I hate sprawl with a passion. (suburban, downtown, schools, transportation)

[Newarkbomb]

You hate sprawl with a passion.. well.. hate people for it.

[InLondon]

Originally Posted by redfella

I don't know how everyone else out there feels about sprawl but I sure hate it. I would bet that some of you hate it as well and that some of you might not hate it and maybe even some of you don't really care. But let me tell you, I hate sprawl with a freaking passion. I am a really down-to-earth kind of guy, and it takes a lot for me to get upset about something, but positively there is nothing in the world that I hate more than sprawl.

I hate having to get in my car and drive 15 minutes just to get anywhere. I hate having to wait at a red light. I hate when other cars blow exhaust fumes up in my face when I wait at the red light. If I were walking there wouldn't be a red light. I hate how freaking ugly most American cities are. I hate the millions of square miles of impervious ashpalt surface that we have laid all over the country. I hate wide roads and how freaking hot they are in the middle of summer. I hate how we have cleared thousands of forests and natural areas just to slap down our poorly designed cities. I hate how we have tremendously disinvested in our Architecture and how it seems that no one has a problem with that at all. I hate cars. I hate billboards. I hate driving. I hate highways. I hate parking garages. I hate convience stores, drug stores, drive-in hamburger joints, Dollar-trees, Walmarts, K-Marts, Targets, Best Buys, Circuit Citys, McDonalds, Burger Kings, strip malls, power centers, McMansions, vinyl siding, fake building materials, cars, car washes, tire shops, auto shops, car lots, parking lots, overly massive one-story buildings, compartimentalized monoculture urban environments, bad architecture, poor urban design, poor growth patterns, our dependance on oil, incongruant building materials and patterns, lack of consistancy, our poor eating habits, lazyness, complacency, patriotism when our cities look like ****, 1970's architecture, buildings with no windows, cities with no sense of place, sprawl. I hate that the US is the laughing stock of urban designers the world over.

I was never beaten as a child. But I imagine that if I was that would have caused a lot of pain in my life. That kind of pain is what I feel everytime I get in my car to go somewhere and look out my windows at this disaster of a country we have built.

Sounds like living in a cave is right up your alley.

[atlantaATL]

Originally Posted by redfella

I don't know how everyone else out there feels about sprawl but I sure hate it. I would bet that some of you hate it as well and that some of you might not hate it and maybe even some of you don't really care. But let me tell you, I hate sprawl with a freaking passion. I am a really down-to-earth kind of guy, and it takes a lot for me to get upset about something, but positively there is nothing in the world that I hate more than sprawl.

I hate having to get in my car and drive 15 minutes just to get anywhere. I hate having to wait at a red light. I hate when other cars blow exhaust fumes up in my face when I wait at the red light. If I were walking there wouldn't be a red light. I hate how freaking ugly most American cities are. I hate the millions of square miles of impervious ashpalt surface that we have laid all over the country. I hate wide roads and how freaking hot they are in the middle of summer. I hate how we have cleared thousands of forests and natural areas just to slap down our poorly designed cities. I hate how we have tremendously disinvested in our Architecture and how it seems that no one has a problem with that at all. I hate cars. I hate billboards. I hate driving. I hate highways. I hate parking garages. I hate convience stores, drug stores, drive-in hamburger joints, Dollar-trees, Walmarts, K-Marts, Targets, Best Buys, Circuit Citys, McDonalds, Burger Kings, strip malls, power centers, McMansions, vinyl siding, fake building materials, cars, car washes, tire shops, auto shops, car lots, parking lots, overly massive one-story buildings, compartimentalized monoculture urban environments, bad architecture, poor urban design, poor growth patterns, our dependance on oil, incongruant building materials and patterns, lack of consistancy, our poor eating habits, lazyness, complacency, patriotism when our cities look like ****, 1970's architecture, buildings with no windows, cities with no sense of place, sprawl. I hate that the US is the laughing stock of urban designers the world over.

I was never beaten as a child. But I imagine that if I was that would have caused a lot of pain in my life. That kind of pain is what I feel everytime I get in my car to go somewhere and look out my windows at this disaster of a country we have built.

Why don t you move some where were things are closer

[michigan83]

I hate having to get in my car and drive 15 minutes just to get anywhere. I hate having to wait at a red light. I hate when other cars blow exhaust fumes up in my face when I wait at the red light. If I were walking there wouldn't be a red light. I hate how freaking ugly most American cities are. I hate the millions of square miles of impervious ashpalt surface that we have laid all over the country. I hate wide roads and how freaking hot they are in the middle of summer. I hate how we have cleared thousands of forests and natural areas just to slap down our poorly designed cities. I hate how we have tremendously disinvested in our Architecture and how it seems that no one has a problem with that at all. I hate cars. I hate billboards. I hate driving. I hate highways. I hate parking garages. I hate convience stores, drug stores, drive-in hamburger joints, Dollar-trees, Walmarts, K-Marts, Targets, Best Buys, Circuit Citys, McDonalds, Burger Kings, strip malls, power centers, McMansions, vinyl siding, fake building materials, cars, car washes, tire shops, auto shops, car lots, parking lots, overly massive one-story buildings, compartimentalized monoculture urban environments, bad architecture, poor urban design, poor growth patterns, our dependance on oil, incongruant building materials and patterns, lack of consistancy, our poor eating habits, lazyness, complacency, patriotism when our cities look like ****, 1970's architecture, buildings with no windows, cities with no sense of place, sprawl. I hate that the US is the laughing stock of urban designers the world over.

I actually LOVE everything you mentioned. If those things are the cost of having freedom, well... I love all of it.

I don't want my life to be run by an all-knowing "planner" that decides how everything should look, how all resources can be used most efficiently, etc.

