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I get what they're saying. The closer you live to the lines, the better off you can sustain without a car. You can do this in any city. Does not mean your city is a car city. But you can rely on public transit to get you to most places you really want to go. Buses are buses. They are great but psychologically, people do not like to deal with them.
Again, you can do this is in any city. Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Portland, w/e.
Are these the best cities you can live without a car? Not even close. But it can be done only if you live close to a transit line.
Now if this thread was about just simply car-free cities, than the answers are easily NYC, DC, Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia. Maybe San Francisco could be added as well. But that's it.
I lived on a light rail line in the Hampden Heights area of Southeast Denver, but my neighborhood was hardly walkable. The light rail was very convenient for commuting to work and school, but not for everyday activities like grocery shopping. I also lived in Capitol Hill, which has no light rail access, but that neighborhood is infinitely more walkable than my Hampden Heights address. Most cities that are building new light rail systems are placing them on existing right-of-ways, which tend to be in undeveloped industrial swaths, rather than routing them through densely populated, walkable areas. The stations also tend to be park-n-rides, so you need a car to ride the train.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jjacobeclark
Whatever you say. Five Points and Fairlie-Poplar are probably about the only neighborhoods that could come close to the urbanity of your average Milwaukee neighborhood, to say otherwise would be pretty disingenuous. FYI, new urbanist, town center-type developments aren't the same as real urban neighborhoods.
Geez.
I guess I'm going to have to spell it out for you.
My current Neighborhood, North Buckhead:
My previous neighborhood in South Midtown:
My neighborhood before that in L5P:
My neighborhood before that in West Downtown:
Now that's four different sections of the city, miles apart from each other. All of them are at least very walkable neighborhoods according to Walkscore.com. ALL of them have MARTA subway stations, some even have 2 or 3, that allow easy access between the dozens upon dozens of other very walkable neighborhoods in the city.
How many subway stations does your neighborhood in Milwaukee have? Oh that's right, ZILCH.
oh god, looking at these maps of atl brings me back. Little 5 pts, just forthe record, isnt very urban. It's also isolated from the rest of the city, and Im pretty sure the MARTA doesnt go there. At least it didnt when i lived there.
Now if this thread was about just simply car-free cities, than the answers are easily NYC, DC, Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia. Maybe San Francisco could be added as well. But that's it.
Exactly, these are the only cities that are truly walkable and can be lived car-free.
I think people just have a different idea of what "livable" is. For most people, being restricted to within walking distance of your home or otherwise being forced to spend hours on public transit would be intolerable. But if you're not like that then you'd consider Atlanta or LA or whatnot to be livable without a car.
Having once lived carfree in a place where people usually had cars (the Virginia suburbs of DC), I can say this... I was really very exceptional. When I took the bus I was basically the only person on there who wasn't either a recent immigrant or looked like he/she lived in the poorest areas of DC. Not to bring race in this but I was also the only Caucasian American-born person, the best I could tell. Actually, that's not quite true. There was one young woman who I'd see on my commute. Creepy guys would approach her on occasion. Eventually I saw her reading magazines about cars and then she disappeared. After about a year of living there, even I got a car, and I had never owned a car in my whole life before. It was just too hellish to wait forever for these buses and have to sit next to recently-released prison inmates. So yes, I would have physically survived if I had continued, but it was miserable and I just never ever saw people on the buses who just chose to live carfree. They were always too poor to own cars.
oh god, looking at these maps of atl brings me back. Little 5 pts, just forthe record, isnt very urban. It's also isolated from the rest of the city, and Im pretty sure the MARTA doesnt go there. At least it didnt when i lived there.
Yes, L5P has a MARTA station...Inman Park/Reynoldstown is within a very short walk. L5P is actually the business district for Inman Park.
It's not about whether a neighborhood is urban...I thought the discussion was about living car-free?
I think people just have a different idea of what "livable" is. For most people, being restricted to within walking distance of your home or otherwise being forced to spend hours on public transit would be intolerable. But if you're not like that then you'd consider Atlanta or LA or whatnot to be livable without a car.
Having once lived carfree in a place where people usually had cars (the Virginia suburbs of DC), I can say this... I was really very exceptional. When I took the bus I was basically the only person on there who wasn't either a recent immigrant or looked like he/she lived in the poorest areas of DC. Not to bring race in this but I was also the only Caucasian American-born person, the best I could tell. Actually, that's not quite true. There was one young woman who I'd see on my commute. Creepy guys would approach her on occasion. Eventually I saw her reading magazines about cars and then she disappeared. After about a year of living there, even I got a car, and I had never owned a car in my whole life before. It was just too hellish to wait forever for these buses and have to sit next to recently-released prison inmates. So yes, I would have physically survived if I had continued, but it was miserable and I just never ever saw people on the buses who just chose to live carfree. They were always too poor to own cars.
It's funny how some people think they can know why others use public transit...and they think they can tell the economic status of others just by looking at them - or did people in the D.C. suburbs wear "poor" signs around their necks?
It's funny how some people think they can know why others use public transit...and they think they can tell the economic status of others just by looking at them - or did people in the D.C. suburbs wear "poor" signs around their necks?
Well, without exception they spoke either Spanish or had a thick "ghetto" accent. And I don't mean your average black Washingtonian accent. I mean Maury Povich show accent. Their dress and demeanor coincided. Believe me, they were poor.
Well, without exception they spoke either Spanish or had a thick "ghetto" accent. And I don't mean your average black Washingtonian accent. I mean Maury Povich show accent. Their dress and demeanor coincided. Believe me, they were poor.
So now you think you can tell the economic status of people by their clothes...that's funny. You also seem to think that people of certain accents are poor as well. Unbelievable.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by adambos
oh god, looking at these maps of atl brings me back. Little 5 pts, just forthe record, isnt very urban. It's also isolated from the rest of the city, and Im pretty sure the MARTA doesnt go there. At least it didnt when i lived there.
And when was that? The early 1970s?
The Inman Park Train Station is about 1/4 mile away from the square in L5P and has been open since 1979. There is also the #113 bus that covers Euclid Ave and Moreland Ave, with connecting points at Candler Park Station and Arts Center Station with coverage in the King District and Downtown. And the #6 Bus that connects with Inman Park Station and Lindbergh Station.
I'd like to hear how you think L5P is isolated? Immediately north is the Virginia-Higland and Poncey-Highland neighborhoods, directly east is the Candler Park Neighborhood, south is Cabbagetown and Reynoldstown, and Downtown is only 2 miles west.
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