• @Crankenstein@lemmy.world
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    2210 days ago

    Car-centric society has made it damn near impossible to walk.

    Those six blocks you used to walk have all had their lanes widened into stroads, one converted into a thoroughfare, and no attention was given to pedestrian infrastructure so crosswalks, sidewalks or bike paths are almost non-existent unless you’re within 2 blocks of the school.

    We have literally built most of our cities, or redesigned older cities that used to be pedestrian friendly and walkable, into a wasteland of asphalt and concrete designed exclusively for personal vehicles.

    • nanook
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      210 days ago

      @Crankenstein Obviously you don’t live in Shoreline where we spend millions on unused bike lanes where the roads narrow and potted.

        • nanook
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          110 days ago

          @ebolapie They are at least six feet wide made from concrete that is porous so water doesn’t accumulate on top.

          • @ebolapie@lemmy.world
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            510 days ago

            That sounds expensive. How many roads have such bike lanes? Hypothetically, if you wanted to replace a trip to the grocery store, how useful would they be?

            • nanook
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              110 days ago

              @ebolapie They aren’t. It’s hard carrying six bags of groceries on a bicycle and not going to waste time and energy going daily. Hypothetically it would get me within half a mile of a grocery store I don’t like, the one I do like is seven miles away.

              • @ebolapie@lemmy.world
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                510 days ago

                Given the right bicycle it’s pretty easy, but that’s beside the point. The question is why don’t people use bike lanes that seem pretty nice on the surface of it, right? There has to be a reason other than “bikes suck and nobody wants to ride them,” because in some places people go everywhere on bicycles and they love it.

                So what, really, is the main difference between those places and your town, if it’s not the quality of the bike lanes?

                • nanook
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                  110 days ago

                  @ebolapie I suspect the weather has a lot to do with it. Kind of sucks biking in a down pour.