Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yes, but of course if I had a dollar for every time I heard some suburbanite say "oh, I love Europe so much, it is just great to be able to walk everywhere and have so many things so close by," I could be rich and move back to Europe.
If I had $1 for every time I heard some suburbanite say the above, I'd have exactly $0.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jade408
Both zoning rules, city policies funding requirements and mortgage requirements all work in conjunction to make mixed use and multifamily housing difficult to build.
I went to a chat lead by developers and they couldn't get funding for their mixed use multifamily projects in my city. There is still redlining in real estate development.
Now wait a minute! If you're going to claim redlining, you need to be very sure of yourself and able to document it. That's a pretty bad accusation to hurl at a city council.
The day I feel any sympathy for developers will be a cold day in H*ll.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ohio_peasant
That is the key point. American farmers owned their own land, and lived on individual plots of considerable acreage, far away from neighbors. European farmers were landless, living in compact villages, "commuting" to work the land of their lord. Suburbia is the modern analog of the American farming life, where every resident is the "farmer" of his 1/5th acre plot. The compact city with multi-use zoning is the modern analog of European traditional life, where the residents have as it were no genetic memory of owning real estate, and are culturally attuned to communal-style living.
Even if true, so what? Are we supposed to believe the European way is better?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Western Urbanite
And that shows the difference between styles of suburbia. Row houses are very different from 1/4 acre lots.
For about the 100th time, not all suburbs have 1/4 acre lots. Most here in Denver do not. Even fewer in California have lots of that size.
if the items are really bulky, no. Otherwise a bag or two isn't a problem.
Try walking even half a mile in hot, muggy S. Carolina summer and you will be dehydrated and have a fainting spell or give it up and go by car the next time or order from Amazon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Western Urbanite
Most people will walk 1 mile. Most of these businesses are located in walkable or transit-able locations. Parking is not required ANYWHERE in fully urban areas. Perhaps that is not the case wherever you live, but in my experience, people don't need to use a car at all to get to these businesses. Have you never heard of subways or bikes or busses?
Where do you get the idea most people would walk a mile. Are you a thirty something fit person who feels others will do the same. My in-laws have bad arthritis and cannot walk even if they wished to. Many Americans are obese and huff and puff even for short distances. Yes, they should get more exercise and slim down, but will they.
I think a few people here dream of urban utopia. That is OK. They can live there if they want. The rest of us are content in our soulless suburbs.
The "so what" question strike me as odd. The poster noted a pattern; Why should you expect there to be anything more? Posters write posts because the subject is interesting to them!
From what I've seen Ohio peasant generally tends to take pro-suburbia side of these arguments
Western urbanite didn't say all or even most suburbs are 1/4 acre. That is close to the mean US wide lot size however
Try walking even half a mile in hot, muggy S. Carolina summer and you will be dehydrated and have a fainting spell or give it up and go by car the next time or order from Amazon.
Where do you get the idea most people would walk a mile. Are you a thirty something fit person who feels others will do the same. My in-laws have bad arthritis and cannot walk even if they wished to. Many Americans are obese and huff and puff even for short distances. Yes, they should get more exercise and slim down, but will they.
I think a few people here dream of urban utopia. That is OK. They can live there if they want. The rest of us are content in our soulless suburbs.
Ugh; I hate the "you can't do this cause the weather posts". Yes the few days we get Deep South like heat & humidity I've walked. Do people really want to be shut inside all season? Seems like it
Ugh; I hate the "you can't do this cause the weather posts". Yes the few days we get Deep South like heat & humidity I've walked. Do people really want to be shut inside all season? Seems like it
I like to walk for exercise. Maybe even a couple of miles. But then I make sure that it is after it has cooled down in the summertime, or after the sun is up should it be wintertime.
But if it is grocery shopping or other shopping I am not walking in uncertain weather carrying two bags hoping to make it back home without sweating like a pig, or being drenched in a thunderstorm. I would rather take my car to the store.
Ugh; I hate the "you can't do this cause the weather posts". Yes the few days we get Deep South like heat & humidity I've walked. Do people really want to be shut inside all season? Seems like it
I like to be comfortable.
Sounds like someone hasn't experienced 120+ degree heat in Vegas or Phoenix (with the added heat emanating from the concrete)
Do you have A/C? Do you have a furnace? Can you survive without these conveniences? Do you take cold showers?
No, because of these modern conveniences. That's what a car is (with A/C of course) ZING
Ugh; I hate the "you can't do this cause the weather posts". Yes the few days we get Deep South like heat & humidity I've walked. Do people really want to be shut inside all season? Seems like it
Besides the weather, which is a huge component for almost the entire USA for many months during the year, it is the lack of sidewalks, it is the sun going down before 5pm from Nov - Mar, it is the fact that I might not want to walk a mile in shoes and work clothes, it is the fact that once again time and the value of time is ignored.
We live 1 mile from my town's main street. There are restaurants/bars, some shops, the train station and a major food store. We rarely walk downtown for anything. We both walk in our neighborhood and work out on a regular basis, but if we want to go out for dinner in town, we don't want to add 40 minutes to the meal. When I need a few things at the food store, I do not want a 15 minute round trip to turn into a 45 minute slog with the additional fun of carrying home my purchases.
We would have liked to have purchased a house closer to our train station/downtown, but that was not an option when we were buying our home. We would walk to town more often if it was a 5-7 minute walk.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
ZING
