13 / Walkability trojan horses, downtown stadiums, & a weekend at MLS cup.

13/12/2023 23 min

Listen "13 / Walkability trojan horses, downtown stadiums, & a weekend at MLS cup."

Episode Synopsis

An evening episode, following a weekend at MLS Cup in the underrated city of Columbus, Ohio. Festivals, sporting events, concerts, and holiday gatherings are all great entryways into the concept of walkable cities; people are empowered to explore an environment on foot - often on streets closed to cars, and opened up to people. They're a trojan horse, if you will. This audio is a reflection from one of those (don’t worry, if you don’t like soccer this one is still for you!).

We discuss:

Overheard at MLS Cup. Urbanism takeaways from a weekend in downtown Columbus, Ohio.
Large sporting events, concerts, and holiday festivals as trojan horses for walkable cities.
Downtown stadiums determine the depth of a fan base.
Lack of parking scares people in the short term, but it’s ultimately what makes them love places in the long term.
Can we build walkable neighborhoods without an explicit, quantifiable, common interest?
Why are some of the cities with the worst weather the best for biking and walking? Infrastructure matters.
How Minneapolis, Portland, and NYC overcome weather to encourage active mobility and transportation.


Further context:

Columbus Crew's stadium location, and how to walk, bike, or transit there.
The best cities for biking in the U.S. (Note: the weather is not a deterrent).


Connecting with me, Brad:

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