Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Streetsblog

Walkable or Easily Drivable? Communities Can’t be Both

There's a contentious debate happening in greater Portland about a highway expansion. Suburbanites are in favor, writes Scott Johnson at Portland Transport, and Portland residents are just as adamantly opposed.

Places that are easy to park are necessarily uncomfortable and bad places for walking and transit. Photo: Wikipedia
Places where it's easy to park are necessarily bad places for walking and transit. Photo: Wikipedia
false

The conflict, Johnson says, is inherent: Infrastructure that is conducive to driving is necessarily bad for walkable, transit-friendly places like many parts of Portland.

Johnson explains:

In a large human settlement (i.e a city and its surrounding suburbs), you can have parts that are optimized for a low-car lifestyle, and you can have parts that are optimized to be convenient for automobile usage (by persons of average income). But you can’t have places that are both.

If a place is optimized for automobiles -- and virtually all of Clark County is -- you will have low density: cramming lots of cars into a small space will instantly cause congestion; spreading them out across a more expansive road network will reduce the number of conflicts for space that lead to cars needing to stop and wait for other cars. And you will have plenty of parking: Large parking lots at major attractions, driveways and garages in residences, and lots of street space allocated for vehicle storage.  (And all of it free for users). Drivers in such environments will want to drive fast (if nothing else, to traverse the longer distances more quickly), and road topologies will be optimized for speed.

The large distances needed to get from A to B will make walking and biking impractical (and the high traffic speeds will make them unsafe). And the spread-out nature of everything will make efficient transit impossible. Thus, if a place is optimized for cars, they will become necessary.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

West Side Pols Call on Trump Administration to Stop Illegally Blocking 10th Ave. Bike Lane

The DEA blockade of the 10th Avenue bike lane continues, and local politicians are demanding the federal agency stop denying cyclists safety.

October 1, 2025

When the DOT Takes Your Bike: A Cyclist’s Guide to Getting It Back 

A bike commuter's frustrating journey through New York's bureaucratic maze reveals a hidden problem affecting cyclists citywide. 

October 1, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines: This is Your DOT on Drugs Edition

Yes, that's our editor consuming drugs in front of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration office on 10th Avenue to protest the agency's seizure of the bike lane. Plus other news.

October 1, 2025

BIG ZERO: Trump Stiffs MTA in ‘Sanctuary City’ Tantrum

The federal government is denying the MTA tens of millions of dollars in public safety funding over of New York's immigration policies.

September 30, 2025

Gale’s A-Blowin’: Brewer Abandons Daylighting Bill After Push By Parking-First DOT

DOT's anti-daylighting "scare tactics" have peeled off Council Member Gale Brewer, who says the policy will gobble up too many parking spots.

September 30, 2025

DATA: Not Paying Fines? Keep Speeding, Says New York City

It's yet another case of "anything goes" for drivers in Adams's New York.

September 30, 2025
See all posts