‘People are happier in a walkable neighborhood’: the US community that banned cars - eviltoast

A new housing development outside Phoenix is looking towards European cities for inspiration and shutting out the cars. So far residents love it - The Guardian

  • BeautifulMind ♾️@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This sounds quite a bit like what it was like when I lived in New York City- I didn’t need a car to live (* couldn’t afford to park it), everything I needed was available either by walking or transit (or riding my bike).

    With that said, I am suspicious of venture-capital-funded re-inventions of this model- who gets to say what amenities and concessions are available, and who profits from fulfilling the kinds of needs a neighborhood like that has?

    NYC has a lot of built-in history (and with it, institutions developed from the lessons learned, like rent control to protect renters and such) and if those kinds of protections aren’t included in this model, I would be willing to bet there will be abuses and problems. Building a simulacrum of an established model but where you own all the governing institutions seems… a bit of a red flag, no matter how well-intentioned it might be.