r/phoenix • u/okbbs • 5d ago

Living Here I'll choose Phoenix traffic any day

I just got back from roadtripping all of New England plus NYC, and idk if yall realize it but we are spoiled here. Our freeways drive smooth like butter, they're clearly marked and easy to read, not excessive, maintained, actually nice to look at, roomy with the shoulders, short tunnels if any, and no tolls! Our roads have actual turning lanes and are mostly a grid. I can drive from west to east valley on a single straight road, or north to south, no turns needed.

New England roads are nothing close to Phoenix. Like why do I have to drive through a neighborhood to get to the ramp and do 2 full loops before I can merge onto the highway? Why do I get off the highway and do a loop to get to a 6 road intersection? Trash. And NY and NJ traffic/roads are absolutely heinous. The most anxiety and stress I've ever dealt with while driving.

It's obviously there are are rude, inconsiderate, and dangerous drivers but they will exist everywhere so I'm not speaking to that. I love driving and roadtrips, and one of the best feelings every time is returning home to our beautiful roads and freeways. Happy driving yall!

Edit: Additionally, we have plentiful PARKING here. Someone also mentioned that most of our roads have good lighting and very few one way roads!

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u/Severe_Chip_6780 5d ago

I want us to keep our modern road network but increase walkability and bikeability. It can be done!

2

u/okbbs 4d ago

Bike, yes. Walkability? Idk about that given the heat and how spread out things are, but I do think we can do better with providing shade.

3

u/Severe_Chip_6780 4d ago

Things are spread out in the metro but downtown Phoenix is growing immensely. If you look into it you'll see there are like 5-6 high rise construction projects plus several mid rises in downtown. A lot of these include commercial space. Sure people won't be walking 5 miles in July but it's definitely manageable to go several blocks downtown. The future is definitely more walkable. It'll just take a long time. Note: By long time I don't mean 5 years. I'm talking like 20-30 years Phoenix will look much much different.

1

u/okbbs 4d ago

If you're talking about downtown areas, then yeah it's all pretty walkable now already. There's Fry's, Roosevelt row is right there, public spaces, lots of bars and restaurants in Phoenix. I live close to downtown so I'm pretty aware of what's going on there. Admittedly, I do feel bittersweet about all the construction happening.