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Keep cars out of cities


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Washington is one step closer to passing an infrastructure package that would provide historic funding for transit, and then immediately undercut it with historic funding for drivers.

 

Kind of amazing they couldn't even agree on money for electric cars.

 

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The problem is getting cars out of cities requires legislation that specifically makes things more inconvenient for drivers. Like it can seem like a "fuck you" to anyone that owns a car. And like, I don't own a car, and I get it, and I want it, but I understand how hard it is to pass legislation that is literally designed to make driving as inconvenient as possible, even if that is ultimately what we have to do. We have to make driving inconvenient before anyone will support making public transport more convenient. So I understand that it's a tough pill to swallow. But it's also an ouroboral situation. It's just hard because politicians have to sell people on the long game when they themselves won't be around to see it.

 

The more I get into city planning, the more I start to appreciate Tom McCall, who was one of the last Republican governors of Oregon. He socialized the beachfronts, he removed a freeway that ran through the city and turned it into a park, he got the ball rolling on a new lightrail system, and he wasn't around to see any of that happen. Except the removal of the freeway, but even then he wasn't around to see what that park has become.

 

People are generally hard wired to not view the long game. When someone comes around who can generally galvanize people to support something that maybe won't even benefit them in their lifetimes, that's impressive.

 

"I know it seems like this is a shitty idea right now, BUT HEAR ME OUT" is a hard way to start an argument on government policy.

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My friend wants me to move to the suburban sprawl hellscape that is the north Dallas suburbs. No fucking thank you. When I move out of Portland, "owning a car=optional" is a basic requirement. In the south, that means New Orleans... and that's it. Or potentially Houston, Atlanta, or Charleston, very much depending on where you are. Though I guess Portland is the same way. There are certain neighborhoods where owning a car is optional, others were it absolutely is not.

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4 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

Is this the thread where we talk about housing?

 

 

Only tangentially related but yes to this please.

 

 

Cool cool cool, raising the cost of housing before allowing more supply. 

 

A high rise is already more energy efficient per unit than a house. 

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CA should be buying up and rezoning inner-city SFH neighborhoods, planting as many trees as possible, implementing green belts and spending billions on transit. They should also completely outlaw lawns and private sprinkler systems and new swimming pools, ban the sale of combustion engine vehicles, and convert all of their massively wasteful agricultural land to solar/wind farms. There, I just fixed California. While we’re at it, whatever the current approach is to homelessness, just do the complete opposite of that.

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17 hours ago, Fizzzzle said:

My friend wants me to move to the suburban sprawl hellscape that is the north Dallas suburbs. No fucking thank you. When I move out of Portland, "owning a car=optional" is a basic requirement. In the south, that means New Orleans... and that's it. Or potentially Houston, Atlanta, or Charleston, very much depending on where you are. Though I guess Portland is the same way. There are certain neighborhoods where owning a car is optional, others were it absolutely is not.

I really can't imagine how anyone would want to live in a dense city, a high rise, or any of that crap. To each their own, but ill stick to driving.

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Just now, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

Cities are great. Living in a high rise is quite nice, and living off the ground floor in general is the safest I've ever felt

Yeah, no thanks. Ill keep my acreage, lack of neighbors, and peace and quiet. I don't even like going into the city to shop.

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42 minutes ago, BloodyHell said:

I really can't imagine how anyone would want to live in a dense city, a high rise, or any of that crap. To each their own, but ill stick to driving.

I feel like this sentiment is because of how shitty our transportation options are for most cities in the US, whereas globally a lot of cities have areas that are walkable only making it far more enjoyable.

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