Europe took a long stroll in that direction too, but there are some major differences. First, most of their cities were established before cars. Second, they’re making more of an active attempt (in some areas) to be walkable again.
In short, in America 75 years is a long time. In Europe, 75 miles (120km) is a long way.
American cities were not built for cars; they were demolished for cars!
You can actually see this in any small town that hasn’t seen significant redevelopment since they first paved the streets. Old houses are really close together, small lots, fairly dense development and its only a couple of miles from any part of town to any other part of town, so pretty walkable/bikable by nature
Europe took a long stroll in that direction too, but there are some major differences. First, most of their cities were established before cars. Second, they’re making more of an active attempt (in some areas) to be walkable again.
In short, in America 75 years is a long time. In Europe, 75 miles (120km) is a long way.
That’s true for America too, and isn’t an excuse. American cities were not built for cars; they were demolished for cars!
For example, downtown Houston, TX in 1957:
vs downtown Houston, TX in 1978:
That’s so absurd it almost doesn’t seem real
(from my european perspective)
You can actually see this in any small town that hasn’t seen significant redevelopment since they first paved the streets. Old houses are really close together, small lots, fairly dense development and its only a couple of miles from any part of town to any other part of town, so pretty walkable/bikable by nature
What’s 75 years in metric?
2.3652 gigaseconds