<story><title>If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity</title><url>https://streets.mn/2023/07/19/if-we-want-a-shift-to-walking-we-need-to-prioritize-dignity/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>fnimick</author><text>I had a conversation recently with someone lamenting that we didn&amp;#x27;t have roads like LA here in Boston. Saying their ideal road was 3 lanes, plus a bike lane, plus a bus lane in each direction. Imagine being a pedestrian trying to cross that!&lt;p&gt;I really don&amp;#x27;t understand someone who looks at that traffic disaster and wants to build the same thing here at home.</text></item><item><author>grecy</author><text>Every time a politician anywhere in the world suggests adding more freeways or more lanes to freeways, I think they should be forced to live in LA for a year and do a ~1 hour commute each way in traffic.&lt;p&gt;They need to see first hand what happens when you just add more freeways and more lanes. It&amp;#x27;s not good.</text></item><item><author>tvaughan</author><text>&amp;gt; I often find myself trying to explain to people back home just how miserable and even humiliating the pedestrian experience is here.&lt;p&gt;Same. I’ve lived in Los Ángeles and Amsterdam, and it is impossible to explain to my friends and family just how awful the quality of life is in LA precisely because of the difference in attitudes and priorities over cars. Perhaps some have “nicer” (aka bigger) houses in LA than they would have in Ámsterdam, but once they leave their front door everything is objectively worse</text></item><item><author>degrews</author><text>I moved from Spain to the US, and I often find myself trying to explain  to people back home just how miserable and even humiliating the pedestrian experience is here.&lt;p&gt;Here are some other examples of things that I think contribute to the hostile walking experience in the US:&lt;p&gt;* Cars parked in short driveways often extend all the way across the sidewalk. Even if you can easily step off onto the road to walk around them (not all pedestrians can), it just feels like a slap in the face to have to do that.&lt;p&gt;* Cars have much higher and stronger headlights, with the high beams often left on, and drivers are generally much less mindful of them. As a pedestrian walking at night on under-lit streets, you are constantly getting blinded.&lt;p&gt;* Tinted windows (even the mild level of tint that most cars in the US have). The whole experience of being a lone vulnerable pedestrian among a sea of cars is made even worse when you can&amp;#x27;t see the people in the cars (but you know they can see you).&lt;p&gt;* Often the only option to get food late at night are fast food places, which become drive-thru only after a certain time. Having to go through the drive-thru on foot is obviously a terrible experience, and they will often refuse to even serve you.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>kevin_thibedeau</author><text>They&amp;#x27;re a car-centric person who wants the &amp;quot;nuisance&amp;quot; of bikes and busses out of their way while still pretending to have progressive values. People who only drive from garage to shopping center and back, never having to experience the dehumanizing impact of 6+ lanes affecting other transport modes.</text></comment>
<story><title>If we want a shift to walking we need to prioritize dignity</title><url>https://streets.mn/2023/07/19/if-we-want-a-shift-to-walking-we-need-to-prioritize-dignity/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>fnimick</author><text>I had a conversation recently with someone lamenting that we didn&amp;#x27;t have roads like LA here in Boston. Saying their ideal road was 3 lanes, plus a bike lane, plus a bus lane in each direction. Imagine being a pedestrian trying to cross that!&lt;p&gt;I really don&amp;#x27;t understand someone who looks at that traffic disaster and wants to build the same thing here at home.</text></item><item><author>grecy</author><text>Every time a politician anywhere in the world suggests adding more freeways or more lanes to freeways, I think they should be forced to live in LA for a year and do a ~1 hour commute each way in traffic.&lt;p&gt;They need to see first hand what happens when you just add more freeways and more lanes. It&amp;#x27;s not good.</text></item><item><author>tvaughan</author><text>&amp;gt; I often find myself trying to explain to people back home just how miserable and even humiliating the pedestrian experience is here.&lt;p&gt;Same. I’ve lived in Los Ángeles and Amsterdam, and it is impossible to explain to my friends and family just how awful the quality of life is in LA precisely because of the difference in attitudes and priorities over cars. Perhaps some have “nicer” (aka bigger) houses in LA than they would have in Ámsterdam, but once they leave their front door everything is objectively worse</text></item><item><author>degrews</author><text>I moved from Spain to the US, and I often find myself trying to explain  to people back home just how miserable and even humiliating the pedestrian experience is here.&lt;p&gt;Here are some other examples of things that I think contribute to the hostile walking experience in the US:&lt;p&gt;* Cars parked in short driveways often extend all the way across the sidewalk. Even if you can easily step off onto the road to walk around them (not all pedestrians can), it just feels like a slap in the face to have to do that.&lt;p&gt;* Cars have much higher and stronger headlights, with the high beams often left on, and drivers are generally much less mindful of them. As a pedestrian walking at night on under-lit streets, you are constantly getting blinded.&lt;p&gt;* Tinted windows (even the mild level of tint that most cars in the US have). The whole experience of being a lone vulnerable pedestrian among a sea of cars is made even worse when you can&amp;#x27;t see the people in the cars (but you know they can see you).&lt;p&gt;* Often the only option to get food late at night are fast food places, which become drive-thru only after a certain time. Having to go through the drive-thru on foot is obviously a terrible experience, and they will often refuse to even serve you.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Gibbon1</author><text>I feel like the more modes of transportation you mix together the worse the cognitive load on people. And it get rapidly worse the higher the density.&lt;p&gt;Inside of a mall where there are only pedestrians is very safe. Freeways are fairly safe. Protected bike lanes are safe. Light rail is safe.&lt;p&gt;Mix all of those on a strode, rail, buses, trucks, cars, bicycles, pedestrians, not safe.</text></comment>