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Comment by timsco | Hacker News Reader

I like how the Wikipedia article does not mention how this strategy turns the streets into soul sucking suburban wastelands. The Michigan left may reduce accidents, but it divides neighbourhoods (reference: anywhere on 8 Mile).

This is a very bad idea.

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The divided boulevard divides neighborhoods, not the Michigan Left. Left Turn lanes would actually make it harder to cross 8 mile.

I'm not a fan of Michigan zoning whatsoever, but in this case, the damage is done with or without the Michigan Left.

That's a good point but it's chicken / egg. Now every new boulevard in Greater Detroit is divided so that it can be filled with Michigan Lefts.

The larger point was: the zoning boards are the problem.

Every new boulevard is divided because metro Detroit zoning boards design in favor of car use in almost all things. The huge parking lots, the divided neighborhoods, the laughable sidewalk situation -- it's all because optimizing car flow is the priority.

The symptoms aren't the problem.

As a 28-year Michigander (Flint/Detroit area), I don't think the left turning mechanism is responsible for any neighborhood divides...you could say that the divided highway contributes to this, but I am more inclined to blame "White Flight" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight).

I blame Michigan's anti-business labor and tax law.

I blame people who blame everything on "unions and taxes" regardless of how little or how much they know about an actual problem.

I'm tired of Detroiters blaming white flight for everything.

I brought up 8 mile as an example but Woodward is just as bad dividing the white people in Royal Oak from the white people in Berkeley.

You can't walk across the street with those huge boulevards. That's the point.

Can you explain why? Unless I'm misunderstanding, pedestrians can still cross, and the neighbourhoods are divided by the massive highway, rather than the specific turning pattern...?

In most of Michigan, the roads are enormous, development is sparse, and there are no sidewalks to speak of. It's tied in with the history of the state as a center of auto industry and the first attempts at car-centric planning.

Saying that the "Michigan Left" is the cause isn't exactly correct, but it does allude to the overall nature of the layout.

Worse than any other road that size? It's an eight-lane road and that, by itself, is a big socio/economic dividing force, regardless of the type of intersection.

I think that the commenter is implying that these planning conventions (and the overall mentality of prioritizing car traffic far ahead of pedestrian and bike traffic) go hand in hand with the eight-lane mega-road.

That is correct. I lived there for 3.5 years and now live in downtown Toronto which is the opposite of suburban Detroit in terms of population density and sprawl.

Don't get me wrong, I really love Detroit but its city planning is a huge contributor to its most pressing issues.

Visit Detroit though. It's possibly the most interesting place in the world.

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