In 10 years we will be walking everywhere in Houston!

Roscoe Arbuckle · Mar 7, 2022

DonnyMost said: ↑

For Houston's urban planners and Texas lawmakers/regulators, car dependency isn't a bug, it's a feature. The folks who run the show want you to be driving everywhere because it benefits their bottom line, so a-drivin' we shall go.

It's going to take several dozen (maybe hundreds) of generations to unwind this amount of deliberate sprawl.

It wouldn't be so bad if the individual neighborhoods and suburbs were designed to be pedestrian friendly, but they're very much not. Pretty much the only place in Houston you can get by without a car is Midtown, and that's only if you're young and childless.

Car free lifestyle is very liberating. It was a very bizarre experience for me to go from regularly driving 30+ minutes for a normal errand to walking everywhere. But I highly recommend it. If you grew up car dependent it's easy to assume that is just "the way things work", but it's a total sham.
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During Covid, my car had issues and my mechanic works offshore a lot, so I really haven't had a car for over two years. Still plan on getting another, but I did the math. Between Uber and friends, I've been spending around $200-300/mo. Plus the walking/biking I've done has helped me lose 20+ lbs.

Now I do live in the River Oaks district, but even with the occassional trip out to Katy/Clear Lake etc. It's still cheaper.

ThatBoyNick · Mar 7, 2022

DonnyMost said: ↑

For Houston's urban planners and Texas lawmakers/regulators, car dependency isn't a bug, it's a feature. The folks who run the show want you to be driving everywhere because it benefits their bottom line, so a-drivin' we shall go.

It's going to take several dozen (maybe hundreds) of generations to unwind this amount of deliberate sprawl.

It wouldn't be so bad if the individual neighborhoods and suburbs were designed to be pedestrian friendly, but they're very much not. Pretty much the only place in Houston you can get by without a car is Midtown, and that's only if you're young and childless.

Car free lifestyle is very liberating. It was a very bizarre experience for me to go from regularly driving 30+ minutes for a normal errand to walking everywhere. But I highly recommend it. If you grew up car dependent it's easy to assume that is just "the way things work", but it's a total sham.
Click to expand...

Another video with focused on the financial sustainability of sprawling suburbs

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In 10 years we will be walking everywhere in Houston!

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