This week's longreads will look at various issues related to city planning and city management in America. The first of these longreads comes from a series in Slate about the crisis of walking in America. Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, American cities and suburbs have been built in such a way that makes residents car dependent. It is not always a simple matter of distance. For pedestrians, walking in these places is unsafe, unsightly, or inconvenient (or a combination of each of these). Given the growing knowledge of the health benefits of walking as well as further understanding of the negative effects of car culture (from an environmental perspective as well as studies showing that longer driving commutes decreases happiness), it seems that increasing the walkability of our cities should be a central part of future city planning.
I love walking. It's my primary mode of transportation in Seattle, and luckily, I live and work in a part of town where that is feasible. However, even here, sidewalks are often in horrible shape, crosswalks are poorly marked, and drivers are often unaware of pedestrians. Hopefully over time we will start to see the pendulum swing back in the direction of walkers instead of drivers.
Note: if you like this article, make sure to check out the other 3 articles in the series from Slate.
"Learning to Walk" by Tom Vanderbilt
Published in Slate, April 13, 2012
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/walking/2012/04/walking_in_america_how_we_can_become_pedestrians_once_more_.html
Eric
Something I noticed in Port Townsend was an urban planning technique to put in 'green trails' for walkers that cut though ravines/green spaces/in-between houses that separate the path from the road. It also allowed a walker to get to places faster and cross terrain that would be too steep for cars. It made walking around town really enjoyable because finding a "hidden" green trail was a mini-adventure and treasure hunt for a walker.
ReplyDeleteIn a city like Seattle, maybe the city planners would be able to 'claim' a thin section of certain properties to create green trails. I don't know if I would feel the same way if the city wanted to do this to my property...but there may be a fair way to create better walking paths...what do people think?
I also like the idea of a walking lecture...there may be something to college campuses being mostly road-free?
The quote from Mumford and MacKaye also struck a deep chord thinking about how less enjoyable a road trip is when all the towns look the same and the driver is bombarded by fast-food joints and the same gas stations all the way across the country (or in my experience the Midwest). "What is the use of a road's bypassing a town, only to find that the road itself has turned into a town—and a cheap, nasty town at that?"
p.s. - on another note - from a designer's perspective, the navigation between the 4 articles is something I've never seen before in a news/magazine setting. it's awesome.