We got tricked by science fiction into thinking a futuristic city is all about flying cars and crystal towers and hologram billboards but what it really looks like is nice apartment blocks, good mass transit, pedestrian zones with shade trees and safe bike lanes.
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*The Death and life of Great American Cities, 1961
Cyberpunk told us we'd have robot parts and retro cars, with neon lights, but nah all we got was NFTs, AI, and Corporate sterilization of everything.
https://youtu.be/Ueivjr3f8xg
I even got some great book ideas from there...
#kidlitart
https://x.com/Streetfilms/status/1807763561516605479
https://youtu.be/vzm6pvHPSGo?si=FnVrM15Av9xxAHEJ
It’s like they didn’t even appreciate what they had until it was too late. :(
At least we didn’t get flying cars though. I could already see it being a nightmare.
Oh wait. 😬
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Pattern_Language
Flying cars + holograms are exciting, even magical; 5-over-1s & free flu shots... not so much.
Can you blame us?
There's also grocery stores and pharmacies and doctors in those pedestrian zones. They're not just for Instagram, they're for living.
The Montessori school is 6 tram stops away. The fresh produce market is 2 stops (the other way), and there's enough doctors.
You're not describing a city planning problem. You're describing a Your City Sucks Because Of Systemic Issues Of Capitalism problem.
Many places, it’s fast, convenient, and inexpensive.
But I’m sure you’ll act like you know everything, even though you’ve only experienced car centered transportation.
No.
Look at Paris, London, Kyiv, Moscow, NYC (which includes Jersey City and Hoboken), San Francisco, DC, Boston
To a lesser degree Chicago, Philadelphia, and (hard as it may be to believe) Los Angeles and the entire state of New Jersey
Having passive availability is what makes it work.
I assure you mass transit can work, and be good.
There are so many very livable and nice cities where most people commute to work in comfortably under half an hour by mass transit.
Even mine which is a sprawling suburban mess.
I don't see how you can argue it can't work.
Family man here, full time worker, LOVE walkability, bikes, and transit. Absolute top priority choosing my neighbourhood, along with decent school.
I work full time and manage to go to the local bookstore with opening hours *exactly* like those you describe.
Just say you hate labor laws and move on.
Meanwhile, actual 2024 has slaves slowly working to death in warehouses pissing in jugs.
(I spend far too much - yet never enough - time just exploring NC while playing Cyberpunk 2077, instead of doing missions or The Plot more broadly. It’s so, so good now it’s been patched up.)
in fact, the thesis of my forthcoming book for island press 👍
https://bsky.app/profile/holz-bau.bsky.social/post/3ktnshlofjt2m
Help people see that possible futures could be beautiful and comforting and that they’re not fantasies but doable
And solarpunk is deeply about this sort of futurism
Must heaven wait for hell?
Boredom, an end or a beginning?
i want a hoola hoop
;-)
Parks with trees, bathrooms, working water fountains, playgrounds, and community gardens in safely walkable distances of each neighborhood.
Reductions in sprawl.
Cyberpunk Dystopia. But it called them arcologies and made them sealed shells controlled by corporations...
The vast majority of both the population (272 people as of 2020) and services of the town of Whittier, Alaska is in one building.
Not really sure how this relates to brexit 🤔
I enjoyed that book
San José night markets do a very similar delightful thing but the vibe is harshed by being too freaking loud to be around.
I always forget the "hairy" part of the description, for some reason.
Heinlein was a Wright fanboy, you see
Then the Costco scene from Idiocracy:
A modern version would probably be "solar-powered garden city or climate change nightmare"