this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2024
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Suburbanite in a proper suburb: "Come child, walk with me to the corner store to pick up some eggs."
I see that as the european version.
I was debating with myself if I should say that. But I thought I shouldn't exclude third world countries.
Third world countries have shops near where people live. At least my third world country does.
Or california, I've always lived near a corner store or next to a neighbor with chickens
Stay close child, there is no sidewalk and car traffic is moving at 35mph
The distinction here is not "suburb and non-suburb", it's "car-dependent suburb and non-car-dependent suburb" the large large majority are the former.
https://youtu.be/MWsGBRdK2N0?si=L7Jz-SvZS_xkahyG
This was definitely something I didn't realize was a thing until I moved into a far more non-car dependent suburb. I grew up in suburban sprawl so bad it would literally take you half an hour to foot just to leave the neighborhood. It's not nearly as good as some of the places I've stayed in Europe, but it was eye opening to say the least.
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You should try an English suburb. The one I used to be in had a couple doctor's surgeries and everything. On a main road that leads into the city centre too.
The next one had a whole shopping centre just to itself.
I'm in a rural town in the USA and I have all these options available. 5 minutes away from grocery stores and restaurants, fresh produce and eggs growing in my own backyard. Room for my kids and pets to roam and no HOA and even low amounts of traffic to deal with.
My suburb is within walking distance of a big grocery store. I have a wagon I take with me for big orders. Sometimes I see a bunny.
We don't get many of those in these parts 😞
And that's the last anyone ever saw of them.
streetcar suburb: "Come child, let us take the tram to the store and buy some eggs"
In a proper streetcar suburb there should be a supermarket at the tram stop. Also daycare and small primary school, a hair stylist, a GP office, and a restaurant/takeout. Parcel pickup. You only take the tram if you need to go somewhere that has a larger catchment area than a tram stop and especially the supermarket and takeout should be directly at the tram stop so that commuters can grab something on their way home, the rest can be a bit more distributed. One tram stop might have a clothing store, another a shoe store.
Have plenty of bike parking that doubles the radius for the catchment area. housing density should gradually fall off from the tram stop outwards, you can e.g. have a couple of 8-storey blocks around the tram stops with a quasi-urban feel surrounded by 3-5 storeys interspersed with football pitches and greenery and playgrounds, then terraced homes, then finally single-family homes. As to street design: Plenty of cul-de-sacs and traffic calming, make sure that the cul-de-sacs are only for cars, bikes can continue on (you don't need separate bike infrastructure in traffic-calmed areas), also plenty of small paths cutting through everything so kids can visit friends living away 100m without you having to get on a highway first.