> "There is nothing wrong with suburbanization, but we wouldn't have nearly the extent of suburbs that we have now if all transportation options were on equal footing."
This is basically what I'm thinking these days. Having suburbs is fine. What's really killing us, is the incredibly low density of those suburbs, caused by zoning and the hiding of transportation costs that subsidize that zoning.
It's the cul-de-sac neighborhoods and massive parking lots sitting idle 90% of the time that make suburbs unwalkable and impractical to service with public transport. If the suburbs themselves weren't so sparse, their residents wouldn't need to use their cars as much and transport options for getting into the city, or to neighboring suburbs would greatly alleviate traffic and increase freedom for those who can't drive, can't afford to drive or just would prefer not to.
There's a difference between suburbs where everyone has a yard and peace and quiet and suburbs where the sidewalks inconsistently exist, cul-de-sac neighborhoods inflate route lengths and compound traffic snarls, zoning breaks up residential areas with light commerical areas that have mandated massive lots to handle twice-a-year peak parking needs, etc.
You can literally see the difference in walkability and infrastructure service levels between suburban neighborhoods built in the 50s and those built in the late 70s and later.
One has consistent street and infrastructure grids, parks, likely bus stops (because they're feasible) and commercial-cluster downtown areas for goodness sake! While the other has larger yards, cul-de-sacs, inconsistent sidewalks and the closest they come to a downtown is a (likely now decrepit) mall with its own ocean of usually-empty parking and the commensurate traffic-snarling entrances and exits.
This is why I feel so out of place in the vast majority of american suburbs today. Standing in any public space, if you look at roads and parking lots as dead space, it seems as if half the total space surrounding you is just nothing. It isn't beautiful, it isn't usable, it is just empty space that soaks up the landscape, carving it up all to make it cheap for someone to drive, but making it impossible for someone to walk.
This is basically what I'm thinking these days. Having suburbs is fine. What's really killing us, is the incredibly low density of those suburbs, caused by zoning and the hiding of transportation costs that subsidize that zoning.
It's the cul-de-sac neighborhoods and massive parking lots sitting idle 90% of the time that make suburbs unwalkable and impractical to service with public transport. If the suburbs themselves weren't so sparse, their residents wouldn't need to use their cars as much and transport options for getting into the city, or to neighboring suburbs would greatly alleviate traffic and increase freedom for those who can't drive, can't afford to drive or just would prefer not to.