#iminthewrongmajor

[sunofgunisme-blog]

one of the things that frustrates me the most when talking about urban planning and car-centric infrastructure is how people don’t understand why it isn’t easier than drafting some plans and pissing off some republicans. 

If you’ve ever visited a decent sized city, you know this common occurrence: a solid brick and mortar building, business on the ground floor, apartments above, likely 3-5 stories tall, alleyway in the back. Did you know that this format of building has been ILLEGAL for the past few decades? Thanks to the ridiculous bureaucratization of the US, spaces actually designed for PEOPLE have only been further criminalized by

-designating that like 60% of any land with a building must be parking

-no mixed use buildings without significant legal and financial hoops, either 100% residential or 100% commercial.

-required spacing between buildings only further prioritizing auto-centrism 

Oddly enough, one of the greater models that could be used to model the City of the Future was the classic main street of the Wild West. Think with me for a moment: multi-story? check. mixed use? check. Proximity? check. Traversable? Check. Neighborhoods circling the main thoroughfare? check. Green spaces? check. Naturally grown, shaped paths? half-check (many in practice were eventually straight lines).

Funny enough, modernizing the town of yesterday would yield better results than the best urban “planners” of today. Imagine expanding the central train station into a light rail stop that would service multiple towns, schools, and neighborhoods? What if we could eliminate unecessary parking and allow foot traffic and bicycles to reign supreme? Better yet, end the practice of regulating businesses to beige shopping malls and health “parks,” and ALLOW business to grow where the demand is????

It’s no wonder that Tiktok and Twitter and Tumblr (three t’s?) spend their time fantasizing over Glasgow, Rotterdam, Venice, and Malaga. Look what’s possible!