# Walkable Cities Walkable Cities is an urbanist meme and online movement that took off in the early 2020s, pushing back on car-dependent American suburbia in favor of pedestrian-friendly design. It mixes Drakeposting formats, copypastas and long-form YouTube video essays, most famously from the channel Not Just Bikes. ## Overview Walkable Cities is an urbanist meme trend and online argument style that pushes for pedestrian-first city design over car-dependent American sprawl[1]. The memes typically compare European or Japanese neighborhoods to U.S. cities dominated by parking lots, stroads and single-family zoning, and frame walkability as a health, climate and quality-of-life issue[2]. Formats range from Drakeposting image macros and Boardroom Suggestion edits to long copypastas about zoning code, plus TikTok explainers and YouTube video essays[3]. The trend also produced a running online debate, where people arguing for pedestrian-friendly urbanism are often dismissed by commenters as naive about American geography or the realities of car ownership[3]. ## How It Spread The subreddit r/fuckcars, created back on February 25th, 2016, became the central hub for the format[3]. On April 5th, 2022, Redditor Slommee posted a meme there showing an urban planner talking past a poster who praises foreign cities without realizing walkability is the thing they actually like, and it pulled over 13,300 upvotes and 400 comments in about six months [5]. A few days later, on April 11th, 2022, Redditor DallasBoy95 posted a Boardroom Suggestion edit to r/politicalcompassmemes about American zoning code banning mixed-use walkable neighborhoods, which reached over 8,100 upvotes and 860 comments[3]. The related copypasta, "This Kind of Smart, Walkable, Mixed-Use Urbanism Is Illegal to Build in Most American Cities," spread alongside it[3]. On Facebook, the page Green New Deal posted a Drakeposting meme backing walkable cities on January 5th, 2022, picking up over 3,600 likes and 900 shares [6]. The biggest boost came from YouTube channel Not Just Bikes, whose video "Why City Design is Important (and Why I Hate Houston)," published on July 19th, 2022, was the second-highest result for "walkable cities" on the platform by September 27th, 2022 and eventually pulled around 4.7 million views [7]. The pandemic-era push toward walking and cycling, backed by outlets like the World Bank, gave the meme extra weight as a real policy argument, not just a joke format[8]. ## How to Use The format is flexible. People typically use Drakeposting, Boardroom Suggestion or Virgin vs. Chad edits to contrast a car-dependent American suburb with a dense European or Japanese street scene[3]. Copypastas about zoning, parking minimums and stroads are common, often paired with a photo of a highway interchange or a strip-mall parking lot[3]. Reaction videos and stitches on TikTok, and Not Just Bikes-style video essays on YouTube, are the long-form version of the same joke[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Walkable Cities? Walkable Cities is an urbanist meme trend arguing for pedestrian-friendly city design and against American car-dependent sprawl, mostly through image macros, TikToks and YouTube video essays[1]. ### Where did Walkable Cities come from? The idea traces back to Jane Jacobs' 1961 book The Death and Life of Great American Cities, but the modern meme wave took off with a talkingcities TikTok on April 8th, 2021 [4]. ### What does Walkable Cities mean? In meme form it means cities designed around people on foot, bikes and transit instead of around cars, parking lots and highways, often contrasting the U.S. with Europe or Japan[2]. ### How do you use Walkable Cities? People typically post Drakeposting or Boardroom Suggestion edits, or copypastas about zoning code, comparing a car-centric American scene to a dense walkable one[3]. ### Is Walkable Cities still popular? The trend was still active through late 2022 on r/fuckcars, TikTok and channels like Not Just Bikes, whose 2022 video passed around 4.7 million views [7]. ## References 1. [https://blogs.worldbank.org/transport/can-covid-19-pave-way-toward-walkable-bikeable-cities]() 2. [https://www.tiktok.com/@talkingcities]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/walkable-cities]() 4. [https://www.tiktok.com/@talkingcities/video/6949553640024788229]() 5. [https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckcars/]() 6. [https://www.facebook.com/GreenNewDeal/]() 7. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxykI30fS54]() 8. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMnUnp0ifgo]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/walkable-cities Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library