Reimagining cities in a few simple questions
What would happen if public transportation were free?
What if it were paid for by congestion pricing, digitally implemented?
What if public toilets were safe, beautiful, well-appointed and consistently maintained?
What if there were a tax on empty storefronts, payable after three months of vacancy?
Shortly after the invention of the car, society made many decisions about how cities should work. These choices led to parking lots, suburbs and a definition of what a normal city was supposed to be like. Robert Moses and others pushed for a specific sort of urban environment.
It’s surprising how quickly and inexpensively that could begin to change.
Doing the same thing since the dawn of the expressway, year after year, without seeing the pattern, is a little Groundhog’s Dayish.
It helps to see it and then to talk about it.