I think self-checkout and Facebook ads are very different experiences. I like self-checkout as long as the machine functions properly. The machines use space more efficiently, at least for shoppers with relatively small amounts of groceries. At any large supermarket I see plenty of unused manned lanes any time it isn’t peak shopping, but self-checkout doesn’t get throttled back for slow times because it doesn’t require paying someone by the hour.
Something I rarely see considered in discussions of walkable cities is the intersection of climate and age. I'm currently 60, living in the upper Midwest, and able to walk at a pretty good pace with little chance of a fall being disabling.
But 10 years from now? The same distance will not only be likely to take me longer - and therefore leave me exposed longer to vagaries of temperature and precipitation - but will also increase my chance of injury from slips and falls. As I age, I'm more likely to need vehicular access to my destinations regardless of distance, and that means factoring in the necessary infrastructure.
I could most definitely be - and would honestly like to be - wrong, but I simply don't see much of the urbanist conversation considering the realities of life in Cleveland, Milwaukee, or St Paul.
I think self-checkout and Facebook ads are very different experiences. I like self-checkout as long as the machine functions properly. The machines use space more efficiently, at least for shoppers with relatively small amounts of groceries. At any large supermarket I see plenty of unused manned lanes any time it isn’t peak shopping, but self-checkout doesn’t get throttled back for slow times because it doesn’t require paying someone by the hour.
Something I rarely see considered in discussions of walkable cities is the intersection of climate and age. I'm currently 60, living in the upper Midwest, and able to walk at a pretty good pace with little chance of a fall being disabling.
But 10 years from now? The same distance will not only be likely to take me longer - and therefore leave me exposed longer to vagaries of temperature and precipitation - but will also increase my chance of injury from slips and falls. As I age, I'm more likely to need vehicular access to my destinations regardless of distance, and that means factoring in the necessary infrastructure.
I could most definitely be - and would honestly like to be - wrong, but I simply don't see much of the urbanist conversation considering the realities of life in Cleveland, Milwaukee, or St Paul.