The Disneyfication of American Cities

Imagine spending trillions of dollars of taxpayer money... to replace walking for those that can afford it. Then discovering that all of that money wasted leads to shorter, unhealthier, unhappy lives, fatter people, and more loneliness than ever. And still being absolutely determined to keep trying to remove walking from the average person's every daily life.

This actually seems like a black mirror episode- going to a theme park for something that used to be normal

Ironically shopping malls in America are closing left and right because they have moved so far from their original purpose. Malls now try to limit socialization and ‘idiling’ to make shopping the focus of going to the mall.

Dude, I’m glad to see people finally talking about the intersection of theme park design and city planning. It’s been my weird niche obsession for years. The first time I went to Europe, I kept walking through cities like Prague and Vienna and saying “dude, this is just like Disney World!!” Turns out, the thing that appealed to me about Disney the whole time was a walkable place with good public transit designed at an inviting and aesthetically thoughtful human scale!

"I’m not against the automobile... I just feel that you can design so that the automobile is there but still put people back as pedestrians again. I’d love to work on a project like that.” - Walt Disney

As a kid, I wanted to live in Epcot lol. I thought the monorail was super cool and efficient. The fact that a theme park has better public transit than my own city is a tragedy.

Pretty sure that suburbia is a major contributor to depression as well

It's like city planners hated pedestrians

I actually think an even more damning data point against suburbia is that rents in more walkable places are always higher than in the suburbs, despite there being more a dense supply of housing in the downtown environment. People inherently want to live somewhere walkable, but doing so has become a scarce commodity

The suburbs is basically a giant bedroom that requires a vehicle to exit into the real world.

It’s insane to think America once was a country of trains, trolleys & beautiful cities

People dont realize just how much control the auto industry has on our lives. Really sad when i visit places like Japan and see just how different their lifestyles are without the need of cars.

i think another thing that is so important is the use of nature. I think trees and local flora are equally as crucial as having a walkable city to improve quality of life (at least sentimentally)

It's a shame cause in the US, the only opportunity for walkeable cities exists in big cities like NYC or Chicago. What about those who are not into big city life but still want to live in a quieter low key town with walkable/bikeable options?... That doesn't exist in the US. Outside of those two cities, you are essentially forced to buy a car if you want to get anywhere.

Incredible video, people look at me crazy when I tell them that their love for Disneyland is because deep down they want to live in a walkable city. I also get called crazy when I tell people that battery powered vehicles is not the future, but rather implementing efficient public transit will be the future we need.

I also would like to point out that our suburban living experience really diminishes community for people who no longer have children. Because if you bring this conversation up with anybody who has children right now, they'll say that they feel like they have a community because their community is built up around their children. They make friends with their kids friends parents and other parents who are a part of your kids soccer league or whatever. They feel like they have a community so they don't see this as a problem. But for the vast majority of the population, it is a problem. It doesn't help children or teens or young adults or people who are older and have children out of the house with keeping up a community. It makes you wonder how many people who are in their late 40s and decide to have another kid are having that kid because they want a child, or because they crave the community that having a child brought them

One of the reasons I couldn’t live in America. It’s so car obsessed. I love being able to leave my house, walk and be able to get what whatever I need.

Growing up American, it's almost impossible to see how things are until you truly take the walkability pill. Once the veil is lifted, it becomes torture to live your day to day life in. Once you leave, it's impossible to want to go back.

This is why people like going to theme parks like Disneyland. It's fun, walkable, and you're surrounded by people. We've brainwashed ourselves into thinking the suburban isolation lifestyle is what we want. No it's not, it's what the corporate/capitalist elites wants. It's to keep them separated from everyone else, keep everyone isolated and controlled. Unfortunately, this will never change, it's too late.

I visited the states from the UK, and I swear people thought I was homeless because I was the only person walking. And while I was there I mentioned to someone that I'll walk back to my hostel, (it was a 15 minute walk) They looked at me like I was crazy, like I had just said something they couldn't believe. They say "you're gonna WALk?" Im like yeah. It's 7 blocks or something. Why would walking 7 blocks be seen as such a crazy thing to do? Lol