bigbriman47

unseelie, in your case driving might be the most convenient form of transportation, as it is for me. I don't live in a new-style suburban area either; my small town is being amalgamated into a metropolitan area. But your views are, honestly, rather typical for someone who lives in a car-centered culture. (And this is not a personal attack, just an observation guided by knowledge and experience). It's more convenient than walking, It's faster than walking, and I can carry more stuff, and thus get more done in one trip are common views from those who feel their car is the end-all, be-all of their transportation needs. Most people drive because that is the only choice they are allowed. Where I live there are some 'big-box' developments that have went up in the last few years that, despite people living immediately adjacent to them, are impossible for people to walk to. They are surrounded by huge parking lots that make walking to their stores extremely dangerous, not to mention terribly inconvenient. However, in places where there are more transportation choices (primarily rail-based systems) there is a concerted effort to make sure that all forms of transportation are accounted for, whether that be by car, bus or people walking from the train station. This is what New Urbanism is trying to accomplish, not forcing people out of their cars and on foot. That is un-American, as you say, but so is not giving them other choices besides driving. People are like water: they will take the path of least resistance, and sometimes, taking a train and walking is that path. And that's the key: give people multiple choices of equal stature and they will choose what is best for themselves. In my latest region in SC4 (actually one of my first; I'm a newbie at regional stuff) I was thrilled when I got 400 people (out of a population of 3500) to go to the train station to take jobs in another city. I didn't use strict New Urbanist techniques, but nearly half of those 400 walked to the train station located two blocks from their dwelling (there's still the scale problem in SC4 but the idea is clear) and the train station is located on the other side of a bustling commercial district. So now I have 200 people walking to a train station, 200 more driving there (because it is an appreciable distance away) and taking a train, probably about 600 more walking to their job in town and the rest (about 2500) driving to work. And this is a farm community; most of the people work in the fields. I have taken nearly 30% of the cars off the road by simply giving them a choice of how they want to get there. As the city and the region grows that number my not increase (it may even decrease) but its effects are clear: more pedestrian traffic (helps commercial), more mass transit usage (justifies the expense), more compact cities (makes city services such as health and education more efficient) and less pollution (makes cities cleaner and more beautiful). I wish that, in my real-world setting, I could have the choice of taking either my car to work or a train to work. I currently drive 30 minutes to my downtown office, and taking a train would make that a 45-minute train ride, plus a 10-minute walk to the local station. I would choose taking the train over driving any time, even though it would take longer. But I don't have a choice...