What are the worst ever city street layouts? (U.S. perspective) Charlottesville VA and Lexington KY

31 points · 26 comments · view on lemmy.world

26 Comments

IcedRaktajino@startrek.website · 13 pts · 47d (7 replies)

Boston. IYKYK.

unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 47d (6 replies)

Boston has the benefit? of being interesting and kind of old

IronBird@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 47d (4 replies)

every one of these crossing has it's own seperate light btw,

note, this is also a block from a major rail terminal. there'z a shopping mall to the northwest, and that building to the southwest is a police station

charokol@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 46d

I’d recognize the Medford Supercollider anywhere

Grimm665@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 46d (2 replies)

I go through this abomination regularly, it's ridiculous especially since it replaced a roundabout before it (!). But, it's pretty far out of Boston, it's not even in Cambridge/Somerville even, so idk if it counts as a mark against Boston.

IronBird@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 46d (1 reply)

there's like 3-4 abominations like this along Sorrow drive, Charles/MGH having a T-stop in the middle of a roundabout. no raised pedestrian crossings...

Grimm665@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 46d

Oh yeah that's a bad one, also the one by Science Park that regularly backs up even outside rush hour.

IcedRaktajino@startrek.website · 5 pts · 47d

Definitely does, and it's a beautiful city, but I never want to drive in it ever again lol.

Had to travel there 3 times for work. The first time I rented a car and immediately regretted it. The second and third times I demanded that management reimburse me for taxis instead of the car rental or I wouldn't go lol.

apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 47d (4 replies)

Phoenix IMO, a gigantic grid where every street corner looks exactly the same due to the human tumor of suburban chain retail development. Makes you feel lost in a machine. You never know where you are, always feel lost and dependent on maps and apps to get anywhere.

unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz · 7 pts · 47d

I understand Phoenix is not great for locals. It is great from a truck driver perspective. In Phoenix I always knew exactly where I was in relation to the highway. I could read a Phoenix address and understand it. I want to avoid the entire state because of a young woman named Renee and also it is lowkey horrible

disregardable@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 47d

yeah I actually think they did a really bad job out west. in earlier city development, they brought over the experience of European city design. as they started expanding out, nobody knew what they were doing, but they still had to design cities around the geography. but once you get past the mountains to the flats, where there's nothing constraining your design but common sense...you see the results of American exceptionalism.

tomselleck@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 47d (1 reply)

I joke that driving around Surprise is like the twilight zone since every intersection looks so similar.

apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 47d

That's the best brief description.

unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz · 8 pts · 47d

Lexington is long notorious for how the street names change despite that you're still on the same street. I will look that up though, not everyone there is insane

birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 8 pts · 47d (1 reply)

Most of Houston is parking spots. Unwalkable and unbicycleable, little greenery. Gets scorching hot.

unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 47d

Sorry I forgot Houston, dfw, ... What is going on down there

just2look@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 47d (1 reply)

I can't weigh in on a lot of the cities people have mentioned. I will say the Charlottesville is impressively terrible for making it miserable to drive, bike, walk, or use public transit. You would think they would get at least one mode of transportation to be ok, but nope.

unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 47d

Charlottesville struck me back in the day for a variety of stupid. I was briefly in charge of the snack stand at a fully bullshit private swim club

Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 47d (2 replies)

I'm putting in a vote for Pittsburgh!

watson387@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 47d

You can't get there from here

unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 47d

You maybe have ever met my sibling

ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 46d (1 reply)

Charlottesville mentioned, "the hottest thing to come out of that stinking little town" engaged:

https://lackeydie.bandcamp.com/album/s-t

unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 46d

!

Witchfire@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 47d

Manhattan gave up south of 14th Street

Kolanaki@pawb.social · 1 pts · 47d

Merced, CA has some of the most fucked up on-ramps to the freeway I have ever seen, as well as incredibly dumb roundabouts and poorly labeled 1-way streets.

I absolutely hate driving around there. Even just going down to Fresno on 99 sucks ass once you get to Merced because the freeway is split there so you have to get off, go through city traffic, then get back on a few blocks later.

unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 46d
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lichengeese@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 47d (1 reply)

Interested to understand why Lexington is bad. I've never seen it, but there was a recent CityNerd episode praising its urban design.

unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 47d
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