#15 minutes city

[rtrevisan]

Como migrar do automóvel para modais inteligentes [C40]

A organização C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, uma aliança global de grandes cidades comprometidas em enfrentar as mudanças climáticas, publica periodicamente textos e manuais para a transformação urbana sustentável. Entre outros eixos, o transporte urbano é tema abordado com grande frequência principalmente por ser responsável, atualmente, por um terço de todas as emissões de gases de efeito…

[reality-detective]

Mark Zuckerberg, an outspoken critic of "man-made climate change", shows off his new $300 million, 287-foot mega yacht, powered by four gigantic diesel engines.

Yet another stark reminder that Net Zero is only for the peasants. The mega-wealthy and powerful will continue to enjoy lives of excess and opulence, while you subsist on bugs in your 15 minute eco-prison. 🤔

[whereserpentswalk]

I have decided to become a walkablity extremist.

Cars should not be allowed in towns and cities at all. The only places where they should be at all present is in rural areas where any other means of transportation should be impossible.

High speed rail networks should allow for a trip from Mexico city to Montreal in under 24 hours.

All public transportation should be 100% free.

Lawns should not exist.

It doesn't make sense for single family homes to be built in most American cities.

Architecture must be beautiful again.

Every commercial street should have at least one bench.

Public restrooms must be free, common and accessible.

The pigeons are not enemies. The pigeons are freinds.

[charlesoberonn]

[gabrielsoutdoorpool]

Tam Song

(you can send me drawing requests if they're KOTLC or MHA related)

[alpaca-clouds]

Cars vs Accessible Worlds

Alright, let me talk about one thing in terms of accessibility in science fiction settings - and Solarpunk specifically - that also has more than one side to it: Cars and accessibility. Because it is more complicated than you'd thing.

See: The fact that our world is so car centric really, really hinders accessibility. Wide streets are a hindrance for even normal pedastrians, cyclists and so on. If I want to get from A to B, and the route crosses a street, and there is only a traffic light every like 500 meters, it means tat I usually need either to risk my life or take the long way around to get there. And that is a fucking bother even when you are healthy and can easily take that long way around. And the more car centric a society is, the worse the issue becomes. Here in Germany it is a lot easier still to cross a street than in many places in the US.

And of course this gets a lot worse if you are disabled. Be it that you just cannot walk that far. Or if you are blind and cannot even see in what direction you could go for the next traffic light. Or if you are hard of hearing or deaf, you might be more in danger of being surprised by a car. (And that is without going into how electric cars being so fucking quiet makes stuff even more dangerous.) And, you know, neurodivergent people might also just struggle with the fucking noise that is created by roads and is often inescapable in big cities.

And of course even outside of the environmental issues, the constant presence of cars is also a health risk. Not just because of the risk of accidents, but also due to the pollution and how it interacts. Even if we all were driving electric cars, there would still be all those microplastics created by tires and streets and stuff.

So, really. We do need to move away from car centric infrastructure to make our lives healthier and to make the world more accessible for disabled people too.

BUT...

But there is the issue that some disabled people still might be in need to use some sort of personal transportation device that can cover both short and large distances, because for one reason or another public transport just does not work and cannot work for them.

For example someone with severe anxiety issues, or someone who will be easily suffering from sensory overwhelm. There might be other issues, too. Just some folks will always need something like cars.

And of course there is also the fact that stuff like emergency services will still need streets accessible to cars. Because the emergency services will just not get around using something like cars to get to all the places they might be needed.

And this... makes things complicated. Because infrastructure should not be car centric, no. But it needs to be accessible by cars - and be it just for emergency services.

This is just something that I would love to see more talked about especially within the Solarpunk sphere.

[geekysteven]

[ireton]

Hawaii - "Government Officials Contradict Own Citizens" Accounts on Maui Fire Disaster.

7 Nov 2023 In the aftermath of the devastating August fire that claimed over 100 lives in Lahaina, Maui, an independent journalist partnered with Project Veritas to investigate the claims of Lahaina residents who shared their water and electricity was not functioning on the morning of the deadly fire. This journalist held meetings with multiple representatives from the Maui mayor’s office and the governor's office, all of whom clung to the official narrative that the water supply had not been interrupted. As the historic town of Lahaina continues to grapple with the devastating aftermath of these fires, community members continue to raise questions about the government’s emergency response.

[crimeronan]

drove through Portland for the first time today and was like wow...amazing... Tumblr user crimeronan lives here...why are there so many fucking bridges .. it's like those bead toys for children they keep in doctors waiting rooms in here...

forgive my rambling I had a long drive and am tired, but I wanted you to know that you brighten up this internet strangers life when I see your posts. Have a lovely day/evening/night whatever time of day you see this!!

SKLDJFKS. I GUESS IT DOES LOOK A LITTLE LIKE THOSE BEAD TOYS FOR CHILDREN....

i hope you had a nice time passing through! i always love taking the I-5 north across the river at night, it has a WONDERFUL view of all the lit-up bridges and city lights reflecting in the water.....

[gideonisms]

Want to go somewhere and see different things than my apartment walls but if there is a sound or anyone looks at me I will die right there. And if I go outside today I step into a sauna. Also nearly everything besides restaurants closes at 8 despite the fact that the roads are hell 24 hours a day. You can see how this leaves me with limited options

[reality-detective]

⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️

Listen, Progressive Insurance didn't shoot all those commercials for nothing people. Your plan has been weaponized against you.

