- cross-posted to:
- fuckcars@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- fuckcars@lemmy.world
Charlottesville, Virginia, spent most of a decade revising its zoning code.
It held endless community meetings.
It gave opponents ample opportunity to make their case.
They lost.
But a handful of rich homeowners sued and have gotten the new Charlottesville zoning code overturned on a technicality
https://communityengagement.substack.com/p/june-30-2025-judge-worrell-voids?r=blgf
9 millionaire homeowners, who couldn’t persuade Charlottesville residents and couldn’t win at the ballot box, decided they would throw everything they had to nullify their defeat.
And it worked
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The city should just put forth a new plan that involves taking those specific homeowners’ land via eminent domain, and using it to install new parking lots or roadways or whatever will fit to accommodate the new requirements.
I was thinking the city should put forward a plan that specifically cuts off the homeowners homes from any roads, but I like this better
Its so blatantly obvious who actually holds power in this country. Its a wonder most people don’t see it so clearly
Happy cake day!
What is the scope of the zoning plan densification?
If they’re taking single family homes and putting up high rise towers; if the city did not expand transportation or public services(water and sewage) in any way (bigger sidewalks, buses, trams, bike lanes) the assholes are right.
I think the homeowners are right regardless. You don’t need to be a genius to figure out that even a moderately higher population density increases transportation demand. Even doubling the density could affect traffic considerably.
Now before the haters come out: I’m not saying that the transportation demand must be addressed by more or bigger roads.
Could be that the road isn’t utilized to the full capacity yet. I’ve been involved in zoning projects where that was the case, the existing road and other infrastructure was adequate to fit the bigger population without modification.
That seems reasonable to me. Adding a lot of people without addressing how they will get around will only lead to diaster.
It’s an odd oversight though.
You don’t need to widen roads for that. In fact, it might be the worst option due to induced demand. For the curious, see:
More Lanes are (Still) a Bad Thing
https://yewtu.be/watch?v=CHZwOAIect4
https://youtu.be/CHZwOAIect4The quote specifically mentions “widen any roads”. I haven’t read Charlottesville plans, but it could have included other options like public transport and bike infrastructure.
Induced demand is also known as latent demand. If your roads are so shit people just stay home, that’s not a good thing.
Here’s a short paper from Texas A&M university on the subject. More lanes reduces congestion. Follow the citations if you’re interested.
I think you’re misrepresenting that a little. It’s not peer reviewed, doesn’t appear to have any researchers names attached at all, doesn’t mention latent demand, and doesn’t at any point consider that there could be other modes of transport. It reads to me like someone trying to sell their road building project.
have a look at their post history, they’re clearly not here in good faith.
I literally have citations. The only reason you think I’m in bad faith is you disagree with me.
cite my balls
I can see why you might think so, but counterintuitively, it’s simply not true. It doesn’t help and it makes the areas where they’re built shittier to exist in. The continual widening of roads is a bad idea. A lane or two is sufficient. The rest of the expansion should be for footpaths, bike paths, and rail, period. This has been proven repeatedly to be the most effective setup for getting people around and maintaining a good quality of life.
Just to forewarn you: The above is an established proven fact that’s played out repeatedly for better and worse depending on which way the city went. Ignoring that reality will open you up to ridicule so I’d encourage you to actually take time to consider the above fact. On top if not helping at all and making everything worse, it also takes up a fuckton of space and costs a crazy amount of resources to maintain.
If you’re skeptical that’s fine, go learn about it, but don’t give a knee-jerk carbrain reaction because that just makes you look like a fool. Check out Paris, France if you want to look for a recent example of changing to a more effective transportation infrastructure. Check out Hyperbad, India if you want some urban hell nightmare fuel.
They didn’t have any rail plans either. Or buses from the looks of it, but that might be a different department.
