Basically in the 50&#x27;s, we started building cities at automobile scale, instead of at human scale like we used to, and the design goal for roads was simply to move as many cars through as quickly as possible. Things like 12&#x27;  wide travel lanes instead of 10&#x27;, ridiculously huge building setbacks, right turn arcs, 140&#x27; wide lots instead of 70&#x27;, wide neighborhood roads (encourages speeding), no street parking (drivers slow down on roads with parked cars and on roads with no marked centerline), etc. Also, everybody wants to live in a cul-de-sac, which greatly limits how far you can walk (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.walkscore.com&#x2F;walkable-neighborhoods.shtml" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.walkscore.com&#x2F;walkable-neighborhoods.shtml</a>) versus a standard grid layout. (But if you look at real estate pricing, the data show people want to live in walkable areas; a home in a walkable area will often command a 1.5x to 2x price premium over a similar home in a typical car-centric suburb.)<p>All those details add up to create a poor and dangerous pedestrian experience. Now, most towns in America have realized that was extremely bone-headed, possibly unsustainable (it costs a lot of money to run all those electrical wires, plumbing, and roads), and we are trying to undo the past 70 years of engineering. Oh, and this was all mandated by building codes (law) so even if one wanted to build a walkable suburban business park, it was not possible.<p>There is a entertaining talk about all this by James Kuntsler at <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ted.com&#x2F;talks&#x2F;james_howard_kunstler_dissects_suburbia?language=en#t-43078" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ted.com&#x2F;talks&#x2F;james_howard_kunstler_dissects_sub...</a>