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Walkability: Difference between revisions
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(Created page with "# Transportation is a major contributor to climate change. # Electric vehicles may not a Term:viable solution soon enough. # In many parts of the world, neighborhoods are designed in a way that forces us to drive a lot. But there is good news: '''We can fix this.''' ==Small tweaks, big changes== ... ==New construction== The energy potentially saved by building brand new walkable neighborhoods, has to be weighed against the energy it takes to construct them.") |
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A '''walkable''' neighborhood has most of what people need within walking distance from [[housing|home]]. | |||
{{minor|Walkability is a continuum. It's unlikely for a neighborhood to have ''everything'' for ''everyone'', but the more it has, the less people have to drive or use [[public transit]].}} | |||
==Things worth having within walking distance== | |||
* [[Food|Groceries]] and other stores | |||
* [[Education|Schools]] | |||
* [[Green space|Parks]] | |||
* Recreation centers | |||
* Places where people [[Labor|work]], in general | |||
* Outdoor public spaces for events & festivals | |||
{{minor|''Got something to be add to this list? Join the {{talk}}.''}} | |||
The energy | The goal is to have a neighborhood that people can actually enjoy spending time in, and not just at home. | ||
==Motivations for walkability== | |||
* Transportation is a major contributor to [[climate change]]. | |||
* [[Electric vehicles]] may not be a [[Term:viable|viable]] solution soon enough. | |||
* In many parts of the world, neighborhoods are designed in a way that forces us to drive a lot. | |||
==Tradeoffs of new construction== | |||
Although walkability could save [[energy]] by decreasing reliance on transportation, this has to be weighed against the energy footprint of constructing brand new buildings to make walkable areas. | |||
A much better solution is to repurpose existing space as much as possible. | |||
==Repurposing existing space== | |||
===Suburbs=== | |||
The majority of people in USA & Canada live in suburbs that are very ''not'' walkable. | |||
{{minor|This was originally by design, due to automobile companies lobbying for specific policy decisions made back in the 1950s. Many of the policies are unfortunately still in place, as [[zoning]] laws.}} | |||
Although it's hard to have true walkability if a suburb's density is low, there are still '''improvements''' to be made: | |||
* Commercial space | |||
** Repeal some [[zoning]] laws: Allow homeowners to run small businesses from their homes. Most homeowners wouldn't, but there'd be a few enterprising folks who might [[residential to commercial|turn part of their house]] into a small grocery store, or coffee shop, or yoga studio, or whatever else you'd typically see in less-suburban areas. | |||
*** In some cases, someone might buy a house specifically to repurpose it into a small business. This could be good in moderation but would be a problem if too many investors did it (a big concern for the first neighborhoods to try such a policy). So there would need to be policies ''limiting'' this. Also, any decrease in housing should be offset in other ways. | |||
** Office space | |||
*** People are increasingly working from home. | |||
* Public events | |||
** Use part of a park (suburbs usually have a lot of them) as a "public square" | |||
* [[Housing]] density | |||
** [[Subdividing]] some houses into duplexes. Good for walkability - and even more importantly, helps alleviate the housing shortage. Note: This doesn't mean subdividing ''all'' houses, just some percentage of vacant ones. | |||
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