Most downtowns are built for commuters rather than residents. They forced out residents in favor of building higher cost commercial real estate. What residential buildings there is targets only the highest incomes. No surprise they are struggling.
Hear me out, and this might sound crazy: but what if we build walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods with shops, parks, and libraries? That way people will boost local economy instead of getting into car and driving to centralized locations like Walmart or malls?
That sounds like some of that communist soci-libral nazism to me, for sure for sure /s
We had that. We bulldozed it.
You must be talking about that liberal agenda to make communist “15 minute cities!”
I mean, what kind of healthy life are you trying to live?
Not today, bill gates!!
looks like fuckcars is here 🙄 /s (HERE. Pointing out a joke like I’m on reddit for the smoothbrained reactionaries over on fuckcars that need it spelled out for them.)
But I do wish they would focus more on the “building walkable cities and the benefits thereof” and less on “IF YOU OWN A CAR YOU EAT BABIES” bullshit they like over there. Shitposting with a theme, I guess.
EDIT: man even if I make a lighthearted joke about it you little whiny babies downvote me en mass like that shit matters on lemmy because AAARGH CARBRAIN MUST BE NEUTRALLIZED.
Aw, man, two thirds through your comment I upvoted you cuz I felt bad your joke got taken wrong.
But the winge-fest in the edit… Dude sometimes a joke doesn’t land, take the L.
Lol, why. It’s more fun poking the beehive. Especially one as sensitive as they.
We have a dramatic shortage of residential property. We have a dramatic oversupply of commercial property. IF ONLY THERE WAS A SOLUTION
IF ONLY THERE WAS A SOLUTION
Middle managers: I agree. From now on you’ll be required to be in office 4 days a week instead of 2!
Unfortunately, in most cities that is illegal. Zoning laws prevent turning commercial property into residential even when it is possible. It also prevents developers from building moderate, high, and even certain types of low density housing.
In most US cities. Hmm, I wonder if we can spot a solution…
Oops, thanks
For the millionth time it’s not that simple. Retrofitting commercial buildings is often impossible or more expensive than just demolishing and building new which is also ungodly expensive especially with how high interest rates are right now. Unless cities step in with millions of dollars per project it’s usually not financially possible.
Retrofitting commercial buildings is often impossible or more expensive than just demolishing
That sounds like a “them” problem.
They can watch their investments dry up and lose billions, or pivot to the new market. Not our fault they’re stuck in the 80s.
I live on the North end of the SF Bay Area and literally every empty lot and a shit load of pasture land and open space is currently being developed into either low income apartments, high end apartments, town houses or track homes. It’s honestly kind of shocking. Everywhere you go, new residential development.
Sonoma County supervisors were supposed to vote on a housing development plan in January, but failed to do so until August, and in the meantime there was a special rule that allowed builders to go ahead without most of the red tape they usually face. They took the opportunity and ran with it.
Can’t help but think that’s our future. Cubicles can make a semi-private space when faced with sleeping in the local park as an alternative. It sounds pretty simple to me.
Decades of rebuilding downtowns to accommodate vehicle traffic and commuters is the problem.
- people commuting from the Styx often do not reside within the same county they work in. County/City budget revenues decreased
- even if those residents happen to live in the same county or municipal area, cities were rebuilt to accommodate vehicle traffic. Highways cutting through urban cores. Areas where people once lived are replaced with parking lots/garages.
- city budgets further decimated by having to increase coverage of services (water, electric, sewage, …). Increased coverage requirement means new infrastructure. New infrastructure means more maintenance cost as the years progress. Also, first responders often stretched. Cities struggle to hire the correct amount of people to cover area
- poorly zoned cities with single use zoning are largely to blame as well. Many cities have dedicated commercial or residential only zones. Thus creating this strong coupling on vehicle commuters to come to office, spend money on lunch, then fuck off back to their shitty suburban home. If cities rezoned and allowed for more diverse zoning (mixed use, higher density). The problem of businesses that relied on commuters becomes a non-issue since that is largely replaced by walkin traffic.
- poorly designed cities replacing walkability with “vehicle accessibility”. This means the city has to maintain expensive road infrastructure. Also makes it very difficult to consider alternative forms of transportation to get to/from restaurants, entertainment, general living, grocery store.
