I would argue that centers of employment located further from residential areas due to the use (manufacturing, etc.) should still be accessible by public transit and active transportation infrastructure. The issue with cities like Springfield is that the entire city is built to serve people who own personal vehicles. Public transit or other forms of transportation are an afterthought, if thought about at all (especially in the past when the city was growing the most).

Requiring a personal vehicle is a continuous economic strain, particularly so for folks who already struggle financially. Financial struggles can mean working more hours, leading to less personal, family, or friend time, which can impact your mental health, which can impact your physical health, etc. Everything about our lives is connected in some way - our relationship with our built environment is no different.

And don’t get me wrong - a zero-car future is not possible, and reducing car use isn’t a silver bullet in the fight against loneliness and disconnection. But there are a lot of logical arguments to be made in favor of different development patterns and alternative forms of transportation that could truly improve the lives of people in Springfield in tangible ways. And I do think the deterioration of our sense of community would lessen and even reverse if those options were explored, and implemented, with enthusiasm - not just toss away projects on a micro scale.

I should have been way more clear in my initial comment because my wording made it sound as though I think commutes would be more social without cars, and having lived in Chicago I can say that while my commutes were more social than they are now, it wasn’t so drastic as to feel negative about it. My actual opinion is more in regards to the way cities develop and age when built nearly strictly with the automobile in mind, which is the reality for basically all cities in the Midwest. “Aging in place” is one concept you should definitely Google, it’s very interesting and very relevant to modern day America, as it’s something most of us will not be able to do.

We are social animals first and foremost. Despite the personal freedom automobiles were created to provide, their impacts on cities (in terms of infrastructure, environment, economics, sociology as well) are well-studied and documented, and largely indicate that when our built environment is built for cars, not people, it begins to detrimentally impact the urban fabric of the city (style and scale of buildings, style and scale of public right-of-way, proximity of necessities, area and location of open space, the list goes on). But you can’t pull a thread from that fabric without impacting the integrity of it as a whole. When a trip to the grocery store requires a car, that immediately puts a strain on some people - those who are perhaps too old to drive a car, or those who can’t afford a car, or those who aren’t old enough to drive yet, etc. etc. etc. Auto-centric development really does impact our lives in ways we tend to not see because we are just so accustomed to our cities being that way, but there are better ways to design our urban areas, ways that could really improve our lives financially, socially, and environmentally.

This is not to say that cars have no place in a city, that’s hardly realistic, but there are many, many good reasons cities should begin to truly pursue alternative forms of transportation.

50% read it that way, the other 50% saw a sarcastic dig at me, so I thought I’d ask lol.

Is this meant to be a veiled insult directed at me?

When nearly everything is strictly accessible by car due to lack of public transit, patchy bike infrastructure, auto-centric land development patterns, etc. it tends to make your existence pretty lonely. You spend your travel time alone, surrounded by other people who are also alone in their own cars, and only have to interact with people once you've arrived where you are going. Repeat on the return trip. Multiply by everybody forced into our auto-centric city, and you've got a populace that spends more time in personal vehicles than actually out in the city, forming its urban fabric.

Obviously there are a lot of factors that would go into making a place feel lonely, but car dependency is a huge factor, in my opinion.

And yet he still lives.

If God were real, he'd be a cruel motherfucker.

My husband has been keen on switching our ISP over to fiber but I feel like I keep seeing more and more issues since the transfer to Brightspeed. Not to mention their response reads like PR 101 with poor grammar lol.

The only thing Jesus will take from you is your weekly tithing.

I moved here from Chicago and the drivers here are so much worse than there. Especially when it comes to respecting bike/ped infrastructure. Folks here don't seem to give a rat's ass about you if you travel outside of a personal vehicle, and even then drivers are constantly on their cell phones putting other drivers in danger. It's horrible.

Ah, Springfield. Becoming Texas, Jr. right before our very eyes.

We are the only planet, that we know of, that hosts an abundance of diverse life and yet we treat it like it isn't the most precious thing in existence. We only have one Earth, and you can't just buy new species or ecosystems. Our hubris could very well be our downfall.

We just ordered delivery from y’all last night 😭😭😭

Makes sense, but yikes. Guess I’ll talk to the husband about buying from different brands then.

Is this true? Should I just go Google?

wannabe christofascists deserve all the judgment my gay ass can muster honestly

My husband says he smelt something like raw sewage near Republic and Charleston as well.

I don’t disagree but my statement still stands lol. 😂

Fuck Donald J. Trump and every person who has enabled him throughout his life.

I can explain why this happens! In Springfield, new sidewalks are built by the developer at the time of a property’s development (with some exceptions). That hasn’t been the rule forever though, so large parts of the city were developed without any pedestrian infrastructure at all. Now that some of those properties are redeveloping, those without sidewalk are usually required to build it. If it’s a corridor without sidewalk that the City has determined needs the infrastructure, that could mean building a sidewalk with no connection at your property line. This can lead to a patchwork of infrastructure if certain properties do not redevelop when their neighbors do.

The City has a pool of money funded by properties that request to pay a fee in-lieu-of sidewalk, which a special board considers and approves based on the need, etc. in that area. The developer pays for each foot of sidewalk they request not to construct, and that money is then used to build sidewalk elsewhere in that property’s Council district (1 through 4).

I have an expired Illinois ID that I was allowed to use because it expired after the last general election in 2020. They commented that it was an IL license, but not that it was expired, which surprised me. But I wasn’t given any grief over it and was allowed to vote like normal.

Now to find my birth certificate and passport so I can get a REAL ID.

Was at my polling place at 8:00AM, was the 240th person to vote. Hoping for a positive outcome for Amendment 3, and the Senate seat (doubtful).

There's a church to the west and an incredibly fancy home/professional photography studio to the north. The quarry is to the south and Sequiota Park is to the east.

The property owner to the north with the photography studio was very outspoken in her opposition to the rezoning when City Council reviewed it, as was Galloway generally.

The City is not asking for it; City Council approved the rezoning years ago and the neighbors attempted to appeal the decision. It escalated into a court case between the property owner/developer and the neighbors, which led to the ballot question.

Keeping an eye on this, interested as well!

The coolest rodents!