A viral research study led by Rababe Saadaoui, a PhD planning student in Arizona State University's School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, has uncovered a link between car dependency and life satisfaction in the United States.
So, I want to be more productive in this thread than the typical orange-pilled response. That is, “fix the zoning, housing is in all the wrong places, stroads are awful, hostile architecture everywhere…” and so on. Problem is: I know more about running from these problems and zero about fixing them with my own two hands.
So, I have questions.
What resources should we be sharing to help address this? How do we take local zoning laws head-on to get more practical mixed-use and pedestrian-friendly options going? What does it actually take to get safe bike infrastructure in place?
I know that one of the things that both reduces traffic jams and enhances walk/bike/live-ability is selective removal of motor vehicle passages.
You take a street in a dense area with lots of motor vehicle traffic, and convert it to pedestrian/cycling only. It’s counterintuitive, but it can work.
Honestly I think the best starting point is getting involved in local government.
Show up to anything related to these sorts of infrastructure issues. Meet folks there who also care about those issues. Look for organized efforts.
You can also try to research local groups involved in these civic planning issues and start trying to participate with them. But ultimately the way you solve these problems is by getting involved, looking for more ways to participate in the decision making itself, and organizing with other people :)
So, I want to be more productive in this thread than the typical orange-pilled response. That is, “fix the zoning, housing is in all the wrong places, stroads are awful, hostile architecture everywhere…” and so on. Problem is: I know more about running from these problems and zero about fixing them with my own two hands.
So, I have questions.
What resources should we be sharing to help address this? How do we take local zoning laws head-on to get more practical mixed-use and pedestrian-friendly options going? What does it actually take to get safe bike infrastructure in place?
I know that one of the things that both reduces traffic jams and enhances walk/bike/live-ability is selective removal of motor vehicle passages.
You take a street in a dense area with lots of motor vehicle traffic, and convert it to pedestrian/cycling only. It’s counterintuitive, but it can work.
Honestly I think the best starting point is getting involved in local government.
Show up to anything related to these sorts of infrastructure issues. Meet folks there who also care about those issues. Look for organized efforts.
You can also try to research local groups involved in these civic planning issues and start trying to participate with them. But ultimately the way you solve these problems is by getting involved, looking for more ways to participate in the decision making itself, and organizing with other people :)