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Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

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Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#671

Post by CalRobert »

nibbleshifter wrote: post #643
CalRobert wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly this rings somewhat true, I'm trying to make the maths work on moving from my house in the horrible Irish countryside (horrible if you don't like profound isolation and car-dependency, that is) and move to Utrecht or Houten, or Freiburg, and it is challenging, to say the least.

The Netherlands at least has functional health service, among other things. Ireland does not.

Ireland is horrible at everything. The health service is in collapse, the immigration bureau is incompetent, crime is legal (the garda told me not to vote Green... now remember they're the ones enforcing environmental laws), transport is a joke, the bike infrastructure is 30 years behind the continent, and for all that the taxes are quite high if you make anything resembling a decent salary. But if you DO have the gall to earn gasp over 50,000 a year, you're a fat cat with "notions". And imagine you build a house and at some point need to rent it out? You're a monster landlord scumbag - might as well be from the plantations and evicting those poor poor people who trash your house and don't pay rent for months on end!

I posted this after being told it would take me six months to get my 3 year old to a pediatrician. https://np.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/11luo2b/how_can_i_s... - when she stopped growing.

This country is unacceptably bad. I look forward to leaving.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#672

Post by Pxtl »

Tade0 wrote: post #655
Pxtl wrote: post #631

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a middle-ground between suburban sprawl and one-bedroom-apartments in highrises. Dense old-fashioned streetcar suburbs that predate the invention of driveways do a great job of being cyclist and transit friendly despite the fact that every home is a detached SFH.

I know, because I grew up in what I consider the pinnacle of urbanism - the humble commie block. Unfortunately even commie blocks nowadays are either becoming too expensive or get "densified" - new blocks are built in between them, often without much of a plan. This appears to be due to induced demand - especially now that so many apartments are bought as investments and never rented out. This bothers me because I'm…

Hah, yeah. We're in a terrible housing crisis here in Ontario (houses around Toronto are now worth over a million) and tent-cities are cropping up everywhere, and "commie blocks" are what anti-urbanists point to when they complain about the new housing going in to meet demand, and all I can think is that I'll take Khrushchyovkas over tent-cities any day of the week.

> This appears to be due to induced demand - especially now that so many apartments are bought as investments and never rented out.

This is always the question. If even half of them are getting rented out, then at least new units are adding to the market and helping to battle rent... but it seems like governments are so crippled in their ability to know for certain how many people live in how many units.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#673

Post by dan-robertson »

bluecalm wrote: post #649
gambiting wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure but like.........people always say that (for example) in London you can't live closer to work because houses/flats are too expensive. Ok, I mean that's true, but how are you going to solve that? It's a gigantic city which is already full to the brim, with literally 1000+ years of building on top of every single square inch of land available. You would probably have to demolish large areas of London and replace t…

One problem is huge swatch of premium land being dedicated to cars (parking lots, wasted whole floors of residential building for parking, huge highways through the city etc.

How much of a problem is this in London? New towers sometimes have parking underneath (ie where people don’t really want to live), others don’t; lots of the suburban part of the city has driveways or garages. I’m curious which huge highways you’re talking about?

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#675

Post by Moldoteck »

bloke_zero wrote: post #404
lock-the-spock wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I own a bike with a big box in the front and parking has absolutely not been an issue for me. In the last six months I rode > 2600km in and around one of the densest European cities and parked in many different places. I have yet to find a place where I cannot park the bike . You can use regular car parking, but you will always find a dead corner, bike rack, big sidewalk, etc where you can leave the bike. And to be c…

Not easy at home in London. Our flat would not allow a cargo bike (1st floor) and there is no where outside to lock it safe and dry. 60,000 people on a 4 year waiting list for on street bike parking: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-cyclists-bike-...

ive seen recently a new model of cargo bike that can be folded and it takes much less space. Myabe this helps

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#676

Post by dan-robertson »

xyzzyz wrote: post #635
nomel wrote: post #433

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we can't afford rent or property where either of us used to live. I’ve never seen this not be the case. Are European cities organized differently or something? I’ve never see affordable living within biking distance of a business district, in the US. Prices are usually double.

European cities are much less affordable than US cities. Just look at the data, compare average household income to average rent or purchase price. It blows my mind that people here put Europe as some kind of affordable walkable alternative. Some places are indeed walkable, but affordability is utterly atrocious by US standard.

I think a part of this is that American incomes are high compared to many other developed countries.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#677

Post by jimbokun »

Tade0 wrote: post #198
matsemann wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - might be impossible depending on work or children; The newer style of cargo bikes can for many families replace a car. Have two kids seated in the trunk of the bike and drop them off at kindergarten, then continue biking to work and pick them up on the way home. Those are a bit on the pricier side, though. Still cheap compared to a car, but people often look at them as something "extravagant" or "in addition" to…

> So I think we will see a shift in where people settle, where they will no longer base their lives around owning multiple cars. Not if real estate in cities remains as expensive as it is now. That's one of the main reasons why so many people move out and choose to spend so much time commuting. Cars are just a means to an end, which is not living in a one-bedroom apartment as a family.

This sounds like Yogi Berra's complaint of "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

Real estate in cities being expensive is evidence that people really want to live in environments like that.

Will be interesting to see if other municipalities try to build similar housing and work environments (more walkable, less parking lots) to attract the people looking for a city life style.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#678

Post by sharkweek »

antihero wrote: post #654
sharkweek wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In upfront transparency to avoid sounding like I have a superiority complex based on just how much I love my cargo bike, our family does still have a car. Okay that being said… our cargo bike has replaced 90% of our “last mile” driving here in the city. We take the kids to school on it, we do grocery runs, we take it to the park, out to dinner, just about anywhere we can. In the first two years we’ve put at least 2k…

What was the issue with the road bike idea?

I consider myself a pretty strong cyclist, and I was huffing and puffing trying to keep pace with my wife and kids on the ebike.

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#679

Post by moneywoes »

rickydroll wrote: post #399
substation13 wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why cities are better for the environment. I don't think rural car usage has nearly as much negative impact as driving in a big city though, so this shouldn't be a strong policy focus. Awesome that the kids can ride to school!

I think the rural/city better for the environment is a bit of cherry picking of statistics. It's important however to respect what's good for each of us. For me, living in the city meant shitty health outcomes, spending way too much money on rent and food, way too many people trying to stick a hand in my pocket for entertainment etc. For me a good life means dark skies, green trees, a chance of dying every time I go…

> a chance of dying every time I go for a hike

Sold where did you go

Re: Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London

#680

Post by trgn »

Pxtl wrote: post #631
Tade0 wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So I think we will see a shift in where people settle, where they will no longer base their lives around owning multiple cars. Not if real estate in cities remains as expensive as it is now. That's one of the main reasons why so many people move out and choose to spend so much time commuting. Cars are just a means to an end, which is not living in a one-bedroom apartment as a family.

There's a middle-ground between suburban sprawl and one-bedroom-apartments in highrises. Dense old-fashioned streetcar suburbs that predate the invention of driveways do a great job of being cyclist and transit friendly despite the fact that every home is a detached SFH.

Yeah, the american streetcar suburb truly is a gem, doesn't really exist on that scale in Europe. Lush, spacious, and verdant, but also walkable, with city feel and city amenities. Always great architecture. Mix of home sizes makes them naturally mixed income. Commercial corridors often preserved their function. So awesome, if only more newer suburbs were like that.
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