifetime I saw how new multi lane autoroutes shattered urban and rural communities alike, not to mention the accumulated lack of provisional maintenance and crumbling infrastructure now evident everywhere. I suggested that perhaps he consider not buying a new vehicle and do without, that it’s not a desirable benefit because what we really need going forward is fewer cars. He was adamant about his personal needs and wouldn’t even consider the possibility, convinced that nobody could take that away from him. I retorted that I would (as if I could or should and I feel ashamed for saying so). Basically, I doubt new electric cars will change anything, things are the same insofar as where I think we need to be and his vision of the future is somehow now fundamentally and diametrically opposed to mine.
Here’s my optimistic take. I claimed that the military industrial complex could be redeployed in response to the growing climate crisis by building on peaceful initiatives and sharing resources. INTBAU UN-Habitat and World Bank figures claim that by 2030 up to three billion people will need new housing and basic infrastructure. Sustainable, indigenous, traditional, local, and vernacular design solutions have the potential to create built environments that are inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
These kinds of surveys always make me wonder how many Americans even experienced a walkable lifestyle ever. If stereotypes of walkable cities involve crime, noise, visible poverty, and lack of privacy then it seems obvious why plenty of people don't want to live there. I myself thought "sure it'd be nice to have a grocery store within biking distance but I'm pretty happy in my private suburb". I didn't have my eyes opened until fairly recently when I had an extended stay in Germany.
It all comes back to messaging, in the end. How else will we persuade people who have never really experienced true walkability that they actually do want it?
My daughter lives in Philadelphia, but in a suburban part of the city. She's a 30 second walk to a train station that goes into the city center. It's great. I love to visit the city. We once lived right in Boston. It was wonderful to be able to walk to the office or to restaurants.
Now, we live in rural Maine. There are no stores, restaurants, or anything else within walking distance. Thete are no sidewalks. But it's beautiful. Right now there are several turkeys just outside my window, foraging under the bird feeders. Just before dark, we usually see a young fox doing the same thing as the turkeys. Occasionally, the fox and turkeys occupy the same space, eying each other warily. We like to sit outside before making dinner, watching the birds and smelling the nicotiana flowers which open late in the day. We'll usually stroll out to the vegetable garden and pick up something for dinner. It's great. We love living here. Would I like to be able to walk to the grocery store? Sure. But the tradeoffs are acceptable.
Before I retired, I was a lawyer. I mostly worked from home. Working from home has had a profound effect on where people are able to live. I
It seems to me that many people that say that they prefer to live in the city do so because they know that they can afford to escape the city on weekends and vacations...
> I have been struggling for an hour to figure out how to end this post because I always try to be positive
Well, the fact that the majority of Americans object to being trapped in 15-minute prisons is positive.
I love the idea of 15 minute cities. The culture in America is so focused on profit instead of happiness, I think people imagine some kind of homesteading fantasy will bring them happiness through control. Driving 26 minutes to work on a regular basis is not freedom but I am a victim of Cold War survival planning. Spread it all out so the nukes don’t kill us all, I guess. But a walkable city where people could interact may frighten a lot of younger people with little value for human interaction, as they are used to interaction only through the silicon obsession device.
I don't see why necessarily higher density means smaller housing. The amount of space the US wastes on parking is staggering. And of course the zoning laws increase the distances further. Car journey lengths are not that long in the US mostly: https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/fotw-1042-august-13-2018-2017-nearly-60-all-vehicle-trips-were-less-six. Many could easily be swapped for cycling.
Lloyd, you’re not wrong! I'm a little late on the comments, but 40% is a lot of people and given the cost of living in walkable communities the supply is far short of demand. So why don’t we meet demand so people can choose how they want to live?
The real issue here though is not what people prefer, but what people can actually afford. Suburban lifestyles and driving are heavily subsidized (see StrongTowns.org) and financially unsustainable. Do the math, remove the subsidies, and then have people pay the actual cost of their lifestyle choices.
Right now I’m paying taxes to have a massive highway expansion make my neighborhood less livable, so people who chose to live in suburbs 30 miles outside the city can commute without delay (or so developers and politicians can get rich building more stuff). I don’t need this highway. Why am I paying for asthma?
And there’s the answer.
We don’t have walkable neighborhoods for the 40% who want them because if I don’t need my car, I’m not going to be so willing to subsidize yours. And all the commercial (and political) interests that depend on us driving won’t let that happen. Transportation in America is a socialist system, and we all have to participate whether we want to or not for it to stay solvent.
So I live in the suburbs but in a walkable area (30 minutes to restaurants shops library coffee, etc) and we walk or bike to everything we can. I find that there are two issues with people walking for necessities. First it is associated with poverty and this gives it a negative association. Second is the weather, ie too hot raining too cold. Recently I was walking to the library and one of my neighbors who was driving by asked if she could give me a ride (because she was concerned I was walking in the heat) and she could not conceive that I wanted to walk and it was not too hot to do so. (And I realize that is not true for everyone)
"But it is hard to be positive when you just see more division and polarization every day"
Ask yourself (a) why that is, and (b) who's leading the polarization. Then you'll understand the answers to your questions.