The same observation also works for shopping malls, which are distinguished from walkable streets mostly by the presence of a roof, and might have been the intermediate missing link in the downtown->big box transition story. There was a period starting around the late '80s when mall builders put 2+2 together and started building aesthetically pleasing outdoor malls with traditional architecture that looked like little towns, but they got killed off by Internet retail with the rest of them.
Hating the big box stores is probably as much about aesthetics as anything else. They're just ugly. One thing that's clear when you compare your Wal-Mart vs. Flemington pictures is that the downtown isn't really any less car-dependent than the Wal-Mart. There might be a few dozen homes comfortably walkable to that area. But I'd bet most visitors avail themselves of the parking.
Thanks for this. I'm fascinated by the car-free walkability angle in particular.
I've been a little bit obsessed with Spanish cities lately. There's a mid-sized city called "A Coruña" located on the northern coast: population 250,000 or so. The downtown area appears to be more or less car-free ... and the vibe is amazing.
Here's a video showing the walkability of downtown A Coruña:
I was fascinated to see how it contrasts with Madison, Wisconsin, which is where I live and is roughly the same size. Madison is a lovely city by American standards! I'm a fan, it's a decent place to live. But, well, our most popular downtown commercial walking area is State Street, which is "pedestrianized" in the sense that private cars are prohibited. But State Street has bus traffic, and every block you have to cross a street that has a lot of cars. State Street is the best we got, but it's just not nearly as nice as A Coruña.
Here's a State Street video ... to see State Street itself, start at the 6 minute mark. (The earlier bits are on the UW Campus.)
The same observation also works for shopping malls, which are distinguished from walkable streets mostly by the presence of a roof, and might have been the intermediate missing link in the downtown->big box transition story. There was a period starting around the late '80s when mall builders put 2+2 together and started building aesthetically pleasing outdoor malls with traditional architecture that looked like little towns, but they got killed off by Internet retail with the rest of them.
Hating the big box stores is probably as much about aesthetics as anything else. They're just ugly. One thing that's clear when you compare your Wal-Mart vs. Flemington pictures is that the downtown isn't really any less car-dependent than the Wal-Mart. There might be a few dozen homes comfortably walkable to that area. But I'd bet most visitors avail themselves of the parking.
Thanks for this. I'm fascinated by the car-free walkability angle in particular.
I've been a little bit obsessed with Spanish cities lately. There's a mid-sized city called "A Coruña" located on the northern coast: population 250,000 or so. The downtown area appears to be more or less car-free ... and the vibe is amazing.
Here's a video showing the walkability of downtown A Coruña:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PIXvfVyJMs
I was fascinated to see how it contrasts with Madison, Wisconsin, which is where I live and is roughly the same size. Madison is a lovely city by American standards! I'm a fan, it's a decent place to live. But, well, our most popular downtown commercial walking area is State Street, which is "pedestrianized" in the sense that private cars are prohibited. But State Street has bus traffic, and every block you have to cross a street that has a lot of cars. State Street is the best we got, but it's just not nearly as nice as A Coruña.
Here's a State Street video ... to see State Street itself, start at the 6 minute mark. (The earlier bits are on the UW Campus.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdsK-jdBivs