Not Just Bikes / r/fuckcars / Urbanists / New Urbanism / Car-Free / Anti-Car - People and grifters who hate personal transport, freedom, cars, roads, suburbs, and are obsessed with city planning and urban design

[Xarpho's Return]

Road Goy Rob went into detail about it - roundabouts work great when the traffic is so low that they can't "platoon" - or when every single intersection is a roundabout.

Just plopping one in the center of downtown doesn't do anything useful.

Amusingly enough the best thing you can do for downtown revitalization in a small town is add more parking. Put a big ass never full parking lot a street behind main street and watch businesses flourish.

Otherwise they'll all cluster outside of town near the walmart.

Revitalizing downtown, even to the point where parking becomes less important, is a process that starts with parking. Looking at successful post-2000 growth like Houston or Waco the general strategy seems to be this:

1. Have ample, free parking. This is possible from all the vacant space.
2. Have a reason to go downtown. For Waco, it was Magnolia Markets. Start here and chart the progression of taking an abandoned manufacturing site into a thriving popular, pedestrianized area. Notice that the parking is eliminated over time. During this step, it's also crucial to keep panhandlers/petty crime away.
3. As the "anchor" of downtown draws in people (remember, in the case of Waco, this was DECADES after the downtown died and many, MANY attempts to bring it back, though nothing really succeeded—the Dr Pepper Museum opened in the 1990s but it wasn't a big enough draw to move the needle) new restaurants and shops pop up to take advantage of the foot traffic brought in by the big anchor.
4. Start introducing shuttle and bus service, even if it's mostly a tourist loop to distant parking lots.
5. As daytime population picks up and people are now willing to pay for parking, take advantage of empty lots to build new apartment buildings with parking for residents.
6. Once apartments reach critical mass, there should be interest in "real" stores like a supermarket.

The positive inertia from #5 and #6 help power further development. Skipping these or doing this out of order creates some rather uneven results.

 

[CFC-12]

Unrelated, but I was watching youtube videos of people getting absolutely financially fleeced on car loans and I was thinking, how many of these redditors are speaking from experience because they signed up for a loan into the year 2040. Since they talk about how much of a financial detriment a car is to them. I'm just sort of wondering if it's because they were stupid enough to do something like this so they assume it must be the same with everyone.

Maybe TMI, but I used to work with a guy who drove a 2017ish Kia Forte. He bought it at one of those seedy "bad credit no credit" places and financed it for 60 months at fucking 28%. It was a $14,000 car and he paid an extra ten grand on the interest ALONE. For a Kia! This dude could have just gone on Marketplace and bought a used Camry for like $4,000. But no, he had to have something newer because he "wanted Bluetooth". So instead he spent five times as much on a car that was built far worse so he could have his fucking phone connect to the stereo.

Oh, and then one day he showed up in a brand new Kia Soul fresh off the lot, which was ALSO financed at some absurd rate. I don't even remember how much. He was still paying off the INTEREST on the Forte, which he traded in for the Soul, while ALSO making the new set of payments for the Soul.

I completely believe those reddit posts. Some people really are just THAT retarded when it comes to finances.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

So instead he spent five times as much on a car that was built far worse so he could have his fucking phone connect to the stereo.

Almost any car in the last twenty years (or more, if you screw around with aftermarket parts) has an AUX cable port which is basically the same thing if you're not a complete spastic.

 

[Flesh Ribbons]

So instead he spent five times as much on a car that was built far worse so he could have his fucking phone connect to the stereo.

Most aftermarket head units these days come with bluetooth. For a small amount on top of that he could have had one of those installed and still came out way ahead.

 

[The Jewel of the Nile]

Amusingly enough the best thing you can do for downtown revitalization in a small town is add more parking. Put a big ass never full parking lot a street behind main street and watch businesses flourish.

I don't recall the exact statistics, but I find them believable based on my experiences trying to navigate around Europe's "old town" areas. A considerable number of cars on the road are there because their drivers are searching for a nearby parking space. They keep circling, hoping that someone will vacate a spot.
I no longer even consider visiting this part of the city because the stress isn't worth it. The last time I ventured there was in the summer for a doctor's appointment, and I almost ran late due to the "road diets."
It's a shame because the city is beautiful (Kraków, look it up), but the traffic situation is decidedly unfriendly to residents

 

[John.Doe]

Revitalizing downtown, even to the point where parking becomes less important, is a process that starts with parking. Looking at successful post-2000 growth like Houston or Waco the general strategy seems to be this:

You mention it briefly, but it is so important that it becomes the Zeroth Rule:
0. You must have Police and a DA that will come down like a hammer on thieves, panhandlers, vagrants, junkies, and other filth. Nobody will want to go somewhere if there is human shit in every doorway, muggers around every corner, and a looted car in every parking space.

