Originally Posted by
Roody
Grid is great, but I'm thinking nodes: Things (residential, small retail, light industry) are clustered together in walking-scale districts (nodes), and the nodes are linked by high speed transit plus bikeways.
Originally Posted by
Roody
First, nodes, in the usual meaning, are not 40 miles apart. They are immediately adjacent to each other--usually homes, businesses, and services clustered around a transit station.
I more or less agree with your thoughts on carfree cities evolving gradually and organically. However, long lasting infrastructure is almost always planned in advance. This would include roads, bikeways, trolley tracks, and utility lines. And placement of these facilities will have a very strong influence on how the city eventually grows and develops. IOW, even organic development is greatly constrained or facilities by the location of infrastructure. My hunch is that this was just as true in the 18th century as it is in the 21st.
Originally Posted by
Roody
Suburbs are usually an example of a concentric design, although they might be evolving into nodes in some cities.
What you've described above, perfectly describes all (or almost all) the suburbs I've seen and have lived in ... especially this description:
"Things (residential, small retail, light industry) are clustered together in walking-scale districts (nodes), and the nodes are linked by high speed transit plus bikeways." I've spent most of my life living in small towns or suburbs just like that.
