Cars kill us and drive us crazy; while walking and biking improve our mental and physical health. So why do we design our cities for cars, asks Jeffrey Tumlin.
"Cities have policies that sound good on paper, calling for mixed-use development and walkable neighborhoods, but they also have detailed technical design requirements that don't let that happen," says Tumlin. "Instead, we end up with typical sprawl: it's actually illegal to build anything else."
"When we know that driving makes us fat, sick, dumb, mistrustful, and more likely to die early—but walking makes us fitter, stronger, better able to handle complex reasoning, more loving, and more trustful, why are we in the transportation world spending all of our effort designing around the needs of the car and not walking or biking? When we know the effects of driving on climate change, how could there be any argument?"
"Right now, engineers make many decisions based on something called 'level of service'—basically, how long cars are delayed at certain points. Our goals should be based on people, not cars," he argues. "Right now, a busy commercial street would be judged a transportation failure even though it’s a social and economic success. We need to change the way we measure, so designers can make the right decisions."
FULL STORY: How Better Urban Design Makes Us Healthier, Happier, and Sexier
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Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
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New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
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The way we design cities affects housing costs differently than you might think.
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.