Yeah, a lot of us who hate big cars also hate suburbia. For a lot of us, we imagine that the dreams of a white picket fence, mcmansions (5K+ square feet) and starbucks on every corner are part of the reason we got in this mess in the first place.
The Room For Debate Blog on NYT has 7 different point’s of view on the subject, from Architecture and urbanism professors. Most agree, even in Los Angeles, home of sprawl, that attempts have been made to get people out of their cars, and bicycle lines have made a commendable come back.
However, most people, who live, work, or frequent these “walkable” communities will at the end of the day drive home. The density is there, but the staying factor is not.
Witold Rybczynski; Professor of Urbanism @ U Penn imagines
A more realistic goal for most Americans would be a semi-car less community, that is, one that is walkable within the neighborhood for convenience shopping, school-going and errands, and drivable for weekly shopping, consumer purchases and so on. A combination of twins, townhouses and low-rise apartments. Think of it as a halfway house.
A semi car-less future is what most of us imagine. A lot of us can already visit a grocery store, get a hair cut, and catch a game at the pub sans car. But important variables like public transportation are missing.
If oil continues to rise in price, and of a sudden we are at the mercy of producers, we may be able to take a profound step into the other direction. Until then, the dreary picture below will continue to grasp for loan money.
FYI, they’re banning cars for NY Time Square
Lets hope it just doesn’t turn into a Main street @ disneyland.