This reminds me of Tokyo. There are endless narrow streets and interesting stores and restaurants in a similar frictionless style. Surprise and delight around every corner that is just missing from most places I visit. Or will only exist for a block or two instead of neighborhood after neighborhood like Tokyo.
Nice example - I wish there were more 'kiosk+' vendors in my city. US regulations should better scale to the scale of the enterprise. The hoops (red tape but also time and money) the sushi place would have to jump through today for building permitting and the health department are really the same for a 600 SF space as for a 6,000 SF space.
One of my favorite things about New York City is how many little spots like this you can stumble across just going about your daily life. At one point I was simply looking for a bathroom (why do we have so few public ones?? I'd gladly pay!) and came across a sign for a Target/Trader Joes. Went inside because I know those places always have public bathrooms, and it was an indoor mall. Cool, I followed the signs for Trader and it ends up leading me into a basement where there's just a random market hall with a bunch of little stalls like this. I ended up having a very unplanned lunch - this place was more explicitly designed to be what it was, but it was one of those moments that I know would have never happened in a "normal" city and I wish it were more boring.
It's sort of a given in liberal culture to praise mixed use planning, with apartments on top of a walkable commercial district - coffee shops and bookstores and such. And so I've caught myself saying "yay" to news of new developments in that style. But when I really think about it and play out that lifestyle in my head, the idea of ceding the ground and personal green space to businesses, and defining all of daily living with a system that rewards rent-seeking, feels like a suboptimal compromise.
The town I just moved to actually strikes a really nice balance. Restaurants, barber shops, massage, groceries, parks and trails, all within a 15 minute walk of relatively small patches of suburb where we get nice amounts of private space and neighbors commune and chat in the streets after work. With just a few adjustments to the commercial tenancy, I could start going weeks without the car.
But I've often wondered, how long would it take to fix the *giant* ranges of detached/remote suburb that occur throughout the country, like the one I grew up in? A lot of coordinated displacement would have to occur.
Well here's an interesting solution... Build tunnels! Create a walkable commercial district below the suburbs. It never occurred to me before, but with your article here, it's a clear and enticing vision. Maybe there are practical reasons it can't happen in that order, or density-related reasons it wouldn't work out, or it's superfluous in the face of transit-based alternatives. But at the very least it could be a fresh and interesting layout for a fictional utopia.
At one time, the subway in NYC had many underground businesses, including tiny places that sold everything from hot dogs to orange juice. This was in addition to shops that sold shoe shines, records, watch bands, books, news stands, clothing, small electronics and much more.
Most are gone — renovation, rent and food safety requirements took a toll along with decreased ridership, especially after Covid. There are still quite a few around, especially in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
This reminds me of Tokyo. There are endless narrow streets and interesting stores and restaurants in a similar frictionless style. Surprise and delight around every corner that is just missing from most places I visit. Or will only exist for a block or two instead of neighborhood after neighborhood like Tokyo.
Nice example - I wish there were more 'kiosk+' vendors in my city. US regulations should better scale to the scale of the enterprise. The hoops (red tape but also time and money) the sushi place would have to jump through today for building permitting and the health department are really the same for a 600 SF space as for a 6,000 SF space.
Don’t eat too much escolar!
I lived there 20 years ago and can confirm that was there. Was an awesome little place to stop glad it is still kicking.
One of my favorite things about New York City is how many little spots like this you can stumble across just going about your daily life. At one point I was simply looking for a bathroom (why do we have so few public ones?? I'd gladly pay!) and came across a sign for a Target/Trader Joes. Went inside because I know those places always have public bathrooms, and it was an indoor mall. Cool, I followed the signs for Trader and it ends up leading me into a basement where there's just a random market hall with a bunch of little stalls like this. I ended up having a very unplanned lunch - this place was more explicitly designed to be what it was, but it was one of those moments that I know would have never happened in a "normal" city and I wish it were more boring.
It's sort of a given in liberal culture to praise mixed use planning, with apartments on top of a walkable commercial district - coffee shops and bookstores and such. And so I've caught myself saying "yay" to news of new developments in that style. But when I really think about it and play out that lifestyle in my head, the idea of ceding the ground and personal green space to businesses, and defining all of daily living with a system that rewards rent-seeking, feels like a suboptimal compromise.
The town I just moved to actually strikes a really nice balance. Restaurants, barber shops, massage, groceries, parks and trails, all within a 15 minute walk of relatively small patches of suburb where we get nice amounts of private space and neighbors commune and chat in the streets after work. With just a few adjustments to the commercial tenancy, I could start going weeks without the car.
But I've often wondered, how long would it take to fix the *giant* ranges of detached/remote suburb that occur throughout the country, like the one I grew up in? A lot of coordinated displacement would have to occur.
Well here's an interesting solution... Build tunnels! Create a walkable commercial district below the suburbs. It never occurred to me before, but with your article here, it's a clear and enticing vision. Maybe there are practical reasons it can't happen in that order, or density-related reasons it wouldn't work out, or it's superfluous in the face of transit-based alternatives. But at the very least it could be a fresh and interesting layout for a fictional utopia.
At one time, the subway in NYC had many underground businesses, including tiny places that sold everything from hot dogs to orange juice. This was in addition to shops that sold shoe shines, records, watch bands, books, news stands, clothing, small electronics and much more.
Most are gone — renovation, rent and food safety requirements took a toll along with decreased ridership, especially after Covid. There are still quite a few around, especially in Manhattan and Brooklyn.