Noticed an article blaming the interstate highway system for the loss of ‘walkable’ neighborhoods. Car-centered life destroyed nearby grocery stores and nearby parks.
Until right now I agreed with that blame and probably wrote about it several times.
Wait! The timeline doesn’t work. Fast local arterials were common by 1950. The interstate system was essentially complete in 1960. Local stores and strip malls faded MUCH later, from 1980 to 2000.
They weren’t killed by the car, they were killed by financiers working with zoning boards and environmentalists. And they’re still being killed by the LBO pirates like Bain and KKR.
Comparing malls vs downtown vs neighborhood stores, solely from the viewpoint of a driver. Malls defeated downtowns because downtown parking was difficult (often parallel) and expensive. Neighborhood stores had the easiest parking of all, free and diagonal in a small lot next to the store. NEEDLESS TO SAY, fucking urbanists are working hard to eliminate parking for neighborhood stores because fucking urbanists are working for Bezos.
Polistra's Mill 