They are already canceling fire insurance policies for those in Phoenix Arizona.

So you should already know what they plan to do. Your area is eligible to become a 15 minute city.

I wonder how Donald Trump is going to respond now that he is in power? Because didn't Bill Gates buy 30 acres of land there?

If I were you I would seriously be looking into how I could protect my home. Because you probably have little time left.

Why do I say that?

Because the California wildfires that started last month, specifically around early January 2025, saw insurance policy cancellations or non-renewals happening months in advance.

State Farm, for instance, announced the cancellation of 72,000 policies, including about 1,600 in Pacific Palisades, in April 2024, which means these cancellations occurred approximately 9 months before the wildfires started in January 2025. 🤔

[pebbledrat]

I was 15 minutes late to the foul city premiere, so as soon as the live version finished I got kicked off the video 😭 Yery if you're out there I hope you make it

[awesomecooperlove]

POSTING AGAIN, IN CASE YOU MISSED..

🧌🧌🧌

[probablyasocialecologist]

Devised by the France-based urbanist, Carlos Moreno, 15-minute cities are a broad planning concept based on people living within easy reach of workplaces and schools, as well as local amenities, gradually reducing the need for short car trips. The idea caught the attention of a range of conspiracy theorists, who see it as a supposed part of a “great reset” or “climate lockdown” in which people are forcibly kept within their local neighbourhood and not allowed to travel. In his speech to the Conservative conference in October, Mark Harper, the transport secretary, described 15-minutes cities as schemes in which “local councils can decide how often you go to the shops”, which was incorrect and is something that has never been proposed in the UK. While many critics assumed at the time this was just rhetoric, the documents indicate Harper and the Department for Transport (DfT) used this definition as the basis for one of the biggest shifts in transport policy for decades. In September, Sunak ended years of policies aimed to promote walking and cycling with his plan for drivers, which promised to crack down on “anti-car measures” like 20mph speed limits and LTNs, which seek to limit through-traffic on residential streets.

[i-like-rocks22]

You do not need to advertise using the train to me. You do not need to encourage me to use public transport. I already want to. I am desperate.

You DO need to make it so that the train is not 3-5x as expensive as driving. You do need to make it so I can get to the train station without driving and paying a zillion quid for parking. You do need to make it so that trains arrive regularly and at sensible times with connections. You do need to make journeys not take 6 times as long. You do need to make them accessible for those with disabilities. You need to pay your staff and drivers.

I don't know how I can be clearer. LET ME GET THE BUS AND TRAIN.

[alpaca-clouds]

Walkable Cities vs Americans

Let me talk about this in more details, after I already brought it up on Monday.

I am very aware that most users of this wonderful hellsite are very much living on some stolen land in North America. And hence are used to urban sprawl and to not getting anywhere without using a car, because it is not really feasible.

I know this. I am from Germany, but I have spent about 3,5 months in the USA between 2013 and 2014.

Now, while living in Germany the longest distance I have ever lived away from a proper supermarket was about 12 minutes on foot. At the time we had moved into a newly constructed area and for the first two years the supermarket that was supposed to be build there was just delayed. Hence the next supermarket was a bit away. After that supermarket was build, though, we had one in just 5 minutes walking distance.

This is of course connected to the fact that I always have lived in towns and cities - and that the few years of my childhood where I lived in a village... That village still had a supermarket just at the end of my street. Yes, I do have a friend who lives in a very rural part of Eastern Germany, who has to drive 40 minutes by car to reach a supermarket, as she is basically living in the German equivalent of a food desert.

Technically I was lucky, too, when I lived in the USA. Because the dorm I was being housed in was right across the street of a supermarket. I learned how ever that said supermarket was a) expensive as hell, and b) did not have good food. So, after trying it three times, I opted to once a week take a handcart and make my way over to the next Amish market about three miles away.

But something I generally learned while there was: People look at you as if you are insane for walking. I still very much remember when I was walking through the city looking for the harbor and I asked some old ladies for directions. "Oh, yeah, that is just in this direction. But it is more than a mile. Are you sure you wanna walk that?" And I just stood there: *confused German stare*

In fact, when i arrived at the dorm, someone was like: "Oh, great. We should celebrate and get to the coldstone! Let's take the car." And then we took the car to drive like 300 meters. And again I was standing there like: *confused German stare*

But... It is a bit of a two-sided issue, right? Because yeah, American cities are build around cars. If there are sidewalks they are often not easy to walk on. And if you are disabled, then tough luck. Chances are the side walks are not accessible for you. Especially if you need mobility aids of some sort.

And suburbia is not really accessible without a car either way. Especially not safely, given there are often only few street lights for crossing the roads and such.

Sure, the city centers are a bit easier to get around in. But even there you often have to walk a good way. Of course, given that the zoning laws often keep housing from anything commercial. While over here in Germany we just have a supermarket in the middle of a housing district, or have shops on the ground floor of a building that is otherwise used for housing that is often not possible in the US. And I get that.

And still... I do feel that there also is a bit of an issue a lot of folks have with even trying to just not use the car. Again: Who the flying fuck uses a car for 300 meters? (Unless they are disabled.) And that is stuff I saw several times in the USA. And in that case there was a proper and even fairly wide sidewalk. So... WHY?! Just WHY?!