The city center in many European cities does not have street parking of any sort, private cars are largely or entirely banned, and they are some of the most livable, walkable, and vibrant urban areas.
The High Cost of Free Parking (2005)
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Re: The High Cost of Free Parking (2005)
#22Re: The High Cost of Free Parking (2005)
#23Sometimes when I hear discussions like this, I can't help but think back to several places I've lived or stayed where using a car was not possible.
It sucked.
Yes, living in the exact center of a bustling city should be efficient - you should be able to walk everywhere for all your needs and it should be efficient.
But the reality was that you couldn't and it wasn't. It took a tremendous toll on your time and the effort to live life was higher.
I think the way people lived a decent life walking and taking public transportation was to live a smaller life, and put up with the inefficiency of slower transportation and more limited choices of jobs to have, places to shop and things to do.
Am I wrong? Do I not understand? Has anyone moved from a semi-dense area where just about anything was within a 10 minute drive, to a situation where they didn't use a car and still lived a decent efficient life?
Re: The High Cost of Free Parking (2005)
#24Cars are the dominant life form of Earth.
Although Ford had taken great care to blend into Earth society, he had "skimped a bit on his preparatory research," and thought that the name "Ford Prefect" would be "nicely inconspicuous." The Ford Prefect was a popular British car manufactured from 1938 to 1961, and Adams later clarified in an interview that Ford "had simply mistaken the dominant life form" of Earth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Prefect_(character)
Re: The High Cost of Free Parking (2005)
#25I don't remember the details and searches aren't turning up anything, but I remember somebody managed to camp on public streets without being bothered for a surprisingly long time by building a tent that looked like a car with a cover on it. I think this was a bit of performance art rather than being done out of necessity, the point being that people just think of that space as being for cars and don't really question it.
Re: The High Cost of Free Parking (2005)
#26Sometimes when I hear discussions like this, I can't help but think back to several places I've lived or stayed where using a car was not possible. It sucked. Yes, living in the exact center of a bustling city should be efficient - you should be able to walk everywhere for all your needs and it should be efficient. But the reality was that you couldn't and it wasn't. It took a tremendous toll on your time and the eff…
> Sometimes when I hear discussions like this, I can't help but think back to several places I've lived or stayed where using a car was not possible.
Example?
Us in New York are going by fine taking the train or biking, and if we really need a car we call a cab or an Uber, and that we have to pay extra makes us really think if we need that car or is that just us being lazy.
I won't ever understand the joy of punting that bill of your joyrides to the next generation, I guess.
Re: The High Cost of Free Parking (2005)
#27Imo, street side parking in cities should just be scrapped. It makes no sense for the public to pay so much money to allow people to park particular kinds of private property for free. Pushing all parking on to businesses own lots or in dedicated parking facilities would let the market adequately price parking rather than externalising the cost.
In my building, there are 40 units... and 6 parking places in the basement. Most of the city is this way. Street side parking is the only way to go. TBH I prefer trees and grass over parking lots. I would not change it.
Re: The High Cost of Free Parking (2005)
#28Sometimes when I hear discussions like this, I can't help but think back to several places I've lived or stayed where using a car was not possible. It sucked. Yes, living in the exact center of a bustling city should be efficient - you should be able to walk everywhere for all your needs and it should be efficient. But the reality was that you couldn't and it wasn't. It took a tremendous toll on your time and the eff…
What are some examples of such car-free places?
Re: The High Cost of Free Parking (2005)
#29Sometimes when I hear discussions like this, I can't help but think back to several places I've lived or stayed where using a car was not possible. It sucked. Yes, living in the exact center of a bustling city should be efficient - you should be able to walk everywhere for all your needs and it should be efficient. But the reality was that you couldn't and it wasn't. It took a tremendous toll on your time and the eff…
For most people, it's not really binary.
For instance, when I lived in Italy, we did have one car for our family of four. We used it to go see the in-laws and stay late at dinner when there were no public transit options to get home.
But we took the tram downtown with our small kids.
And I rode my bike to work often.
And my wife and I would go out on dates riding our bikes.
And I'd walk our kids to school.
And if we wanted to go hiking out in the hills, we'd drive.
So it wasn't so much about a zero-car lifestyle as a 'right tool for the job'.
Re: The High Cost of Free Parking (2005)
#30Imo, street side parking in cities should just be scrapped. It makes no sense for the public to pay so much money to allow people to park particular kinds of private property for free. Pushing all parking on to businesses own lots or in dedicated parking facilities would let the market adequately price parking rather than externalising the cost.
Per-business lots are incredibly inefficient. They have to optimize for peak demand or lose sales during crucial peak seasons - when was thr last time you saw a Walmart parking lot full?
They make it more difficult to visit multiple stops in one trip. Instead of parking downtown, going to an appointment and grabbing lunch I have to move my car in between those trips, generating more emissions and waste.