^I may be dreaming, but I actually see merit in a program to selectively repurpose “keystone lots” - to drive straight-line pathways for pedestrians, cyclists, and possibly mini-transit or emergency vehicles through “traditional” suburbs built with winding roads.
If the properties are large enough (many are - there are lots of keystone-shaped lots on a curvy back street) there will be room left to redevelop parts of the site with more appropriate buildings, meaning that much of the cost can be recouped and density can actually be added. In the extreme, one could build houses on stilts with the pathway running at ground level underneath.
It may sound draconian… but when you see how many perfectly good houses are being knocked down anyways to build bigger monster s-f homes, it’s not that big a change.
I see similar potential in the older, more central streets in the city, where it would only take the removal of one or two houses to link non-connecting streets or laneways to create bike or walking routes away from main streets.
It’s just a fantasy, perhaps, but I think it might solve a lot of these problems and actually be popular politically, especially if the urban planning community bought in.
- Paul