At least, that’s what I learned from scrolling through the content of Planning Peeps. It’s a Facebook group for and about the planners of urban spaces. They advocate for better city infrastructure and better urban planning solutions through humor and memes. Thanks to them, I also learned about missing middle housing. Curious to know more? Scroll away, and don’t forget to upvote your favorite picks! Bored Panda reached out to the creator of the page, and they were kind enough to answer a few questions for our readers. You can find our short chat with them below! The person behind the page says that they simply wanted to create a community for urban planning professionals and students and the general public alike. “The memes are intended to inform about urban planning topics and to simplify concepts through humor,” the admin says. Well, they’ve been going strong since 2015, so don’t hesitate to give them a follow if you like what you see here, Pandas! Only now, when I Google ‘How do I get better at SimCity,’ I see that it might’ve been pretty simple. Starting small, planning ahead, and keeping the citizens happy are just some starting points for creating a decent city. Interestingly, the same principles apply to city planning in real life. After all, it’s a simulation game, so isn’t it supposed to reflect life? What types in particular? Row houses (also called terraced houses), two-flats that one can see in Chicago, triple-deckers in Boston, and California’s bungalow courts. And why are they middle housing? “Most people consider single-family homes as small-scale housing and apartment buildings as large scale. I’m saying that what’s in between those two extremes is ‘missing,’” Parolek explained. “It’s missing because we haven’t built a lot of them in the last 60 to 70 years, partly because of zoning barriers.” “That may be nice to do when you’re feeling tired or burnt out, but it’s also not going to give you the full experience of connecting with another person. To have really satisfying connections, you do need to put in the effort of navigating the more complicated world of in-person interactions.” As city planner Paul Stout explained in a TikTok, “American cities were basically hollowed out throughout the ’70s, and any semblance of walkability or public transit was quickly lost.” Follow Bored Panda on Google News! Follow us on Flipboard.com/@boredpanda! Please use high-res photos without watermarks Ooops! Your image is too large, maximum file size is 8 MB.
