there are cobblestone and brick streets in boston and other areas of north america (we have one neighborhood here in toronto) where bricks have been used for 100+ years. this means they’ve held up to the wear and tear of people, horses, cars, trucks, etc…

loose/cracked bricks definitely happen, but each brick is too small to create damaging potholes and can quickly be replaced without needing to resurface the entire road

What about trucks for delivering goods? I'd imagine they would pinch loose stones and damage cars or people walking past.

culture

The road to hell is paved with asphalt

not fast, and that’s a good thing in many cases.

obviously highways should be asphalt, because they’re designed to help you move as fast as possible.

but residential streets, shopping districts, school zones, etc… are all places where fast drivers are problematic.

rather than stick up a bunch of speed radar signs, speed bumps, and other ugly distractions to limit speeding, brick and cobblestone roads naturally make drivers want to slow down.