 

[reptile baht spaniard rid]

Nobody will want to go somewhere

This is the sum and summation of it all. There are two types of trips - mandatory and optional.

Mandatory things you have to do; there is no way out, and those destinations can be located anywhere - often in the worst parts of town, because nothing forces them to move. Think courthouses, major hospitals, etc. This also partially covers certain "classes" of things - like ancient ruins (it may be optional to see the Pantheon, but if you want to see it there's only one place you can go).

Optional things are ones where you have a choice in the matter, and suddenly all sorts of other things can make you change your destination. Retail being ubiquitously identical everywhere means you're not usually deciding between Target or Walmart or K-mart; you're picking which Walmart is closest/nicest/best.

Things slide from the first category into the second quite quickly once there are more than one of them. If you're in a smaller town, and the only dentist is downtown, you're going downtown. And if a new dentist opens because the town is growing, he'll probably be downtown as well. But eventually, if downtown goes to shit, one will move to the outskirts.

When the only department store in town was the Sears downtown; that was a huge draw. Now Sears is dead and every suburb has a whole plethora of identical stores.

 

[indomitable snowman]

Camry for like $4,000. But no, he had to have something newer because he "wanted Bluetooth".

Even without a new head unit, for $10 you can have a Bluetooth to FM transmitter. You can even get bluetooth to tape adapters if you have a cassette tape deck.

 

[reptile baht spaniard rid]

Fucking Road Guy Rob is monitoring the chat, he is releasing topical things immediately.

Look at this fucker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1TFOK4_07s

solve the parking, solve everything

 

[quaawaa]

Fucking Road Guy Rob is monitoring the chat, he is releasing topical things immediately.

Look at this fucker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1TFOK4_07s

solve the parking, solve everything

Urbanists are so out of touch:

Congrats on reinventing the strip mall!

---

Also, what Road Guy Rob leaves out is that what Carmel did is incredibly expensive. Carmel is a rich suburb with a median household income of $133k, which is why they can afford to build fancy buildings with hidden garages and finance them with TIF, but most cities can't.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

Fucking Road Guy Rob is monitoring the chat, he is releasing topical things immediately.

Look at this fucker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1TFOK4_07s

solve the parking, solve everything

RGR still showing he's a centrist, he tows the party line about "tearing down downtowns for parking".

This is the sum and summation of it all. There are two types of trips - mandatory and optional.

Optional things are ones where you have a choice in the matter, and suddenly all sorts of other things can make you change your destination. Retail being ubiquitously identical everywhere means you're not usually deciding between Target or Walmart or K-mart; you're picking which Walmart is closest/nicest/best.

Things slide from the first category into the second quite quickly once there are more than one of them. If you're in a smaller town, and the only dentist is downtown, you're going downtown. And if a new dentist opens because the town is growing, he'll probably be downtown as well. But eventually, if downtown goes to shit, one will move to the outskirts.

When the only department store in town was the Sears downtown; that was a huge draw. Now Sears is dead and every suburb has a whole plethora of identical stores.

That is exactly why the downtown malls failed. If you look at something like The Gallery at Market East in downtown Philadelphia (which has been renamed and renovated but still isn't exactly doing well) it renovated the historic Strawbridge's and added a modern, multi-level shopping mall onto it, which sounds cool (and in many ways, was) but at the core of it became "wow, it's Strawbridge's, JCPenney, Gimbels...wait a minute, that describes half the malls in the greater Philadelphia area!" Something like Cherry Hill Mall was closer, cleaner, and had free parking.

Not that urbanists have much to cheer about. A convenience store that has a to-order kitchen isn't much of a flex especially when half of the convenience stores built in the last fifteen years across the country have something similar. QuikTrip and Sheetz make sandwiches, some 7-Eleven stores serve up tacos, and various one-off operations have other items.

 

[reptile baht spaniard rid]

Also, what Road Guy Rob leaves out is that what Carmel did is incredibly expensive. Carmel is a rich suburb with a median household income of $133k, which is why they can afford to build fancy buildings with hidden garages and finance them with TIF, but most cities can't.

