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Life in the Spanish city that banned cars

theguardian.com

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Re: Life in the Spanish city that banned cars

#541

Post by the_clarence »

ghaff wrote: post #326
agumonkey wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It goes both ways, people do less things when they can't and their lifestyle / social structures goes accordingly. Say villages with things nearby/local. Another point, I stopped looking for parking spots where I go. I park 1-2 miles before and walk the rest. It actually saves time.

A lot of the time these discussions seem to take place in a foreign language where you recognize the words but they just don't make sense. Personally, it's hard for me to imagine not having a car, much less not having a driver's license, because so many things I do are utterly dependent on driving even if I both worked and lived in a city (neither of which is the case). I need a car to transport my boating equipment.…

I don’t have a driver’s license. Almost none of my friends have one. I don’t understand the need to have one besides the occasional “I need to do something on holidays that requires a car” and even then I would say: rent one.

Re: Life in the Spanish city that banned cars

#542

Post by the_clarence »

ghaff wrote: post #515
agumonkey wrote: post #512

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For years people busted me to get my driver's license. I finally gave up and did it. I went from eww to meh to cool to meh again. It's really not in my blood, I feel bad every time I use it without having cargo in the trunk. Even some groceries .. I'd better have a backpack.

I don't really like driving and I actually do less of the drive for an hour at the end of the day for some evening activity than I used to. But I do like being able to get away for weekends, go to national parks and wilderness areas on vacation, etc. (And I like living in at least the semi-country which wouldn't be possible without a car.)

Can’t you rent in these cases? It sounds like it would be cheaper.

Re: Life in the Spanish city that banned cars

#543

Post by the_clarence »

maxsilver wrote: post #422
the_gastropod wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Marketers for cigarettes [1], gogurt, lunchables, cell service, guns, etc. make similar claims. It doesn't make it true. Cars bring convenience, sure. But freedom ? Not owning a car, I've never lost sleep worrying that someone was breaking into my car, I pay no car insurance, no gas, no car maintenance, never pay for toll roads, never get road rage, never sit in traffic. I feel significantly more free today than I ev…

> I feel significantly more free today than I ever did owning a car. That works both ways though. I feel significantly more free today owning an EV hybrid car, then I did without a car. --- I have lost sleep worrying I would miss the only bus, or that it would be late, or that it would be full, or that it would never show, or that they could change the route without telling me, or that if the weather is bad I'll arri…

Because you live in a place where public transport is bad.

Re: Life in the Spanish city that banned cars

#544

Post by corndoge »

bertil wrote: post #531
corndoge wrote: post #506

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This kind of snark, or perhaps just unrealistic statements, gets us nowhere...dedicated infrastructure for cyclists alongside the same infrastructure for cars is actually viable. Making a comment about how everybody should be using bikes isn't helpful.

>>> Life in the Spanish city that banned cars >> ban cars > unrealistic statements You, sir, are funny.

The United States is not Spain. Nitpick all you want - the vast majority of populated places in the US will never ban cars, at least for the foreseeable future.

Re: Life in the Spanish city that banned cars

#545

Post by JaggerFoo »

sebringj wrote: post #279

I don't know why this didn't occur to me but in San Juan Capistrano, CA, I enjoy that place so much with my kids because of the fairly large area where cars have to have very slow speed limit or no cars allowed at all and pure walking which was far better even. There is such freedom allowing your children to laugh and play and walk on their own pace without worrying they'll be run over and having to strictly hold the…

What area of SJC are you talking about?

I go there quite often and would like to see this for myself. Especially the area where no cars are allowed.

Cheers

Re: Life in the Spanish city that banned cars

#546

Post by lagadu »

pcmonk wrote: post #154
montenegrohugo wrote: post #3

This may be shocking to people with an American upbringing, but cars (especially privately owned ones) just do not make sense going forward. Cities get bigger and denser, and wasting a big % of land on parking spaces, roads, intersections and accepting a horrible air quality (that reduces citizen life spans and health quality) and noise pollution just does not make any sense anymore. Carse are effective in less dense…

How do you do this with kids? Suppose you're taking three kids to an event or a climbing gym or whatever and it's further than walking distance. Can biking be made safe enough, or if it's further, is it reasonable for them to bring them on the metro? What if it's three kids ages 5 and under? This is an honest question. I live in a city with public transport now and I much prefer it for myself, but when I think of how…

Just take them on the metro/bus/light rail? I think I'm misunderstanding something in your question...

Re: Life in the Spanish city that banned cars

#547

Post by stronglikedan »

montenegrohugo wrote: post #3

This may be shocking to people with an American upbringing, but cars (especially privately owned ones) just do not make sense going forward. Cities get bigger and denser, and wasting a big % of land on parking spaces, roads, intersections and accepting a horrible air quality (that reduces citizen life spans and health quality) and noise pollution just does not make any sense anymore. Carse are effective in less dense…

> cars (especially privately owned ones) just do not make sense going forward.

Sure they do, just not in all situations. I'm all for walkable city centers, downtowns, parks and such, but I also very much love to drive my car. I'm happy to vote for more pedestrian/public-transport friendly metropolitan areas (and do), as long as there's also non-metro areas for me to live on my privately owned land and drive my privately owned car as I please.

Re: Life in the Spanish city that banned cars

#548

Post by collyw »

drstewart wrote: post #458
collyw wrote: post #406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you honestly think we can't do that in Europe?

Do you honestly think there are no walkable cities in the US or whatever outlandish claims are being made by Europeans in this thread?

"I know european cities are much more pedestrian friendly & that US cities in general are more oriented towards the car lifestyle"

Doesn't sound so outlandish to me.

Re: Life in the Spanish city that banned cars

#549

Post by stevenwoo »

icebraining wrote: post #442
elcapitan wrote: post #126

One of the most interesting experiences in my life was visiting Tel Aviv on Yom Kippur. On that day all car traffic is prohibited (also TV stations are offline etc). It was absolutely amazing. Tel Aviv is a city with large roads and usually extremely busy. On that day, cyclists ride over the highway, kids play on the streets. I never felt that directly before how invasive the normal car situation is. Here's a photo h…

Brussels had a car-free Sunday last year, it was fantastic. Cars are like sugar, something great that we massively abuse.

It seems to be an annual event now?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2018/sep/16/car-fr... https://www.brussels.be/mobility-week-and-car-free-sunday-20...

Re: Life in the Spanish city that banned cars

#550

Post by lagadu »

TomMarius wrote: post #14
montenegrohugo wrote: post #3

This may be shocking to people with an American upbringing, but cars (especially privately owned ones) just do not make sense going forward. Cities get bigger and denser, and wasting a big % of land on parking spaces, roads, intersections and accepting a horrible air quality (that reduces citizen life spans and health quality) and noise pollution just does not make any sense anymore. Carse are effective in less dense…

On top of other issues, most of Europe also enjoys a 4-season year - meaning that a bike or scooter is safely and comfortably usable around half of a year, definitely not more.

Your post is how I can tell you've never been to Copenhagen during the winter. Bicycles are used year-round no matter the weather. There's a saying here that roughly translates to "there's no bad weather, only improper clothing".
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