11–20 of 245 posts
I've dreamt about this. I would immediately move to the first US city that bans SOV commuters from a significant portion of the city (let's say, a couple square miles), and establishes superblocks where no vehicles are allowed whatsoever, with the old streets converted to green space. Of course, I doubt this will happen in my lifetime.
I’m guessing so many people on HN are anti-car because they live their lives through their computer and never feel the need to travel outside their immediate area? What are you supposed to do if you like to take trips to places hundreds of miles away? What if your job involves visiting many different locations in your city throughout the day? I have family that lives in the same city as me and the difference between…
Coming from Paris, NYC has pretty terrible transport (and Paris’s isn’t that great either)
I’m guessing so many people on HN are anti-car because they live their lives through their computer and never feel the need to travel outside their immediate area? What are you supposed to do if you like to take trips to places hundreds of miles away? What if your job involves visiting many different locations in your city throughout the day? I have family that lives in the same city as me and the difference between…
Here we are, a crowd of folks that solve hard software and hardware problems everyday, and this is all it takes to stump you?
I’m guessing so many people on HN are anti-car because they live their lives through their computer and never feel the need to travel outside their immediate area? What are you supposed to do if you like to take trips to places hundreds of miles away? What if your job involves visiting many different locations in your city throughout the day? I have family that lives in the same city as me and the difference between…
Cars aren't the only way to go places. Buses, trains, bicycles, etc, can all go long distances with a much smaller footprint (per person).
I grew up in the suburbs in Canada and hated it. You _had_ to drive everywhere. As soon as I was able to, I moved to a city where I didn't need a car to get from A to B (Calgary -> San Francisco).
I've dreamt about this. I would immediately move to the first US city that bans SOV commuters from a significant portion of the city (let's say, a couple square miles), and establishes superblocks where no vehicles are allowed whatsoever, with the old streets converted to green space. Of course, I doubt this will happen in my lifetime.
Isn't the USA empty enough that you could still start such a city today?
I’m guessing so many people on HN are anti-car because they live their lives through their computer and never feel the need to travel outside their immediate area? What are you supposed to do if you like to take trips to places hundreds of miles away? What if your job involves visiting many different locations in your city throughout the day? I have family that lives in the same city as me and the difference between…
I’m guessing so many people on HN are anti-car because they live their lives through their computer and never feel the need to travel outside their immediate area? What are you supposed to do if you like to take trips to places hundreds of miles away? What if your job involves visiting many different locations in your city throughout the day? I have family that lives in the same city as me and the difference between…
What are you supposed to do if you like to take trips to places hundreds of miles away? Here we are, a crowd of folks that solve hard software and hardware problems everyday, and this is all it takes to stump you?
I’m guessing so many people on HN are anti-car because they live their lives through their computer and never feel the need to travel outside their immediate area? What are you supposed to do if you like to take trips to places hundreds of miles away? What if your job involves visiting many different locations in your city throughout the day? I have family that lives in the same city as me and the difference between…
Not at all! I just rent when I want to go camping. Although, the commuter trains open up a lot of nice options for weekend trips that don't require a car. And that way I can read a book or enjoy the scenery instead of driving.
> What if your job involves visiting many different locations in your city throughout the day?
Unless you are counting Uber drivers, I don't think this describes many of the cars on the streets.
> This is also NYC which is considered a model city for public transport.
Only in comparison to other US cities, which is an incredibly low bar.
I’m guessing so many people on HN are anti-car because they live their lives through their computer and never feel the need to travel outside their immediate area? What are you supposed to do if you like to take trips to places hundreds of miles away? What if your job involves visiting many different locations in your city throughout the day? I have family that lives in the same city as me and the difference between…
People always tout these things as if it invalidates the whole idea. You like to go to the mountains in the weekend? Cool, do so, doesn't mean you need to drive to work everyday. Want to visit your family in a city having banned cars? Sounds awful the way you put it, but don't you think things change with time? People adapt. Maybe the closeness to family becomes a factor next time you move. Or banning cars improves public transport infrastructure.
I’m guessing so many people on HN are anti-car because they live their lives through their computer and never feel the need to travel outside their immediate area? What are you supposed to do if you like to take trips to places hundreds of miles away? What if your job involves visiting many different locations in your city throughout the day? I have family that lives in the same city as me and the difference between…
It is? By who?
NYC has probably the best public transportation in the US, it's true. But the US is known for generally having awful public transportation.
> What are you supposed to do if you like to take trips to places hundreds of miles away? What if your job involves visiting many different locations in your city throughout the day?
It depends. For longer trips, trains or planes, combined with bike/walk/transit at the end will work. For visiting many locations, well it depends on how far apart they are, what you're doing, how good the bike/transit setup is, etc. Here in Germany, you see people from companies (I think including DHL?) delivering things via electric cargo bike.
Of course, in some cases, a car is the right answer. Few people actually want to ban cars entirely from cities, as there are some uses, like business deliveries, emergency vehicles, and vehicles for the handicapped, where they're difficult to replace. And cars are less of a problem for long distance trips than they are in space-starved urban areas.
But the truth is that US cities near universally push cars as the dominant mode of transport, to the detriment of other means. This is less true in NYC than elsewhere, but even there, there are very few protected bike lanes, and walkability can be hampered still by wide roads full of fast moving cars.
Cars have some upsides and necessary uses, but they also have downsides: expensive for the government to support, expensive for the user, space-inefficient, very loud, polluting, and dangerous to others. It's long past time their allocated space was slimmed down in favor of supporting public transit, walking, and biking more.