#2832: Urban Planning Opinion Progression explain

Typical urban planning opinion progression

[Each panel is connected to a point on a timeline. Timeline is recognizable as the tread of a bicycle tire. Label at the top of the timeline:]

Start

[Cueball is talking to Megan.]

Cueball: I wish there wasn’t so much traffic to get into the city. They should put in more lanes.

Megan: And more parking.

Megan: Parking is so bad here.

[Knit Cap is talking to Ponytail. Ponytail has her arms spread out.]

Knit Cap: I have to go to Amsterdam for work next week. I hear they all ride bikes there.

Ponytail: Bikes are fine but people shouldn’t ride them in the street! I worry I’m going to hit someone!

[Close-up on Cueball.]

Cueball: It would be nice if we had better transit options!

Cueball: I tried a scooter. It was fun but I wish there were more bike paths.

[Close-up on Megan, with her hand on her chin.]

Megan: It’s funny how widening roads to speed up traffic makes them more dangerous to walk near, making driving more necessary and creating more traffic.

Megan: Really makes you think.

[Close-up on Knit Cap.]

Knit Cap: Visiting the Netherlands was cool!

Knit Cap: Amsterdam is really neat.

[Cueball with his palms to his sides.]

Cueball: We’ve ceded so much of our land to storing and moving cars, with the rest of us tiptoeing around the edges and making drivers mad for trespassing on “their” space.

Cueball: Even though we’re the ones in danger from them!

[Megan with her arms spread out.]

Megan: Those giant trucks with front blind spots that keep hitting kids should be illegal.

[Knit Cap with her finger raised.]

Knit Cap: We should be more like the Netherlands.

Knit Cap: They design their streets to prioritize…

[Cueball is frustrated and has his palms raised.]

Cueball: The problem is car culture. It’s systemic.

Cueball: I don’t know if we can fix it.

[Megan’s arms are thrown out, and her hair is bedraggled.]

Megan: People approach road planning decisions from the point of view of drivers because that’s how we’re used to interacting with the city, so we make choices that make it more car-friendly.

Megan: It’s a vicious cycle.

[Knit Cap is walking around with two Dutch flags (in grayscale) raised in her hands.]

Knit Cap: Netherlands! Netherlands! Netherlands! Netherlands!

[Cueball, with his finger raised, talking to Megan.]

Cueball: Anything that makes a city a worse place to drive in makes it a better place to live, short of scattering random tire spikes on the road.

[Close-up on Megan.]

Megan: Honestly, I think the city council should consider the tire spikes thing.