Livable Cities

Livable Cities

"New developments are almost always based on the assumption that people travel in automobiles every time they move from one place to another. Buildings are set back from roads, fronted by driveways or surrounding by parking."

While I do believe there is some truth to the problem of urban sprawl, I don't agree with the sentiment in this quote that personal cars are an evil that needs to be severely reduced or eradicated. Cars have become both a symbol of our freedom as individual Americans as well as a personal method of expression and personality. Having a personal vehicle means you can go wherever you want whenever you want without having to submit to the predetermined routes of public transportation. You don't need to be on time and you can make as many stops along the way as you want. This level of freedom is something that I believe is vital to the sense of liberty and freedom that Americans have. Cars are also a source of passion for a lot of people such as car collectors and mechanics. It is also true that you can tell a lot about a person by what kind of car they drive, so eliminating this factor would also eliminate a reliable way of understanding someone.

https://goflatoutph.com/2018/06/01/find-out-what-your-favorite-car-color-says-about-you/

"Greater density can support public transportation, with less driving, more walkable neighborhoods, and more affordable infrastructure services; it also supports greater numbers of neighborhood stores and markets. The denser a city, the less its inhabitants drive and the more they walk and use bicycles and public transit; efficiencies are built in."

This is another statement that, while it does have some truth to it, I can't agree with completely. For many people, really dense cities and mixing housing with business can be a tremendous source of stress. There is a part in every human that needs the open air and vast expanses of land to enjoy. There are also many people working jobs they'd rather not be doing and feel the need to live as far as possible from their place of work. The fast-paced energy and unforgiving nature of a dense city just isn't for everyone. If people live in cities that discourages vehicle ownership, it also makes it harder for people to enjoy trips to the great outdoors as they have to go out of their way to secure a method to get there. Stress is such a problem in big cities due to bright lights, never ending noise, and a feeling of disconnection and unimportance that it regularly leads to depression and even suicide.

https://acidcow.com/pics/5243-suicide-attempt-in-subway-saint-petersburg-russia.html

"Many of the approaches taken by cities to develop compact, mixed-use neighborhoods, reduce vehicle miles traveled, promote high-performance buildings, increase the use of locally produced materials and products, increase renewable energy, restore functioning ecosystems, protect water resources, and provide food from urban agriculture are strategies that are relevant to adapting to climate change."

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I really don't think mixing business and where people live is a good idea. People not liking their jobs isn't even the only reason people don't want to live close to their place of work. One thing common in families is the desire to separate their work life from their family life because they don't want the stress from work to come in to their home with them and affect their relationship with their family. This would be difficult to accomplish if you only lived a couple blocks away because you don't have enough time to make that mental shift that you have arrived at your home. However, I fully agree with the other methods proposed in the quote and would love to see those put into practice.

Sources:

1. Robertson, Margaret. Sustainability Principles and Practice. Routledge, 2017.