Reply to The DMV needs a YIMBY revolution

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There are DCYimbys, the Coalition for Smarter Growth and GreaterGreaterWashington - if you are a YIMBY, then support these great groups![/quote]

I do. And I appreciate their advocacy but none of their piecemeal approaches is going to accomplish what really needs to happen.

Think about it this way. Have you traveled around Europe? What is so appealing to Americans about Europe? Other than history buffs and foodies, why do people enjoy European cities and towns? Because of the urban planning. Everything accessible by transit, effective planning that centers around historic buildings, compact amenities, walkable streets. You don’t to go Europe to drive down a stroad to a wasteland of parking lots dotted with McDonalds and Walmarts. 
In between these dense European cities you get cute little towns and scenic countryside.

You don’t get a 355/Wisconsin Ave or a Georgia Ave or a 29/Columbia Ave etc. [/quote]

Most Europeans cities and towns were laid out before the advent of the automobile - which is why they are walkable because they had to be. And so they planned public connective transit because they had to and did that very well.
But there are many areas of Europe that are not connected by transit and are not walkable. The poster above is referencing major towns. 
They do have some wastelands of parking and strip mall areas, not as much as the US, but they do exist. They are ugly and tucked in the back away from town centers.

There is a difference between advocating for multi-family dwellings and arguing against urban planning centered around the automobile. Don't conflate the two as they are completely different issues.[/quote]

The poster you're responding to sounds like a college kid that's just returned from a two week eurorail trip.  Europe and Asia both have big box retailers and fast food.  They just aren't in the downtown upscale touristy areas that the pp insta'd.

They are ironically right about one thing.  There are very few places like 29 in the world.  The mix of international diversity on that road doesn't happen anywhere but the United States.  East Asians, South Asians, SE Asians, West Africans, East Africans, North Africans, Central Americans, South Americans, and run of the mill white and black Americans all in one place.  There's almost nothing like it anywhere else.[/quote]

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