Reply to I haven't figured out how people raise children in DC

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]And, of course, it's interesting that the most influential policies that European governments intentionally pushed during the 70s and 80s that the US is going to experience over the coming decades:  specifically high fuel costs, and the attendant change in the way we do logistics.

As far as the meaning of "retrofitted properly", there are good ways and bad ways to do urbanism.  While the planners understand that things need to change, and that growth needs to be pushed inward to the transit-accessible nodes, they've still got to get past suburban voters:  who are mostly NIMBYs, love ample parking, and in general, will always push for policies that undercut the execution of the smart-growth planning.

[b]Folks who understand and desire walkable communties are moving into urban areas[/b]:  DC, Philly, Chicago, etc...  People move to the suburbs because they largely want a "convenient" suburban experience.  When push comes to shove, you can *always* count on suburban voters to do [b]the wrong thing [/b]when it comes to urbanist design.[/quote]

There are huge value judgments in what you've said. I'm willing to give up walkability for peace and quiet.  I prefer the 'burbs because I don't have strange people walking through my neighborhood. I disliked Manhattan because strangers were always walking around yelling at all hours. Same with London (less yelling). There are no village-like spaces when you live in a city. Just public spaces. Always the intrusive sounds of sirens and traffic. I like quiet. I like being able to hear walnuts hitting the ground as they fall during autumn. Yes, I recognize that that's a luxury. But it's a sensibility that may people share.[/quote]

Sure.  But the thing about the sprawl model is that it's unsustainable.  And I don't mean that in a crunchy, vegan, hippie way.  You sprawl out, population increases, the road network becomes overwhelmed, and folks sit in traffic for hours on end.  A trip to the grocery store becomes a nightmare.  I'm not saying that you personally may not be able to carve out some niche of solitude in the cancerous mass that is suburban sprawl.  But taken as a whole, the whole shit-show is beginning to collapse under its own weight.  And although many suburban jurisdictions are attempting to address the problem, there's a Hell of a lot of political pressure to ignore reality, and just keep doing the same thing.

That's why, in the long run, suburbs always undercut their smart-growth planning that all the experts understand is necessary--and it's also why the neighborhoods in the city itself, and some close-in suburbs have and will continue to thrive while the exurbs choke on their own crapulence.[/quote]

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