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Car-Free Streets Will Soon Be the Norm

citylab.com

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Re: Car-Free Streets Will Soon Be the Norm

#61

Post by srhngpr »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #19
NPMaxwell wrote: post #2

Part of the change is due to the appearance of alternative powered vehicles. In Tokyo, it seems like every mother is riding an electric cargo bike with covered seating for two kids and room for groceries -- the minivan of bicycles. In Seattle, the morning commute is full of electric skateboards, scooters, onewheels, and wheelchairs. It looks doable.

How do those work in winter? We had electric scooters, but they were all scooped up by their parent companies in October ahead of the coming months of hell.

You must be from Calgary! Unfortunately, scooters and bikes won't work when there is so much snow during the winter.

Re: Car-Free Streets Will Soon Be the Norm

#62

Post by big_chungus »

0b0001 wrote: post #20
big_chungus wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many of those live near and around a city, rather than in it, and commute daily.

That's one of the things that need to be solved, rather than celebrated. Commuting -- no matter which transport you're using, is a waste of time and energy.

I agree, but I also don't want to live like a sardine in a can, packed in with millions of others, living in a small box, having no green space, etc. I'm generally a social person, but don't like living that close to that many people. Many others seem to agree.

Re: Car-Free Streets Will Soon Be the Norm

#63

Post by spats1990 »

FussyZeus wrote: post #37
benrbray wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America is certainly decades (if not centuries) behind in public transportation. However, these CityLab articles are doing a great thing by highlighting our unhealthy dependence on cars and making it a part of everyday conversation. If we're ever going to change we need to start by agreeing there is a problem and discussing realistic solutions. I don't quite understand your point about the "technological and class di…

> America is certainly decades (if not centuries) behind in public transportation. However, these CityLab articles are doing a great thing by highlighting our unhealthy dependence on cars and making it a part of everyday conversation. If we're ever going to change we need to start by agreeing there is a problem and discussing realistic solutions. Then let's discuss some realistic solutions: Outside of densely populat…

I sympathise but I think this post has a few contradictions in it. For example, I'm not surprised the bus in your area is inconvenient schedule-wise because I assume you aren't the only person in your city who drives ten minutes to work. Ten minutes? Wouldn't it take you about thirty minutes maximum to walk in that case?

If the walk would be unpleasant or otherwise not viable, can't that probably be blamed on car systems as well?

I don't think anyone thinks we can get rid of cars entirely. I'm from a country with the same land area as Japan but with ~115 million fewer people. You can't get rid of private vehicles in a place like that. But you can make urban areas less wasteful and more enjoyable.

Re: Car-Free Streets Will Soon Be the Norm

#64

Post by ghaff »

ctdonath wrote: post #49
tzs wrote: post #45

> When asked what they like most about a city they have visited [...] It's the people who live there you need to ask. People visiting a city generally have different goals and different constraints than people who live there.

If I can't drive to near my destination, I'll not likely visit that city.

I'm sure that's true of a lot of people. But I'm not sure it contradicts the parent. If the residents and businesses in a city want to exclude cars--even if that means fewer people want to visit the city from the outside--that's their decision.

Re: Car-Free Streets Will Soon Be the Norm

#65

Post by lm28469 »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #19
NPMaxwell wrote: post #2

Part of the change is due to the appearance of alternative powered vehicles. In Tokyo, it seems like every mother is riding an electric cargo bike with covered seating for two kids and room for groceries -- the minivan of bicycles. In Seattle, the morning commute is full of electric skateboards, scooters, onewheels, and wheelchairs. It looks doable.

How do those work in winter? We had electric scooters, but they were all scooped up by their parent companies in October ahead of the coming months of hell.

Most likely because the batteries would be cold 24/7, which doesn't happen with personal bikes since you can detach them.

