Suburban sprawl and public transport deserts

"From the 1950s, sprawling low-density suburbs have been built on the assumption that households would own cars and that public transport was unnecessary."

“It’s really too late to do much in the short term, because we’ve spent 70 years planning in the other direction...The hole has been dug.”

“If we’re interested in equity and justice in our cities, then we need to be providing people, no matter where they live, with a good quality level of public transport access that allows them to get jobs, services and education that are available to people in inner-city areas." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/apr/10/fuel-crisis-australia-public-transport-not-an-option
#FossilFuel #petrol #CarDependency #Suburbia #sprawl #biodiversity #extinction #PublicTransportDeserts #MobilityDesign #inequality #war #ClimateDisruption #CarMinds #malls #parking #obesity #walking #infrastructure #SmallShops #TyrannyOfDistance

“I reckon you’re either built for #sewage, or you’re not."

Behind this door is the huge #fatberg that can’t stop depositing #poo balls on Sydney’s #beaches >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/apr/09/sydney-fatberg-door-beach-poo-balls
#NSW #coast #sprawl #infrastructure #ocean #pollution

Dreamworld Gold Coast
without the koalas

Koala habitats would be impacted under the proposal to expand Dreamworld.

Coomera resident "said he could hardly believe it was the same suburb where he once saw koalas in the trees. "It's all gone...It's just wall-to-wall suburban development."

"Dr O'Hare said instead of clearing vegetation and koala habitat for the project, developers should use 7 hectares of land occupied by a car park." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-07/dreamworld-expansion-considered-concern-traffic-gridlock/106469590
#biodiversity #koalas #sprawl #Cars #traffic #CarDependence #CarParks #Coomera #LandClearing

Sugar glider out of habitat

"A stowaway sugar glider that had nested inside the folds of a sailing boat north of Brisbane is back on dry land after finding itself in a stand-off with shocked boaties in the middle of Moreton Bay." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-31/qld-stowaway-sugar-glider-rescued-from-boat/106516538

Habitat Loss in Moreton Bay:
https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/country/AUS/7/44/?category=undefined
#gliders #wildlife #Biodiversity #MoretonBay #sprawl #deforestation

How the house and car nexus is destroying biodiversity

"Australian houses are among the largest in the world, averaging 236 square metres of living space"

"Local urban greening outcomes are subjugated to state government housing priorities."

"Driveway area has increased on average by 57% from 29m2 to 46m2."

"Front garden area has reduced on average by 46% from 102m2 to 55m2."

"Redevelopment has reduced canopy cover by 62% at the lot scale."

"Middle-ring suburban Sydney is experiencing a quiet yet profound transformation. As redevelopment accelerates, larger houses with expansive footprints and additional driveways are steadily replacing traditional front yards and gardens. This study examines 370 properties across Northern and Greater Western Sydney to quantify these changes. In areas where older, low-density homes have been replaced by newer, larger detached dwellings, the average front garden area has declined by 46%, while driveways and other impervious surfaces have increased by 57%. Most notably, front yard canopy cover has fallen by 62%. These patterns are not due to a lack of policy, but to a planning system in which local controls have become discretionary under ongoing state-level legislative reforms. Broader social trends toward larger homes and greater car ownership further reinforce this shift. The cumulative effect is leading to a substantial loss of private green space, contributing to higher urban heat, reduced biodiversity, and diminished connections with nature. Urban planning reform is urgently needed to embed minimum standards..."

Death of the front yards: How the house and car is replacing residential gardens >>
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275126001617

#cars #roads #housing #driveways #sprawl #expansion #MumAndDadDeveloper #UHI #UrbanHeat #gardens #backyard #GreenSpace #UrbanGreening #wildlife #biodiversity #trees #children #SmallLandclearing #UrbanPlanning #FossilFuel #dependency #failure #regulation #suburbia #Australia #culture

Image: Housing cars

RE: https://mastodon.social/@kottke/116206369652175983

Attn @incomparable @antonyjohnston :) #Sprawl #GreatDismal

This is a traffic infrastructure story, an overreliance on cars story, and deeply macabre

"Man who petitioned for traffic light dies at same intersection where his wife was killed"

https://www.kkco11news.com/2026/03/04/man-who-petitioned-traffic-light-dies-same-intersection-where-his-wife-was-killed/

#transportation #cars #horror #walkability #suburbs #driving #sprawl #traffic #infrastructure

"“So the case sits...within that moral haze of people who aren’t fit to drive, still driving b/c it’s effectively impossible to give up driving, given the way we have designed our country...

He raises “the question of what exactly people in a largely car-dependent country are supposed to do with themselves as they age out of driving responsibly.”

Link: https://lloydalter.substack.com/p/we-may-soon-have-70-million-boomers

#Boomers #Transportation #Aging #Walkability #Suburbs #Driving #Cars #Sprawl