If it means that things aren't "perfect" according to your abstract standards of how a city should look... well, feel free to move somewhere with more central planning and less freedom. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

People come into this world, use resources, and then die. That's it. Some use more than others. But we are all just one gigantic waste of resources, if you really want to get to the bottom of it. If we wanted to be super efficient, we could all just live in one gigantic city together with thousands of 100-story buildings and a density of 50,000 people per square mile or whatever. And life would suck. But we would have good "planning," so we would at least have that going for us.

[censusdata]

I fear sprawl much more than I hate it - although I do strongly dislike it

Ancient Rome collapsed for one main reason: It had to import ~80% of its food. When famines in other areas caused Romans to go hungry then maintaining an empire became second to surviving

I think if America doesn't find a way to not import ~80% of our oil then our civilization is likewise doomed. Our economy DEPENDS on cheap oil to survive, and as 2008 showed us $4 gasoline can quickly send our economy into a freefall.

Before WWII most Americans lived in places where one could shop, go to work, and send their children to school without a car. In rural areas there were tiny general stores with a 10 minute horseride from anyone. Now all those old stores are now closed and you have to drive 15 miles to the nearest Wal Mart. People in a city who live next to a shopping center have to drive 2 miles to get somewhere that is a tenth of a mile from where they live - that simply isn't feasible when gas goes above $3 a gallon

[Rachael84]

^^I don't think people in most suburbs have to drive that far for anything. Where I'm moving to on Long Island, everything I need is within a 5 minute drive. Could probably walk to half the stuff.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by censusdata

I fear sprawl much more than I hate it - although I do strongly dislike it

Ancient Rome collapsed for one main reason: It had to import ~80% of its food. When famines in other areas caused Romans to go hungry then maintaining an empire became second to surviving

I think if America doesn't find a way to not import ~80% of our oil then our civilization is likewise doomed. Our economy DEPENDS on cheap oil to survive, and as 2008 showed us $4 gasoline can quickly send our economy into a freefall.

Before WWII most Americans lived in places where one could shop, go to work, and send their children to school without a car. In rural areas there were tiny general stores with a 10 minute horseride from anyone. Now all those old stores are now closed and you have to drive 15 miles to the nearest Wal Mart. People in a city who live next to a shopping center have to drive 2 miles to get somewhere that is a tenth of a mile from where they live - that simply isn't feasible when gas goes above $3 a gallon

There have always been suburbs. I grew up in a "streetcar suburb" that was established in 1898. My mom grew up in rural Wisconsin, and it wasn't as idyllic as you make it sound. Plus, those little stores were overpriced. My grandmother ordered a lot of stuff from the Sear's catalog. Sears was accused of doing the same thing as Wal-Mart is today.

Originally Posted by Rachael84

^^I don't think people in most suburbs have to drive that far for anything. Where I'm moving to on Long Island, everything I need is within a 5 minute drive. Could probably walk to half the stuff.

Ditto for the 'burb where I live. I can walk to the grocery store, library, a bynber if bars and restaurants, and several parks. I can bike to the local rec center to work out. I can drive about 7 minutes to a Kohl's dept store.

[Newarkbomb]

Depending on what kind of metro you're in bases your opinion.

The older metros where growth to build is practically done or in lack of space is where the sprawl isn't corny with the cookie cutter Nhoods.
It's the modern, room to build, metros where you'll find that tacky TACKY cookie cutter sprawls

[HighPlainsDrifter73]

Originally Posted by redfella

I don't know how everyone else out there feels about sprawl but I sure hate it. I would bet that some of you hate it as well and that some of you might not hate it and maybe even some of you don't really care. But let me tell you, I hate sprawl with a freaking passion. I am a really down-to-earth kind of guy, and it takes a lot for me to get upset about something, but positively there is nothing in the world that I hate more than sprawl.

I hate having to get in my car and drive 15 minutes just to get anywhere. I hate having to wait at a red light. I hate when other cars blow exhaust fumes up in my face when I wait at the red light. If I were walking there wouldn't be a red light. I hate how freaking ugly most American cities are. I hate the millions of square miles of impervious ashpalt surface that we have laid all over the country. I hate wide roads and how freaking hot they are in the middle of summer. I hate how we have cleared thousands of forests and natural areas just to slap down our poorly designed cities. I hate how we have tremendously disinvested in our Architecture and how it seems that no one has a problem with that at all. I hate cars. I hate billboards. I hate driving. I hate highways. I hate parking garages. I hate convience stores, drug stores, drive-in hamburger joints, Dollar-trees, Walmarts, K-Marts, Targets, Best Buys, Circuit Citys, McDonalds, Burger Kings, strip malls, power centers, McMansions, vinyl siding, fake building materials, cars, car washes, tire shops, auto shops, car lots, parking lots, overly massive one-story buildings, compartimentalized monoculture urban environments, bad architecture, poor urban design, poor growth patterns, our dependance on oil, incongruant building materials and patterns, lack of consistancy, our poor eating habits, lazyness, complacency, patriotism when our cities look like ****, 1970's architecture, buildings with no windows, cities with no sense of place, sprawl. I hate that the US is the laughing stock of urban designers the world over.

I was never beaten as a child. But I imagine that if I was that would have caused a lot of pain in my life. That kind of pain is what I feel everytime I get in my car to go somewhere and look out my windows at this disaster of a country we have built.

I like most of what you hate, except for red lights. I don't like them either especially when I'm waiting on the red, but cars going in the other directions probably like my red light.

Life must be very difficult for you.

[Jwo85]

I hate how everything is spread out a mile. Bank is a mile from my house, Grocery store is a mile from my house, the pizza joint is a mile from my house. Heck just to get to the other end of my street is a half of a mile.