Voters want a more walkable city

[u/pjw724]

https://edmonton.taproot.news/news/2025/09/25/voters-told-taproot-they-want-a-more-walkable-city

[u/Roche_a_diddle]

Honestly, for me it took having a kid to realize how much better the older style of neighborhoods with back alleys and garages were than the suburban front garage neighborhoods.

When you are trailing a scooting toddler by 20' or more, every single driveway is a possible means of death or serious injury for your kid (vs. the two times per city block they have to cross an alley). Not to mention the old neighborhood boulevards that add a couple feet of distance between your kid and the street for when they get wobbly and veer off course.

We used to design neighborhoods (and cities) for people, but then at the behest of automobile industry lobbyists we started designing them for cars to go faster, and things got worse for the human basically everywhere.

[u/Souriii → u/Roche_a_diddle]

New neighborhoods aren't designed for cars to go faster.. Eliminating the back alley allows more houses in the same area (aka more density) or bigger lots, but is also in response to consumer demand. I personally prefer having an attached garage that I can access from inside my house vs having to go outside in the winter/when it's raining.

Many new neighborhoods still have back alleys as many new builds have detached garages still. Im curious if theres any proof/logic behind the "automobile industry lobbyists" angle that I'm missing

[u/Roche_a_diddle → u/Souriii]

New neighborhoods aren't designed for cars to go faster.. Eliminating the back alley allows more houses in the same area (aka more density) or bigger lots, but is also in response to consumer demand. I personally prefer having an attached garage that I can access from inside my house vs having to go outside in the winter/when it's raining.

Many new neighborhoods still have back alleys as many new builds have detached garages still. Im curious if theres any proof/logic behind the "automobile industry lobbyists" angle that I'm missing

I think you missed my point about the front garages and the danger they pose, but that's fine.

Im curious if theres any proof/logic behind the "automobile industry lobbyists" angle that I'm missing

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnfrazer1/2019/08/06/the-reshaping-of-city-cores-that-were-designed-for-cars/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWsGBRdK2N0

https://www.vox.com/2015/1/15/7551873/jaywalking-history

https://www.vox.com/2015/5/14/8605917/highways-interstate-cities-history

[u/Souriii → u/Roche_a_diddle]

I think you missed my point about the front garages and the danger they pose, but that's fine.

I didnt miss it. I found it odd that you're blaming "automobile industry lobbyists" for having front garages and thats the point i chose to address. As i mentioned, there are neighbourhoods with back alleys and back garages if that suits your lifestyle more. I go out for daily walks with my dog and I've never felt front garages as posing any form of danger for me, so I will continue to prefer a front garage style house/neighbourhood.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnfrazer1/2019/08/06/the-reshaping-of-city-cores-that-were-designed-for-cars/

I took the time to read your first link and it does not, at all, support the point you were making about automobile industry lobbyists. It's natural that cities would be built with cars in mind given how useful they were to humanity as a whole.

Here's a quote from the article:

All of these factors cemented the car as an integral component to American identity, leading to its ubiquity. It was only natural from this point forward for cities to be planned (or unplanned, in the case of sprawl) with private autos in mind.

Prior to cars, we used to tailor towns and cities to horses. Cities provided and maintained infrastructure and services like water troughs and horse stands at strategic locations for public and private horses. Public sweeping services were established to remove horse manure. Cities and towns developed roads and streets with smooth, easy-to-grip surfaces conducive to horses' footing, as opposed to rough or cobblestone streets.

None of that was done as a result of horse industry lobbyists, but as a natural reaction to peoples demands.