It’s “the sticks”, not “the Styx” unless they’re coming from a Tommy Shaw concert or commuting from the bowels of hell. :)
Decades of rebuilding downtowns to accommodate vehicle traffic and commuters is the problem.
More like “demolishing” than “rebuilding,” but otherwise you’re spot-on!
I have a strong hatred for how many storefronts are taken up by “antique shops” (i.e. dusty warehouses full of junk you couldn’t give away) instead of actual businesses in the last two small towns I lived in. Makes it so you can’t really get that much shopping done downtown.
The tax write off shops for bored housewives needing something to do.
Could probably use some more stadiums and parking lots.
That’ll perk things up.
I use to go downtown somewhat often, but I don’t have the money to do it these days.
That’s one of the biggest factors for me, too. Of course the elite want to blame it all on WFH, but there are plenty of people who would still go to downtown areas to eat and shop and go to bars, but who the hell can afford that these days? If wages were even close to keeping up with the cost of living, I’d guess there would be more downtown activity.
WFH does has some effect on people going out. Personally, I have the financial means to still go out on occasion, I just don’t. When I used to have to drive in for work, I would eat lunch out about once every other week (I have an old, bad habit of treating myself to lunch on pay day). That’s a sold meal which is now gone from that area’s economy, and I’m sure there were a lot more. Beyond that, I find that there is now a greater mental barrier to the effort required to get dressed up and go out for a meal or shopping downtown. I’m like Professor Farnsworth from Futurama, “well, I could go out. But, I am already in my pajamas.”
That said, ya it’s not all WFH. Even with the financial means to go out, the current economic environment means that I’d rather not spend $100 eating an over-priced, poorly cooked meal somewhere downtown. I can spend $50 on some really nice ingredients, grill up a couple steaks, cook vegetables which aren’t overcooked to be limper than a eunuch’s dick and eat potatoes which don’t taste like they came out of a box. The other $50 can go into savings and I don’t face social pressure to put on real pants.
Poorly planned cities no surprises there.
In the middle of the 20th century there was a huge migration of people out of city centres and into suburbs. Some of my relatives bought up properties back then and made bank when the city expanded. I don’t expect inner cities to remain quiet forever, but the way they’re used might change.
huge migration of people
White people. Because due to desegregation, they were suddenly required to have black people in their neighborhoods if those black people wanted to buy a house there. So they ran away from the black people.
Not everyone lives in the US. While aboriginal people in Australia also tended to stay in the inner city they make up a much smaller proportion of the population, and the divide between city and suburbs was more along socioeconomic lines than racial ones; it just happened that due to racism the Aboriginals were in the lower socioeconomic group.
In my small town (15K) in MA, we call it “uptown” and it’s doing great!
Small theater with plenty of live events. Well used library. New brewpub in the old fire house. New sushi joint. Brand new ice cream shop. Small, but, functional dessert bakery, Pho shop, and soon a new butcher/seafood shop.
Throw in other restaurants, pizza joints, barber, salon, liquor store.
Plenty of people living right there also. It’s a very successful New England “village”. There’s even a really nice band stand on the center park where they have all types of activities. Free concerts every Thursday night during Summer and Christmas caroling the Thursday before Christmas.
I pray you guys never get a walmart
Definitely not in town center. There are 2 Walmarts within 15 minutes. 2 Targets also within 15 minutes.
We also have a NFL stadium in town. It is very isolated in the business/commercial district.
I’d bet over a million people have been in town and never visited the center of our quintessential New England village.
That actually sounds cool. My experience with downtown areas has been less than positive… more of a maze, everything very overpriced… now that I think about it it’s very similar to a large airport.
Shame as it’d be nice to just walk around for all your needs… you’d think it would actually be more cost effective.
One of the most-striking experiences of my regional metro core’s death throes was needing to pee but my train was delayed. Tried walking across the way to the local train station to use their facilities but the security guy they’d hired to keep the homeless out about fought me to keep me from using the restroom.
If you wonder why your city streets and transit zones smell like piss, it’s because when you lock up your bathrooms to keep the homeless people away, they’ll piss on your street
Good. Much like malls, big cities are a thing of the past. People don’t want that anymore, cities are hell to travel around, dirty, stinky, expensive and unsustainable. Most people would have a vastly better time in a well developed small/mid town area.
Always hate going downtown. Way too dangerous and theres too much stuff packed in too small an area.
