In my experience, many cities old enough in the US. Almost every biggish city where I live has the center of town laying differently than the newer, surrounding areas. There was a time when they oriented things different than how they plan it out now so now the older downtown areas look cock-eyed on a map/satellite image.
Grids were more efficient for pedestrians and uncovered transport, but the caveat is that motorized transport, especially on large grids, will often be driving faster than is desired among the pedestrian traffic.
Which is why the ethos has changed off of grids to the windy, curvy roads that naturally encourage slower speeds…no straightaways to really build up speeds like you can with a grid.
Most town centers, which have likely existed before the car did in large numbers, are still laid out in a grid…but youll notice as you get farther out, when the neighborhoods started getting built in the post wwii era and the rise of the burbs, are not generally grids.
This is an easier way to eyeball how old a particular neighborhood is…with some caveats and exceptions of course.
A grid is still most efficient, but were trading efficiency for safety which is reasonable…weren’t too many idiots doing 60mph on 35mph city streets like we have today.
In my experience, many cities old enough in the US. Almost every biggish city where I live has the center of town laying differently than the newer, surrounding areas. There was a time when they oriented things different than how they plan it out now so now the older downtown areas look cock-eyed on a map/satellite image.
Grids were more efficient for pedestrians and uncovered transport, but the caveat is that motorized transport, especially on large grids, will often be driving faster than is desired among the pedestrian traffic.
Which is why the ethos has changed off of grids to the windy, curvy roads that naturally encourage slower speeds…no straightaways to really build up speeds like you can with a grid.
Most town centers, which have likely existed before the car did in large numbers, are still laid out in a grid…but youll notice as you get farther out, when the neighborhoods started getting built in the post wwii era and the rise of the burbs, are not generally grids.
This is an easier way to eyeball how old a particular neighborhood is…with some caveats and exceptions of course.
A grid is still most efficient, but were trading efficiency for safety which is reasonable…weren’t too many idiots doing 60mph on 35mph city streets like we have today.