Quote:
Originally Posted by Steely Dan
i tend to agree that the generally wide auto-seweriness of major arterials like western and ashland is likely to remain for the foreseeable future.
but the city could do itself a lot of favors if it would stop approving so many goddamn auto-centric suburban-style developments along them.
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Western between Grand and Milwaukee near me has also seen a *huge* amount of empty lots/used car lots bite the dust and get redeveloped as 4-5 story developments. It has been almost a sea change, especially near the 606. Massive improvement from even 3-4 years ago.
There are still a number of used car lots that still remain, but they are smaller and not block long behemoths. I am sure their days are numbered as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OrdoSeclorum
We should have the infrastructure we need. And better is better. But when I read these kind of comments my eye starts twitching.
There are thousands of cities in the world that simply don't accommodate semi-truck traffic. We can but we don't need to. There are costs but there are also benefits. The most popular, attractive, vibrant, in-demand and desirable parts of Chicago--or Washington D.C. or Seattle or Boston or wherever--have streets where one car can barely manage to go over 20mph on a one-way street and apartment towers and single family homes on the same block were built without parking.
We can make different choices. But we need to constantly acknowledge that building codes and laws simply make it illegal to build Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, Lakeview, Georgetown or Greenwich Village anywhere in Chicago. We should change that. If we want different outcomes we can simply take places that have better outcomes as examples. It doesn't need to be Paris or Barcelona as an example--almost every city that puts people first is more desirable than one that accommodates cars first. If the people who only want to drive at 45mph in my city stay home, let them. Let's see what happens.
No neighborhood has ever gotten better when they tore down housing and widened a road or built a highway. No neighborhood has ever gotten better when they tore down housing or retail and built parking. The equation is reversible. Boston and San Francisco removed big roads and everything nearby got better and the city functions better.
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I was not talking about semi truck traffic. I was talking about delivery vans/trucks, which are literally the lifeblood of all businesses in this city, big or small. I do agree that semi trucks should be limited in the areas they can travel in the city, specifically on routes to and from rail yards and the expressways, as well as industrial areas. Otherwise, they should only be confined to the expressways when travel through the city. They are an absolute nightmare from a resident's and pedestrian's perspective when they drive by.
Same goes with widening roads, or god forbid, building new expressways. I simply stated that Western and Ashland, as of current, are necessary evils and while they can be improved upon (curb extensions at intersections, raised crosswalks, etc), I don't think reducing them to one lane for each direction would help with congestion or commerce.
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