WORLD WORLDWhy doesn't the US have walkable cities? Beautiful cities like you see in EVROPA where the people can really live and have community and are so atomoized by the dreaded minivan SUV. Why is the car the first class citizen in american transportation? What about the impressive rails sytems of east asia?
American life is centered around cars, but does it really have to be?
Look I'll admit it, I used to be that guy. The one at the party that was like, "roads are bad".
Ya roads are bad. They were/are one of the biggest subsidies that exist in the modern american company. Imagine if car companies had to pay for the infrastructe that their product completely depends on? Wouldn't that be something? No doubt that if the massive subsity to roads didn't exist then American life and american cities would not be as car centric as they are, and maybe that would be a good thing.
When you hear arguments for walkable cities, they are usually made by, and made for the same demographic. People without kids. The suburbs are designed for families. If you have 3 infants living in the city, how are you going to get around? How are you going to get up and down stairs to the high speed rail car? how are you going to get small children to behave in tightly packed train cars?
Now maybe you say well you don't have to have 3 kids, you could do one in a city just fine. And sure you probably can, but how many generations of just one kid last before you are extinct? Not that many. The average family needs to have 3 kids to offset those that don't have kids and people that die young just to maintain it's population. Walkable cities aren't the pinicle of human progress, but rather a sign of a modern society in failure mode headed toward extinction.
What do Europe and east asia have in common? A collapsing population. Their cultures cater to the childless and now they bear the weight of it.
I'd rather have miles of suburban wasteland in a country with a shot a survival that a nice train into a soon to be deserted urban jungle.