And this could be anywhere in the USA, this could be California, Texas, Fucking Virginia or even Puerto Rico.
this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2025
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That very much not solarpunk. Where is the positivity? Or at least the reflexion for a solution?
Commercial streets like this existed back when I played outside 40 years ago too. If you are going to talk about kids playing, use a photo of a residential area.
Okay. I hear what you're saying, but, given that everyone "needs" to be in the office and the office is in a major city, very few people live in the suburbs in the current workforce.
Most of the suburbs are owned by people either soon to be, or already retired.
When those houses get handed down to the person's progeny, generally the place is liquidated, bought by either a flipper or a landlord, and either ruined, run into the ground or otherwise trashed and taken off the market, possibly to be replaced with either a condo building, a "luxury" rental that nobody can afford, or something similarly terrible, like the house being renovated into single room "suites" for rent....
New developments are no longer an arm and a leg, but rather: both arms, both legs and at least one kidney, just for the down payment.
New "homes" are still being made and those that aren't snapped up by someone looking to make it into an "income property" are either going to rich folks from out of town that moved to the area because it's cheaper, and they sold their home in (insert large city name here) for millions of dollars.
There's a lot wrong with the housing market, and bluntly, neighborhoods have gone to shit. Parks are frequently unmaintained, and I never see anyone using any parks anymore, so many of them are getting omitted from new developments, so the number of local parks is shrinking. Add that to the growing number of people forced to live in the city where they work because commuting is a nightmare and they simply are not allowed to work from home because the boss doesn't want them to, and I'm sure we're getting more and more kids growing up in this kind of urban landscape.
The older generation can only blame themselves for doing it too... Which is likely not you, I'm talking about the people who started their career in a union, then when they decided to start their own business, got in there to union bust.
There's a lot of capitalists that drove entire markets into the dirt so they could have a bit more.
I blame reality TV
It's depressing to think that you're right. 40 years ago it looked like this, and now it looks like this too. We have civil engineers and research all around the world that shows how to build better, more human infrastructure and transportation, but America decides that this is what it needs to be. 🙃
Change the picture to a normal suburban playground but set it on fire and have an old hag calling the cops on the kids for having the audacity to enjoy life and it'll be thousand times more accurate.
sounds american
Only sort of related but The Florida Project is a great film that shows children playing in the dismal misery of Florida, much like in this photo.
Stroads are the worst thing america ever invented.
What the fuck is a stroad? Why is there a distinction between a street and a road?
Summary:
Street = Has businesses, houses, shops and sidewalks. Designed for humans.
Road = Higher speed limit than streets, generally no businesses or sidewalks, as it's just there to connect areas. Designed for cars.
Stroad = A connection between areas that also has businesses. You have higher speed limits, minimal sidewalks and it's dangerous/impossible to cross on foot. The only way to get around to different businesses along a stroad is by car.
Seems like people decided to back out a new definition, I don't think those words mean those things, but whatever.
What comes to mind from the picture is US-1 or 441, both of which were built as highways prior to highways existing and were major east coast routes up and down the coast. They do indeed suck, but it's mostly due to their historical use as The major highway for the area. The same is true of El Camino real over in San Francisco, real shitty.
That having been said, at least with the first two examples the majority of businesses are indeed car focused. Things like auto dealers, mechanics, Costco, furniture, and other shops you would never go without a vehicle. It seems weird to complain that this type of street exists when it clearly serves a purpose (first as a pre-eisenhower highway, then as a shopping mall for vehicle-oriented purposes). Isn't it better to keep cars in their own area?
What seems more likely is that the guy in the pic dropped off his car for an oil change and was wandering around waiting (I've done this) or that there's a major gap in public transit (very likely).
If you go to any old town in Europe there are a lot of roads with practically no cars. You can just walk along this wide road through the town fit for dozens of people. The problem is not that there aren't enough pedestrian sidewalks, the problem is everything in modern infrastructure is being made for cars, and roads are seen as both meant for pedestrians AND cars.
According to the other guy you have the words backwards fyi
Yes thank you. Quick google search says your right. My bad.
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