Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
Some are better than others, but one thing I find about North American cities is that vehicular infrastructure (signage, signals, markings, etc.) is often over-bearing and garish even in denser inner city areas. In many cases you have the exact same stuff they use for 6-8 lane suburban boulevards lined with strip malls and auto dealerships, which they squeeze as best they can into dense inner city settings.
In most of Europe things are more harmonious and the insertion of the vehicular component to an inner city street is often more discreet and even secondary.
In North America too often a street is still seen as primarily for motor vehicles and the presence of other users is tolerated. In Europe it's the other way
around.
I will add a few caveats:
- Cities north of the Baltics often have some North American-ish traits to how motor vehicles are "welcomed" in their downtowns, but it's still usually not as over-bearing.
- In the more enlightened North American cities major efforts have been made in order to foster a more harmonious coexistence but these are often in conflict with evolving safety standards - especially those that take into account an ageing motorist population.
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This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately. Engineering street standards are taken as rigid requirements, but these same standards that are intended to move traffic more efficiently and all that can lead to some pretty terrible urban design and pedestrian experiences.