4/1/2023 0 Comments Unwalkable synonym![]() It is also surprisingly easy for Americans to relocate here if they are in a tech career (keyword: highly-skilled migrant) or remote-working/entrepreneurial (keyword: Dutch-American Friendship Treaty). In central Amsterdam, the default language may as well be English. The Netherlands may not be an English-first country, but something like 95% of the Dutch speak English, a higher percentage than in Canada(!). It's not sustainable from any perspective. But this is not just harmful for poor people, it's also bad for the economy in general they're inefficient, cost too much money to maintain, don't make enough money, so they require constant influx of subsidies, and this sort of development has lead to the bankruptcy of several US cities. Whole communities get sacrificed for affluent car owners from the suburbs. Old city centers turned into massive thoroughfares destroy the communities that live there. Stroads are themselves elitists because they exist for people who don't live there, don't care about the neighbourhood, about accessibility for others, or how much economic or environmental damage it does, as long as they're not inconvenienced by it. They're completely inaccessible to anyone who can't afford a car. But the problem with stroads isn't merely one of esthetics they're expensive and inefficient, and they exist primarily because everything is designed around suburban car owners who want to do everything by car. In the last 10 years they have developed it with no regard whatsoever with reflecting the parkway, and the result? Stroadification The other side was little developed due to being a military reservist base. On one route out of town the left hand side of the road is an early-mid 20th century parkway, with a grass strip before the street with the houses on it. The centre edges closer to being a museum every year, and the real commerce is spread out for car drivers around the boundary. ![]() Many jobs have moved out there too, even professional service firms that used to fill the quaint offices of the mediaeval centre. Over time they have mostly been turned into more housing and the businesses have moved to out of town 'industrial estates' or 'enterprise parks' where you need a car to get there. When I was young the railway yards had become small businesses, builders merchants, coal merchants, milk rounds, car repair garages etc. Outside of the mediaeval centre are rows of victorian terrace and town houses that grew up around a large railway junction, with warehouses, sidings etc right by the house. Staunton, VA (Beautiful area surrounded by some of the largest tracts of public land in the eastern US)įredericksburg, VA (tons of interesting history here)Ĭharlottesville, VA (look at that pedestrian-only shopping street a block away!) Warrenton, VA (Ridiculously good downtown restaurant scene, whenever I go there there always seems to be some festival or market happening) ![]() Most small/medium sized towns on the east coast have a historic/old town that is like this, for example in Virginia state:Ĭulpeper, VA (passenger railroad station right in downtown that connects to all the big cities on the east coast) Ithaca is pushing into city territory (I think it has over 80k residents now), and if we’re going to count it, I’d also nominate small southeastern cities such as Savannah, Richmond, and St Augustine.Īssuming you're looking for quaint walkable towns (and not stressing over the fact that they're surrounded by miles of car-dependent suburbs and rural areas), you can find them anywhere and everywhere. I’m thinking specifically of Taos County, NM and much of southwestern CO. outside of commuting distance from a major city) in the southwest that have clearly defined and stroad-less cores. Outside of the northeast, there are remote locations (i.e. Of the places I’m familiar with, I’d call out Delaware and Montgomery County, PA, much of the Hudson Valley in New York (Hudson, Beacon, Newburgh, …). I think the primary historical factors that separates cohesive, walkable towns in the US from more stereotypical American development are the city having been established and built out prior to the 20th century (so there was some initial plan or development that predates cars), and the community either being wealthy enough or remote enough to avoid the pull of cookie-cutter post-war redevelopment. As you say, there are plenty in the Northeastern United States. ![]()
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