Re: Car-Free Streets Will Soon Be the Norm

#66

Post by dahfizz »

ogre_codes wrote: post #27
Jamwinner wrote: post #4

We get it citylab, you hate cars, and think everyone lives in the downtown of a metropolis. Meanwhile, the rest of us have places to be, and 99% of my country has no public transport. While I agree that city centers need more walking room, the categorical exclusion of longer distant transport options will just create more parking lots at the border of such areas. The more modern planning ignores the forest (countries…

> the technological and class divide will only widen. Car friendly infrastructure widens the technological and class divide. They create a base state where you are required to own and maintain an expensive piece of equipment in order to be an equal member of society. You are required to have parking for those cars, both at home and at your work. Forcing people to pay thousands of dollars per year to participate in so…

> Forcing people to pay thousands of dollars per year to participate in society is highly repressive.

You're right. We should charge them thousands of dollars per month so they can live downtown and walk everywhere instead. Problem solved!

Re: Car-Free Streets Will Soon Be the Norm

#67

Post by tomtheelder »

allovernow wrote: post #47
ogre_codes wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the technological and class divide will only widen. Car friendly infrastructure widens the technological and class divide. They create a base state where you are required to own and maintain an expensive piece of equipment in order to be an equal member of society. You are required to have parking for those cars, both at home and at your work. Forcing people to pay thousands of dollars per year to participate in so…

>Car friendly infrastructure widens the technological and class divide. They create a base state where you are required to own and maintain an expensive piece of equipment in order to be an equal member of society. Great, so if we can't all have something, none of us should have it! Forget the fact that the vast majority of families own and benefit from personal transportation, the important thing is that we're all e…

> Great, so if we can't all have something, none of us should have it! Forget the fact that the vast majority of families own and benefit from personal transportation, the important thing is that we're all equal, even if the equal case is on average worse for everyone, right?

This is entirely the opposite of what the car-free movement is trying to accomplish.

Car-free is strictly concerned dense urban areas, where private automobiles pretty strictly work against the common good. They are noisy, dangerous, polluting, and fail to create efficient transportation networks. In such places, there is very good reason to believe that car-free would improve quality of life and median welfare for residents.

Obviously car-free is not a realistic option in suburban, semi-urban, and rural areas. No one who is advocating car-free is suggesting we do it there.

Any increase in equality that comes along with it (honestly I'm skeptical it would make much of a difference) would be purely incidental.

Re: Car-Free Streets Will Soon Be the Norm

#68

Post by volkl48 »

agensaequivocum wrote: post #28
NPMaxwell wrote: post #2

Part of the change is due to the appearance of alternative powered vehicles. In Tokyo, it seems like every mother is riding an electric cargo bike with covered seating for two kids and room for groceries -- the minivan of bicycles. In Seattle, the morning commute is full of electric skateboards, scooters, onewheels, and wheelchairs. It looks doable.

Not really when you have 5-7+ kids.

Which is not the norm in any developed economy where the average person can even consider owning a car.

Re: Car-Free Streets Will Soon Be the Norm

#69

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

srhngpr wrote: post #61
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do those work in winter? We had electric scooters, but they were all scooped up by their parent companies in October ahead of the coming months of hell.

You must be from Calgary! Unfortunately, scooters and bikes won't work when there is so much snow during the winter.

That's downright insulting! I'm from Edmonton.

Yeah, I fear we have too much snow - while bicycles can still be used by the most stubborn, electric vehicles can't summon up that curmudgeonly spirit that will get them out of every second snow drift.

Re: Car-Free Streets Will Soon Be the Norm

#70

Post by dominotw »

adimitrov wrote: post #60
ctdonath wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I can't drive to near my destination, I'll not likely visit that city.

Honest question: why? It seems patently absurd to me, especially when you're visiting. I'm visiting Berlin right now. It's a car friendly city in a car friendly country and I wouldn't want to drive anywhere here if you paid me. Too much of a hassle. Besides driving is so incredibly boring. If you're visiting, you're not going to really experience the city from behind the windows of a metal box. Maybe Northern America…

other options in USA are

1. Being abused by TSA

2. Take amtrak and get left middle of nowhere at 1 am , 2 days late.

3. Take greyhound/

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