[nabbed]

https://archive.md/nnxs6

The article seems to change its title from time to time. The above is the title I saw when I last checked the actual link (the archived version has a different title).

A few interesting tidbits:

"Imagine that, in 2076, you’re walking through a residential neighborhood in La Mirada, California, a midcentury, southeastern suburb of Los Angeles, one of the regions at the epicenter of today’s housing crisis. [...] Some bigger houses have been subdivided into two homes. Other lots now hold triplexes, fourplexes, and small apartment buildings that sit comfortably among single-family homes. [...] the hard wall between home and commerce — which is near-universally mandated by local zoning codes today — has softened. Near the neighborhood’s edge, where local streets meet a larger main road, a neighborhood grocery and clinic have opened on what used to be strictly residential lots. And, yes: That is a donut shop running out of a neighbor’s garage. [...] more of the rituals of daily life mixed in, the suburb has gained a richer, more connected public sphere. There are simply more people around — walking, talking, and lingering."

Living in a place where you can just walk for 10 minutes to get to a coffee shop or grocery store, but still have the option to drive, is a joy. Unfortunately, there seems to be a QAnon-style of conspiracy theorists who protest the idea (I've even seen small groups of such protesters on a stroad where I currently live in Canada, even though I've heard no plans to make our stroad-heavy area the least bit walkable).

Also:

"“You have to ensure that every neighborhood is connected to another,” Alain Bertaud, former principal urban planner at the World Bank, told me. “The market does not provide that. The job of the planner is to get involved much less in what is private, and much more in what is public.”"

That sounds great to me. I don't really love the new "carved-out gated community" style of building that seems to be all the rage in Nevada (for example) these days, where you might have to drive for 10 minutes and go through two gates just to get to a house that borders on your backyard (but exists in a different gates community).

[newaccountman2]

I am familiar with La Mirada, which is not a suburb of Los Angeles. Would be awful to have what the article describes. Instead, most of the residential neighborhoods there and in other parts of Orange County, which are dominated by single-family homes, should be demolished and replaced with apartment buildings.

> Living in a place where you can just walk for 10 minutes to get to a coffee shop or grocery store, but still have the option to drive, is a joy.

There are a fair number of neighborhoods in actual Los Angeles that are like this. But there are not enough.