#fifteen minute cities

[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.

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Solarpunk Sunday Suggestion:

Ride on public transport

[arothin]

I feel it is very important to list a number of 15 minute cities:

New York

Beijing

Boston

Paris

Berlin

Chicago

Madrid

London

Milan

Rome

Florence

Barcelona

Venice if it had streets instead of boats

Tokyo

Vienna

I think this sentiment is more accurately pointed at "lifestyle centres" like Town Square Las Vegas. It literally copies facades from famous european cities like Paris to create a pseudo-urban shopping centre for guests to play in as if they were walking around a European-style city (tho east asian cities are planned pretty much the same way); and because its a tourist trap, its not actually meant for the employees to live there.

New York is absolutely too expensive, and the gentrification of minority neighbourhoods to the point that its former residences now are only there as employees is a huge and ongoing problem. Yet even before gentrification, this concept of the corner store that you can walk to is as old as new york is, from manhattan to the bronx.

The problem isnt that people can meet all their needs within 15 minutes of their homes, the problem is when theres a circle of asphalt around it that means no one can walk 16 minutes, even if they live in the dead centre. It also means that anyone whos not in the dead centre doesnt get the supposed benefits of the city.

[awesomecooperlove]

💊💊💊

[villaneve]

one thing tumblr is so so real for romanticizing is having a little apartment of your own that you fill with things you love. that shit rocks

[lovetogether]

Gonna be commuting to the city this year for our classes and dad is already telling us of like five different stations we can go to to get to our school from the main city and we have no clue how to tell him we literally went over yesterday and got down a good route with our social worker and adding more to the whole thing is very overwhelming.

[jube514]

America is walkable!

If you have a spare six months to walk it, of course.

It took me a day under six months to walk the eastern coast of America, and while this might be an exaggeration to what some people say about America being “walkable” it took me through the exact kinds of towns that OP talks about.

Towns with populations in the double digits that survive off of hunting, gardening, and a single dollar general three towns over. Towns that don’t make enough money to repair the roads, let alone have a transit system. Towns that aren’t populated in the winter, because it’s too hard to get food or healthcare there. I saw the complete desolation of the American countryside, towns that had been abandoned in the 1950’s, rotting factories and storefronts that hold no jobs or supplies.

On those old mountain roads we’d sometimes cross, there was a 75% chance it was once a forestry road that hadn’t seen a vehicle in over thirty years. You think the people who drive those gravel dirt pits to go to Walmart once every two months have access to a metro?

American cities can be converted into walkable ones, if we focus on it. Places like Amsterdam are a good example of changed infrastructure from a vehicle centric 1970’s to a bike friendly today. YouTube channel Not Just Bikes and Strong Towns go into more detail about it, and I would highly recommend them, and highly recommend locals in cities to get into things like public transport, bikes, and local politics.

But rural America is a beast that will not be tamed, and anybody who says they can fix the nothingness of it is very, very wrong.

“America IS walkable, you’re all just lazy” my childhood home was an hour from the nearest hospital (by car)

[cherryblossomshadow]

Shaun (@/shaun_vids)

15 minute cities disgust US conservatives because they need cars. they’re too important as a status symbol & they serve to keep society segregated. being stuck in traffic for an hour is the price they happily pay to not have to walk near groups of people they fear and hate

Shaun (@/shaun_vids)

"you won’t need to drive everywhere!" sounds like a bonus to reasonable people but to a conservative you may as well be trying to sell them on being thrown to a pack of ravenous wolves

union labor with American characteristics (@/ntsfwrk)

Anyone who thinks that driving is correlated to freedom has never had to drive anywhere near a major city. Freedom is having the choice to take the train instead of needing an expensive vehicle that’s more dangerous, inefficient, and stressful to operate.

[fridaysvalentine]

loving the los angeles teams rite of passage where you sign a contract then immediately get honored at dodger stadium

[arctic-hands]

[Image Description: snippet from the Wikipedia article for "2024 United States East Coast wildfire smoke", that says "The wildfire smoke has encouraged several conspiracy theories, including some associated with QAnon. Far-right media personality Stew Peters wrote that the smoke is a directed-energy weapon. Other conspiracy theories referenced include that Canada is using a flamethrower drone (another theory spread by Peters), Antifa is setting Canada ablaze, the New York government is seeking to use the smoke to implement lockdowns, the smoke is a precursor to a potential alien invasion, the smoke is being used to create 15-minute cities, and that Canada is creating a solar blackout.[22]" End I.D.]

People are stupid

[cenabisbene]

You are describing like half of Chicago aka the best city for neighborhoods in America

[randomwords247]

Chicago? Go where? Space?

[elvencantation]

random white lady!!! that could’ve been me 😂

[background-noise-headache]

So in the span of 18 hours I have said both the most asexual thing I've said in months, and the least asexual thing I've said in months

[awesomecooperlove]

CITIES SETTLEMENTS (15 MIN.) NEAR YOU JUST FOR YOU AND ME... THE “GOYM” MASSES! ARE YOU GOING TO COMPLY?

🤔🤔🤔

[auntopossum]

In a crowded public space, when you are alone and still, in a sea of strangers coming and going, having someone ask you to watch their stuff feels like an absolute honor.