The piece blames zoning, but the real smoking gun is the car. You don’t get suburban sprawl without the federal highway system and oceans of free parking mandates. Every time a block got downzoned, it was paired with minimum parking requirements that made dense housing impossible. We didn’t just ban apartments, we made sure every human had to come with 1.5 cars attached.
It’s almost funny how invisible that subsidy is. Billions poured into asphalt, “free” parking baked into codes, gas taxes that don’t even cover road maintenance. Cars won by policy fiat, not market choice.
up2isomorphism · 17h ago
Every human in NYC come with 1.5 cars attached? You are definitely in touch with the reality.
Pretty much the only people who can afford a car in NYC are those 0.1%, and no 1% is likely not enough. Rest of the vehicles are pretty much driven by the people bringing food, materials etc into the city so guys like you can write such out of touch crap.
Nervhq · 14h ago
No need for those personal attacks. Also you do realize he's lamenting these policies, right? He's Not encouraging them!
cadamsdotcom · 20h ago
There are many reasons to pump the brakes on city development, such as pollution, crime, sanitation... many of these have been solved since then, so it's hard to see. But back then - city life could be no fun.
Even into the 80s, New York City was perceived as having basic safety issues. I never went there, but TV shows and movies of the era mostly went for a certain feel: graffitied subway cars, car alarms, gritty night spots, and all the things that go with that.
So I think there are many more reasons than just "the poors!"
By contrast: why didn't European population centers (all the way from small cities to capitals like Paris) have quite such an extreme reversal? Was the "anti-poors" thing real, just less prevalent in Europe?
rendall · 18h ago
I wish the article had gone deeper into this idea of zoning being responsible: an exploration of the specific policies and laws that made this happen. As written, it's just an assertion.
narrator · 17h ago
You take public transit and some person who's been to prison many times for violent crimes decides to murder you with a pocket knife for no reason, like Iryna Zarutska, is why we don't have dense walkable urban cities. It's as simple as that. People who get their news from mainstream media that refuses to report these crimes that happen on a regular basis are completely mystified.
xethos · 16h ago
That's a great headline. Eye-catching and engaging, with guanteed opnions for the reader to be sucked in by.
It gets less great when we recall that every month, roughly the same number of Americans die due to automobile accidents as did on September eleventh - with enough left over for a bonus thirteenth month at the end of the year.
Americans will repeat "Never forget" about 9/11, but the number of traffic deaths is closer to "Never acknowledge"
Nervhq · 14h ago
You know we can fix two problems at once right?
Reubachi · 11h ago
That's the point. One problem was "worked on", one isn't and never will be.
What's the fix?
Proper taxation at gas pumps? Get ready for a civil war (for some reason)
Subsidized mass building of public transport? Lol. Not in the US anymore.
Global Catastrophe? Western countries have proven they will spend 11 dollars on a coffee so I don't think even a massive crisis will stop people driving.
queenkjuul · 3h ago
I ride the train every day in Chicago and I'm yet to be murdered, or even witness a murder.
It’s almost funny how invisible that subsidy is. Billions poured into asphalt, “free” parking baked into codes, gas taxes that don’t even cover road maintenance. Cars won by policy fiat, not market choice.
Pretty much the only people who can afford a car in NYC are those 0.1%, and no 1% is likely not enough. Rest of the vehicles are pretty much driven by the people bringing food, materials etc into the city so guys like you can write such out of touch crap.
Even into the 80s, New York City was perceived as having basic safety issues. I never went there, but TV shows and movies of the era mostly went for a certain feel: graffitied subway cars, car alarms, gritty night spots, and all the things that go with that.
So I think there are many more reasons than just "the poors!"
By contrast: why didn't European population centers (all the way from small cities to capitals like Paris) have quite such an extreme reversal? Was the "anti-poors" thing real, just less prevalent in Europe?
It gets less great when we recall that every month, roughly the same number of Americans die due to automobile accidents as did on September eleventh - with enough left over for a bonus thirteenth month at the end of the year.
Americans will repeat "Never forget" about 9/11, but the number of traffic deaths is closer to "Never acknowledge"
What's the fix?
Proper taxation at gas pumps? Get ready for a civil war (for some reason) Subsidized mass building of public transport? Lol. Not in the US anymore. Global Catastrophe? Western countries have proven they will spend 11 dollars on a coffee so I don't think even a massive crisis will stop people driving.