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So you're just going to ignore all the examples that are found in Europe where it does work?
Road traffic is bad because the majority of commuters in the US take up 50 square feet (or more) of road space for one person. AKA, one car per person. Robust public transport (busses and trains), plus mixed use zoning (you can walk from your home to most where you need to go) are how we solve the problems US cities face.
@atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel Yeah what's going on here... lol.
I moved to Germany and lived in a small town along the Rhine. I could walk to: supermarket(s), dentist, hair cutting, pharmacy, doctor office, auto shop, gas station, school, church, eye doctor, bar, restaurant etc.
And there was public transportation to larger cities (19minutes).
I don't think anyone was commuting to work in my little town.
@cragsand@universeodon.com@SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel
I never realized the privilege I have, being born and living in Sweden. I don't own a car and can bike to work and perform all my errands within 15 minutes.
Learning about how north American cities and urban planning is done is a complete horror show to me and really opened my eyes.
I have @notjustbikes to thank for educating me.
#urbanplanning #notjustbikes #waroncars #cars #urban #walkablecities #15minutecities #cities #stroads #stroad #stroads
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORzNZUeUHAM
@cragsand @SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes i live in this hellscape, cherish your sensibly planned cities
Why Not Zoidberg? 
@cragsand @SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes
As a Swede I must point out tho that we often have the opposite problem: if you live somewhere outside a large or medium city, we are very bad at enabling small communities the ability to continue existing.
@WhyNotZoidberg @SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes
This has been getting so much better though in recent years! At least in southern Sweden where there are bike "highways" connecting different cities like Lund and Malmö together.
If you have an electric bike or an electric moped commuting using these highways becomes even becomes viable!
#commuting #sweden #bike #biking #urbanplanning
@WhyNotZoidberg @cragsand @SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes we are ALSO not super awesome at this in the US, though. Both problems! Hooray :/
@thatandromeda @WhyNotZoidberg @SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes
I hope you can see some change in the future. Keep on promoting the ideas of walkable cities and inviting neighborhoods. Get engaged in your local community and politics and try to establish some form of change.
I know it's depressing and an incredibly difficult uphill battle, but if you keep doing it, maybe sometime in the future, our kids will be able to reap that benefit.
Cheers and best regards from Sweden
@cragsand @WhyNotZoidberg @SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes aw, thanks :) I happen to live in one of the few parts of the US that actually *is* pretty 15-minute; I didn't own a car for years and mostly don't need one. I can walk to lots of things. I just got a new subway line! But my part is in many ways not representative. (also um we're not awesome at paying for subway *maintenance*....)
@thatandromeda @WhyNotZoidberg @SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes
That's great news! I hope it continues. One way to fund public transportation is through public taxation. Especially on the highest earning tax payers. That way public transportation is guaranteed without it being a detriment to anyone!
@thatandromeda @WhyNotZoidberg @cragsand @SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes well in the US we pretty much just support the existence of the super wealthy and everyone else is fending for themselves tho
@cragsand
Never been to Sundsvall then? 
@SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes
@arminfritz @SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes
Sorry never went anymore north than Gothenburg.
I guess that makes me a fake Swede or I guess "typical Scanian" arguing that it should be apart of Denmark instead LOL
@cragsand
Coming from Germany and knowing Skåne I was quite shocked how car dependent this whole city is when we moved here. Never seen an a-traktor before. Or gigantic parking lots flooded with pickups because apparently SUVs aren't big enough anymore.
@SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes
@arminfritz @SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes
A-tractors or EPA-tractors is a strange phenomena endemic to Sweden because to get a drivers license to this limited form of motor vehicles in Sweden, you only need to be 16 years old. (Compared to regular drivers licenses requiring you to be 18 years old)
This makes it a vehicle encouraged to rebuild and limit, in order to get it to uphold regulations. I guess it's comparable to the "Reliable Robin" in the UK in a sense except it's only for the young.
Using Google translate to translate this article to get more info on it: https://sv-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/EPA-traktor?_x_tr_sl=sv&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
#epatraktor #tractor #epatractor #atractor #atraktor #cars #driving
@cragsand @SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes
We have the combined US auto and oil industries to thank for this horror show. In the 1950's cities had trolleys; there were "interurban railways." Long distance rail travel was still common. All that was blown up rather than the continuous upgrading & modernization that could have been. We DO have long distances; much of the highway & air travel systems would have been developed, but as augmentation, not replacement
@2CB @SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes
Keep on spreading the word and fighting the good fight. Maybe sometime in the future your city will see some change.
As example, the Chicago. Aurora, and Elgin railroad connected the cities of Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, and Elgin to Chicago. It ceased operation in 1957 after the building of the Eisenhower expressway eliminated its roadbed into Chicago.
The roadbeds are now bike paths. There was a stop a few hundred yards from where I live now. The expressway has been extended all the way to Iowa. It is jammed with mostly 1- occupant autos between Aurora & Chicago twice/day.
https://www.american-rails.com/aurora.html
@cragsand
Notjustbikes really do have great videos on the subject, aside from saying "North America" when they really just mean US & Canada. Mexico is a North American country too.
@notjustbikes @danwentzel @SirLich @oldrawgabbit @atatassault
@cragsand @SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes it's not just USA. I live in Sweden and commute one hour each way by public transport to my work, which is not really rare. Now I'm looking for a job within 15 min, buy the city (Stockholm) is just not built that way.
@cragsand @SirLich @atatassault @oldrawgabbit @danwentzel @notjustbikes The important thing is that the neighborhood would need to have a variety of workplaces, and also housing that fit different people e.g. baristas, nurses, day-care workers, IT-workers, architects... It requires a much more equal society.