The Lively & Liveable Neighbourhoods that are Illegal in Most of North America
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters link it in zoning, housing and car-dependency threads as an accessible explanation of how single-use zoning and parking rules shape cities.
What it is
Not Just Bikes explains how small pockets of shops and restaurants inside residential Dutch neighbourhoods create liveliness and help reduce traffic. It argues this kind of mixed-use design has been illegal in most of the US and Canada for a century because of zoning, and should be brought back.
Recommended by 5 HN commenters across 5 different months, 2021 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Recommends rossng · 2021-04 · on “A billion for every chip-maker who 'makes in India,' sources say”
Yes, and it's often referred to as 'gentle density'. The idea is to build relatively dense housing, but at a human scale - mostly 3-5 storeys. Combined with narrow streets that support walking and cycling, this creates enough density to support a 'real' city centre with shops, restaurants, offices and so on. I think these videos convey the idea well: * [this video] * [LINK] Of course, this is not to say that you _can't_ build other kinds of housing. But many cities are badly balanced.
Recommends benrbray · 2021-08 · on “Why are so many knowledge workers quitting?”
There is something in between NYC and an American-style suburb. I encourage you to take a look at Not Just Bikes [1,2]: [1] [LINK] [2] [this video]
Recommends stormgrab · 2021-10 · on “Amazon will allow many employees to work remotely indefinitely”
The whole medieval cities designed for walking is not actually true. Not just bikes youtube channel( [this video] ) has a great video about this. Here he has taken Houston as an example.
Recommends est31 · 2022-05 · on “An autonomous car in SF blocked a fire truck responding to an emergency”
No but there is way less dependence on cars, at least in medium cities and up. Many developments in america just build suburban deserts where there is just more single family homes around you, where you have to drive to the next supermarket, both because it's so far away, and because sometimes there literally isn't a way for pedestrians to walk on. There are a few good videos on the subject: * [LINK] * [this video] * [LINK]
Recommends xputer · 2022-07 · on “Why we ignore thousands of daily car crashes”
Oh boy you are in for a treat. Google parking minimums and single family zoning. And watch some videos from this channel: [this video]
Cites screye · 2021-02 · on “Why Tech Moguls Are Obsessed with Building Utopian Cities”
Urban Design and police has become a kafkaesque mess. It has become near impossible to summon the political will to actually build something livable. Developments generally lean towards familiar and easy, instead of building anything interesting. Tragically, in many parts of the world, one of 3 types of plans fall in the easy+familiar domain. You have the grossly inefficient suburbs of the US, lifeless concrete planned cities of communist fame and wild-best of haphazard urban densification as seen in Indian cities like Bangalore. What's even worse, is that the average consumer is woefully under-equipped to recognize problems with this system until it is too late. It isn't until their kids st
Cites ruuda · 2021-08 · on “Reading Hayek in Holland”
Not Just Bikes talks about zoning in the US vs Dutch cities in this video: [this video] . My impression was that the US has more restrictive regulations on what can be built.
Cites drivers99 · 2022-04 · on “Vancouver Zoning Map”
To back up what you said: The Lively & Liveable Neighbourhoods that are Illegal in Most of North America (Not Just Bikes channel) [this video]