The mayor mentioned two things - one developers are now required to buy TIF bonds now and two it’s a little bit of an accounting trick because they’re spending money that they wouldn’t otherwise have.

Basically it’s a bond against tax revenue.

 

[Yamamura]

Oh, and then one day he showed up in a brand new Kia Soul fresh off the lot, which was ALSO financed at some absurd rate. I don't even remember how much. He was still paying off the INTEREST on the Forte, which he traded in for the Soul, while ALSO making the new set of payments for the Soul.

It's especially mind boggling that anyone is bad at calculating this when they have their phones with them at all times. Even if you're too stupid to plug numbers into one of the thousand car payment calculation tools out there you can just ask chatGPT. "If my loan is for this time period at this rate and this much per month how much will I pay in interest?"

Most aftermarket head units these days come with bluetooth. For a small amount on top of that he could have had one of those installed and still came out way ahead.

I think the problem is some of these people might not know that a car stereo can even come out, let alone be replaced with a more modern version. They see a car like they see an iPhone where if it gets too old the only solution is to buy a new one if something isn't working right.

Even without a new head unit, for $10 you can have a Bluetooth to FM transmitter. You can even get bluetooth to tape adapters if you have a cassette tape deck.

Shit, I mean if all else fails you can get one of those portable bluetooth speakers and keep it in the back window of your car. Might sound like shit but at least it's cheaper than financing a whole new car.

 

[John.Doe]

Even without a new head unit, for $10 you can have a Bluetooth to FM transmitter. You can even get bluetooth to tape adapters if you have a cassette tape deck.

You can get cleaner sound if you do plug the Bluetooth receiver directly into the header, and even old headers will have the input you need already - especially if you disconnect the tape deck. If its a stereo older than tapes, though.....

 

[Temmie]

"Crushing NIMBYism is critical to the future of American democracy".

As much as I dislike NIMBYs they are democracy in action. That a community can band together and decide their own collective future is a good thing. Politicians actually listen to property owners when they band together and renters seethe in response.

This dude could have just gone on Marketplace and bought a used Camry for like $4,000. But no, he had to have something newer because he "wanted Bluetooth".

Normies are retarded. There are decade old (and older) shit boxes now that have bluetooth from the factory, not to mention transmitters like everyone has already said.

They see a car like they see an iPhone where if it gets too old the only solution is to buy a new one if something isn't working right.

Car companies have worked hard to ensure people see cars as an appliance too. Fix a car? Nah get the newest model with APPS!

 

[quaawaa]

/r/fuckcars is triggered over a funny meme:









Source (Archive)

 

[TowinKarz]

As much as I dislike NIMBYs they are democracy in action. That a community can band together and decide their own collective future is a good thing. Politicians actually listen to property owners when they band together and renters seethe in response.

To dismiss them completely is to assert that a person who lives in a given place is somehow uniquely unqualified to have a say in how to develop it.

To the point they should be completely ignored in favor of people who do NOT live there and have likely never set foot there.

And I just don't see the logic in that.

 

[Temmie]

To dismiss them completely is to assert that a person who lives in a given place is somehow uniquely unqualified to have a say in how to develop it.

To the point they should be completely ignored in favor of people who do NOT live there and have likely never set foot there.

And I just don't see the logic in that.

It's just an extension of the argument people make about people "voting against their own interests". There are people who want total control over your life and think they know better than you.

 

[Frederica Bernkastel]

It's just an extension of the argument people make about people "voting against their own interests". There are people who want total control over your life and think they know better than you.

The thing about NIMBYs is they tend to be the strongest in places Urbanists live (California/New York) so its a bit on the nose for them. Also, the NIMBY hysteria is also a part of the problem. In southern states, you don't really hear about that type of divide because building housing isn't politicized. That's where urbanists make the mistake where they turn every little thing to some stupid advocacy issue.

If you just let people build stuff, and stop making everything about your pet social justice issue - you get actual progress. All this NIMBY shit is just leftovers from the politicization of environmental science from 70s due to leftism.

 

[Apple Porcupine]

We're reaching levels of lack of self-awareness previously thought impossible.

Personally I don't buy that he even has friends, he just wanted an excuse to post about why his Twitter offshoot is better than the American-chosen Twitter offshoot.

Source, Archive