Whole-heartedly agreed, but another problem besides the planners is the private developers. We have a horrible time getting developers to consider ground-floor retail, much less getting them to build anything other than metal and glass boxes or ballon-framed rectangles.
And you seem to be calling for non-automobile-oriented design, which is also terrific, but is the third rail of urban planning. Every development discussion we have here in Ann Arbor ends up being an argument about car parking and traffic. Density is bad because of traffic. Developers want ample parking. Adjacent neighborhoods want lots of parking in neighboring developments for fear of people parking in their neighborhood. But then they’re upset about too much traffic.
But Uber and Lyft and self-driving cars will solve all of that — I really think that’s a pipe dream. I hope it’s right, but I don’t see it. I bike to work, and I’m really longing for self-driving cars because they’ll just obey the laws without their egos getting in the way, but I don’t see private ownership changing.
