Rural Towns don't have to Suck (be car dominated)
Rural Towns don't have to Suck (be car dominated)
15 comments
-
address car centricism in rural places
only talk about downtown
Most of what goes on in a rural place is far away from downtowns. People don't live in downtown, people live on rural plots of land miles away from downtowns, on dirt roads and things. That's what you'd be addressing talking about car dominated rural areas. How do you get to the very walkable downtown? A train that takes you the next state over is not what we are really talking about when comparing to cities with trams and busses and subways.
As far as the mention of sustainable infrastructure, I'm in agreement with this guy. Rural downtowns are dying because of bad planning. You have to funnel people through the downtown for the land to maintain value, not build 70mph bypasses. But rural areas, not just the downtowns but the whole rural area surrounding it, are not going to be adequately traversable with busses and trains. Bicycles, sure, it takes a long time but it is doable. Walking, alright, but it's a lot of work and can be hours to get a few miles, people just aren't going to do it. Even before cars, people stayed on their land and only went into town every few weeks to do business, and took a horse and buggy along a road.
-
people live on rural plots of land miles away from downtowns, on dirt roads and things.
You don't have traffic there. There will be no accidents because only 1 or 2 people drive in a given piece of road for the whole day. Dirt roads don't take government subsidy money and isn't much of a tax money drain. There will be no pipelines for water, no pipelines for sewage. Essentially there are no infrastructure problems to complain about in a "real rural town" you described because it should largely be self sustained. And I haven't seen a single person talking against them or campaigning to get rid of them. It's a non issue.
But if there is traffic, if there are car crashes, if the town is financially struggling due to infrastructure costs, then all of the points in the video become very important.
-
But you need cars for those places, which means you need parking lots downtown for those people. That traffic in downtown, where you you think it comes from? Those 1 or 2 cars driving down that dirt road, they're driving somewhere or from somewhere. The dirt roads meet at a main thoroughfare, paved, that takes them downtown.
-
-
How do you get to the very walkable downtown?
Drive. What's wrong with driving from a rural plot of land to a walkable downtown? That's how I live currently and I think it's great.
-
I agree with this. Car-lite is a great goal in cities, where population density is higher and it's easier to place people, services, and work closer to each other and connect them with public transport.
Rural areas, it's rural for a reason. You'll still need more cars, proportionately-speaking.
-
People don’t live in downtown, people live on rural plots of land miles away from downtowns, on dirt roads and things.
Is this a variation on the, "No one drives anymore, there's too much traffic?" While the economic driver of many of these communities is agriculture, the number of people in town vastly outnumber those living in the county. In economics, the general rule is that for every $1 brought into a community, it stimulates ~$4 of economic activity locally. These jobs are more likely to be located in town than in the county.
This doesn't mean we forget about those living in the county. If we can make downtowns more livable and reduce the need of the in-town population to drive, we can reduce traffic and become more sustainable (both environmentally and economically. For those out in the county, maybe they do still need to drive in town, but once they park there's a better chance they can complete all their tasks on foot. For communities that do a great job of urbanizing, public transit can lead to variations of park-and-rides where county dwellers only need to drive to the edge of town or a bus/train stop.
-
-
Haven't read or watched anything but that thumbnail looks like Breezewood in PA.
15 comments