Is the tiny little neighborhood the city of the future?

[Jilly_in_VA]

At first glance, O’Fallon, Illinois, has little in common with Paris, France. Paris has its world-class museums and cream-colored Haussmann-style apartment buildings. O’Fallon, an outer-ring suburb of St Louis with a population of 32,000, has a collection of squat brick buildings settled around a little-used freight rail track in its city center, and a proliferation of mid-century ranch homes on the blocks beyond.

On the other hand, there are macarons for sale at O’Fallon’s Sweet Katie Bee’s organic bakery cafe. And last year, when O’Fallon adopted a 180-page master plan to guide its development for the next two decades, it chose the same “organizing concept” that Paris’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, made the backbone of her 2020 re-election campaign: the 15-minute city.

The idea is relatively simple. Residents should have everything they need within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from home. “Transforming O’Fallon into a 15-minute city will help make our lives more convenient, less stressful and more sustainable,” the plan suggests. Easy enough to imagine in Paris, where there’s fresh bread on every corner. But in a sprawling section of the American midwest?

O’Fallon’s commitment to self-sufficient districts shows what a sensation the 15-minute city has become since Paris first embraced the idea three years ago. In September, C40 Cities, the network of leaders from the world’s largest cities, partnered with UN-Habitat to deliver proof of concept through five pilot projects. The journalist Fareed Zakaria endorsed the idea as a principle for the post-pandemic world. Deloitte identified it as a key trend in its 2021 study of the urban future.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/25/15-minute-city-urban-planning-future-us-cities

Actually this is a lot like things used to be. In my home city, 65 years ago, my grade school was 6 blocks away, high school was 3 blocks, grocery 4 blocks. Dentist and doctor were short bus rides. I'd love to return to that.

[genxlib]

1. This extends better to a larger City as well

Having those 15 minute clusters that coincide with transit stops makes mass transit work 100x better.

That way if your cluster lacks something, it is a simple hop to another cluster.

[hurple]

2. This is what every community was

When walking, or biking was the only way to get around.

[Bayard]

3. We are in the boonies in southern KY on 12 acres

But in-between two small towns--10 minutes to either one. One is actually the county seat, with the courthouse, a sheriff's dept., and a pretty decent grocery store.

Best of both worlds.

[DFW]

4. The town I live in now has been there for about 800 years

There have been changes, of course, but the basic structure of things is the same as it was almost a millenium ago.

[localroger]

5. In the mid 1990's I visited the town of Cardel, Veracruz state, Mexico

It's a town of 5000 people built around a traditional town square. I was there for a phenomenon called the "river of raptors," as migratory birds of prey are funneled over their airspace by the nearby mountains. Unlike "edge ecology" towns like Tijuana there was no sense that I had a target on my back because I was American. I skipped one of the birding excursions and took the opportunity to knock about the town square. And I realized to my astonishment that everything I might need to live was within a five minute walk. There was food, a pharmacy, a hardware store, three news stands. From the Hotel Bienvenido on the town square I could literally walk to anything I might need. I had never experienced anything like it. I have felt nearly there if a few other cities. But yes, such a place would be an incredibly welcoming change. As it is I have to drive 50 miles to get to work, and all those dead dinosaurs are going into the atmosphere to all our detriment.

[crickets]

6. What a wonderful idea. I'd love to see it take off. nt