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Then I wonder why all these people live in places like SF and NYC when we could all go to these types of places. It doesn't make sense....
I just looked up Greenville on the map and it looks like all of the amenities are only on Main st from Oneil to Beattie st which is only like 8 blocks worth of stuff to do.. that won't do for someone like me.
What exactly do you do where you live that you can't do in Greenville?
Do you have any hobbies outside of going to downtown areas? For example, you can't play golf in a CBD, unless it is a Top Golf place.
For me, happiness is more about hobbies and being around friends and family, not the number of blocks in a downtown area.
It's a 1950s suburb, so it doesn't even have the street car suburb features. However, I'm a 7-10 min walk from a CVS, Barber, 7-11, 2 dentists, 3 restaurants and a pizza place, a neighborhood bar a Taylor and a donuts shop. I'm a 10-15 min walk from about a dozen more restaurants, and 2 grocery stores.
I wouldn't argue it is urban in appearance, but it is certainly safe and convenient to walk.
Most of the people who walk though are lower income people from the neighborhood apartments or neighborhood kids.
Whenever I get food I choose do drive, it's simply much easier. I might walk to get something at CVS for the exercise and to enjoy the walk, but if it is raining I'll drive.
This makes me wonder how much of walking in a very urban place like NYC has to do with preferring to walk or driving just not being practical.
I might drive 3 min over walking 15 min while someone in NYC might walk 5-10 min instead of bothering to drive (assuming they even owned a car) which would take more time.
I think alot of people just walk in NYC because there isn't really another choice. I have the choice, so it varies from trip to trip.
I say this as someone who prefers traditional urbanism.
This makes me wonder how much of walking in a very urban place like NYC has to do with preferring to walk or driving just not being practical.
I might drive 3 min over walking 15 min while someone in NYC might walk 5-10 min instead of bothering to drive (assuming they even owned a car) which would take more time.
I think alot of people just walk in NYC because there isn't really another choice. I have the choice, so it varies from trip to trip.
I say this as someone who prefers traditional urbanism.
Yeah, that’s pretty much it. A lot of times in NYC, walking is the only feasible option. If somebody did even have a car, not only can you spend up to an hour or more looking for parking, when you finally do find parking you most likely will be many blocks away, and/or have to pay for an extremely overpriced spot at a parking garage.
Even though most of us don’t have a choice of using a car or not, a lot of people here do love to walk and is one of the reasons we like it here. This is just part of living in a city that is built on the human scale and is not centered around this very American need for an automobile. It’s weird and unusual for Americans, but for many people in other parts of the world the reverse is true.
Public transportation plays a huge role in the development of walkable communities. "If I can build something close to transit, it necessitates the need for a car." So, more is built, prices go up, and it evolves into more transportation, which evolves into more building, etc. The result is a city completely packed with conveniences, all built around public transportation.
I actually don't think that transit and walkability are all that linked. Transit systems are more typically used for regular cross-neighborhood commutes, such as to work or school. But walkability is fundamentally about the amenities in your neighborhood. You could go to a Thai restaurant halfway across the city, but there's one a block from your home, so that's your haunt. Unless you don't have a car, or it's a really, really big hassle to park, you're not going to regularly use transit for things like evening socialization or cross-neighborhood shopping (particularly if you need a transfer.
Basically, walkability is built from the neighborhood level up. A lot of Sun Belt cities have functionally speaking one, and only one, walkable neighborhood - the CBD. Whereas cities in the Northeast/Midwest have dozens of such neighborhoods.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simpsonvilllian
Boston is a good example for me.....Fenway Park is not located near the CBD, it is out by the interstate. In Greenville, the minor league baseball team is associated with Boston Red Sox, and the field has a Green Monster replicate. It is right on Main Street. You can go to a game then go to a bar, restaurant, or ice cream shop around Falls Park which surrounds a 30 foot drop waterfall and has a massive suspension pedestrian bridge right over the falls. It is pretty cool.
You really seem to be missing the point here. Walkability isn't about a pleasurable night on the town. It's about your daily life. It's about stopping off at a corner store on your way home from work and picking up a few groceries. Or rolling out of bed in the morning and ambling down to brunch at a nearby restaurant. If you have to drive to a "destination downtown" and don't live there, you aren't living a walkable lifestyle.
For me walkable is directly proportional to how quaint the downtown area is.
Walkability is directly related to amenity mix. It's basically how many amenities are within a 10-15 minute walk of your house. It's often equated to just bars, restaurants and coffee shops, but it's more than that. It's whether you can walk to a bank, barbershop, dentist, grocery store, etc. Basically, can you live your daily life without getting into a car and driving somewhere else.
Walkability is directly related to amenity mix. It's basically how many amenities are within a 10-15 minute walk of your house. It's often equated to just bars, restaurants and coffee shops, but it's more than that. It's whether you can walk to a bank, barbershop, dentist, grocery store, etc. Basically, can you live your daily life without getting into a car and driving somewhere else.
Except people on here are talking about they can't walk everywhere, they have to take mass transit. Somehow you missed that part of my point.
I don't think walkable is related to residential life for many people who use the word. Many people who visit downtown Greenville will say it is walkable.
I took the OP as talking about CBDs, not neighborhoods in a metro.
Except people on here are talking about they can't walk everywhere, they have to take mass transit. Somehow you missed that part of my point.
I don't think walkable is related to residential life for many people who use the word. Many people who visit downtown Greenville will say it is walkable.
I took the OP as talking about CBDs, not neighborhoods in a metro.
Greenville's downtown is walkable, but thats about it, Greenville just has your typical entertainment CBD. Noone is saying it isn't. It just isn't on the scale nor as walkable as some other cities as a whole that have multiple neighborhoods you can live in without a car. Again, I'll use DC as an example.
I don't think most people looking at this national forum are talking or thinking about neighborhoods away from CBD. That seems like a better topic for the city subforums.
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