Comment Roundup, Pt. 2

David Sucher over at City Comforts responds to an article in the Tacoma News Tribune, titled, "Roundabouts don’t always lead to solution." To which David says, essentially, No duh. Nothing "always lead to solution." But my reaction was:

What struck me in reading the article is that this area has (apparently fairly new) Home Depot, Target, & other stores, with more big boxes and 1,000 new residences (meaning at least 2,000 more cars) on the way. And people are blaming roundabouts for their problems!? How about blaming a planning process that allows development that completely outstrips local traffic capacity? How about blaming unsustainable retail economics that puts big boxes in close proximity as if they were High Street shops? You can't have multiple big boxes in a car-dependent area while maintaining any sort of pedestrian-friendliness. It's like bitching about how unpleasant it is to walk along the freeway. Well, yes, it is.

Look, this isn't a rant against big boxes per se. But people need to admit what their priorities are, and not pretend that they can have it all. There's a reason that walkable, well-maintained towns & neighborhoods are expensive: they're desirable, and, frankly, require either the ability to pay small shop prices, the means to drive somewhere the locals have abandoned to big boxes, or the willingness to do without. But people in those places have made the choices that have left them with walkable streets and tolerable traffic. Others have made other choices, and should learn to live with the consequences.