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Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

cnn.com

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Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#131

Post by black_puppydog »

People keep saying Hidalgo's policies made people angry, but then voter turnout when she actually asks for confirmation of her policies is low. For example, 2024's vote on whether to triple the parking fees for big SUVs. [1] Turnout was tiny, but the measure passed.

Well what does that mean? It certainly doesn't mean that there is a huge wave of enthusiasm for the measure.

But conversely it also means there's not a huge wave of anger about it. It's not like the automotive lobby didn't try hard to create one; the media coverage was actually kind of crazy at the time. And with the low turnout, even a small mobilization would have been sufficient to reject this measure. But it didn't materialise. So when I read articles like this one from CNN, I just have to ask myself what the agenda is behind jazzing this up as much.

[1]: https://www.lerevenu.com/reduire-impots/conseils-impots/pari...

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#132

Post by saltysalt »

dest wrote: post #89
rwmj wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think Paris has bigger problems to worry about. Say what you mean to say.

The housing market is a bit broken: either expensive private housing or affordable publicly managed one, but very hard to get. People often cannot relocate. Big debt. Security, with addicted errands in some districts.

Well put. Lots of people in the comments have a nostalgic vision of Paris it seems.

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#133

Post by hashmal »

youknownothing wrote: post #49

[flagged]

I get why you'd bring these points up. I mean, really, they could make sense. but both "green" and "tourist" points don't line up at all.

to cut short lengthy arguments, just compare urbanism rules in the US and in the EU. the 4, 5, or idk 8 lanes roads you can find in some parts of the US with the at mot 3 lane (paid) highways.

it all comes down to "if you make more room for cars, there will be more cars". if you refuse to cave in for this and you actually provide alternative ways of transportation (bus, bikes, subway if realistic, etc etc), then the overall traffic becomes much smoother. only complaints never cease, but that isn't specific to "moving people around".

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#134

Post by LaGrange »

dopidopHN2 wrote: post #66
tom-blk wrote: post #23

Only rich people get to drive now

No. Rich people zoom in to work and take a stroll to the market on Saturday morning, and they enjoy tapas a the quaint Bistro on the bank of the seine. Driving is for plebes

FYI this article and thread is about Paris, France, not Paris, Texas.

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#135

Post by pas »

zahlman wrote: post #107
hshdhdhj4444 wrote: post #2

This article has such a weird framing. It keeps repeating how the cleaner air is so good for tourists. But tourists visiting Paris for a week don’t get the majority of the benefit from cleaner air. The Parisian residents living there throughout the year do. Maybe because it’s CNN, an American outlet, they’re focused on the “tourist”, but these benefits have mostly accrued to Parisians. Also, the 4% increase in traffi…

When did the fad for compact cars end? Where did all these SUVs come from? Why do drivers want to lug all this extra weight and space around with them all the time?

in the US it has a few factors, one is that trucks are exempted from some mileage requirements, so suddenly manufacturers started making "legally truck" cars

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#136

Post by dopidopHN2 »

dpark wrote: post #83
dopidopHN2 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Rich people zoom in to work and take a stroll to the market on Saturday morning, and they enjoy tapas a the quaint Bistro on the bank of the seine. Driving is for plebes

I don’t know how you’re defining “rich” but the wealthiest folks I know all go to work physically. They get in their cars, or in one case on their bike, and commute to work like everyone else.

The wealthiest people I know are philanthropist that spend their day on zoon meetings to decide who get the grant. A couple of time a week someone arrange a visit for them to check on "things are going" on the trenches.

They also spend a lot of time on the phone strategizing with other folks like them. --

But that's not a contest!I'm sure your rich people are richer than my rich people. --

If we were looking at a formal definition, my naive approach would be to use the median income, add the revenue of assets, and add a 20% to that ?

I'm sure the field of sociology could help be more formal here. --

Here I was talking specifically about French folks, where access to remote work and living in the inner city are strongly correlated with higher income.

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#137

Post by pastel8739 »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #41

Slightly off-topic but NYC went through a similar process when congestion pricing met legal battle after legal battle. Long to short, there was a calculated effort to make midtown less and less vehicle-friendly. The "hack" was to take streets / aves and repurpose those for pedestrians. Special walking lanes, more "park cafes", bike lanes, etc. None were stated as being anti-vehicle - as that would open up legal chall…

But in fact the end goal wasn’t to remove vehicles, it was to reduce congestion, emissions, etc. Those things are caused by vehicles, so policies to remove them will affect vehicles, but it’s disingenuous to suggest that their motivation is anti-vehicle.

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#138

Post by consp »

obsidianbases1 wrote: post #10
Schiendelman wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever tried to park an SUV versus parking a sedan?

Great point. Additionally, driving a small sedan myself, if there is a parking spot (not parallel, normal lot spot) in between two SUVs, there is a good chance that spot is useless, even in my small car. Just last night, I was parked perfectly (I had to stop and admire my work because what follows), but still had to squeeze out with my door undoubtedly touching the SUV, and it wasn't even a large size SUV. I really h…

> there is a good chance that spot is useless, even in my small car.

Totally off topic but I've seen two smarts side-by-side in one parking spot, on a right angle to the parking spot making exiting the spot easy. Now that's efficient. And they still were less parked on the road than any big SUV or worse.

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#139

Post by bombcar »

black_puppydog wrote: post #131

People keep saying Hidalgo's policies made people angry, but then voter turnout when she actually asks for confirmation of her policies is low. For example, 2024's vote on whether to triple the parking fees for big SUVs. [1] Turnout was tiny, but the measure passed. Well what does that mean? It certainly doesn't mean that there is a huge wave of enthusiasm for the measure. But conversely it also means there's not a h…

I cannot read the fiery letters, but it’s quite possible, depending on how the affected metro vs the voting block overlaps, that those who vote aren’t those complaining.

Also complaining is easy, I could do it right now here on HN from any bathroom in the world; voting is comparatively much harder.

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#140

Post by dwedge »

TimK65 wrote: post #68
the_biot wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's worse than that. The city council very much implemented an anti-car (harassment) policy, to the point that car owners felt hounded by their own council's policies. It seriously wasn't a matter of "marginally less privileged".

Motorists are incredibly fragile. I'm glad Paris has had a mayor who could stand up to their entitled whinging.

Motorists are an easy scapegoat but without alternatives it's just political handwaving. And most people are motorists.

Take my city for example. I work in an office block around a 15 minute walk from the centre, which has free parking for employees. Monday this week the city announced that the land is now paid parking to the city effective immediately. When it was pointed out they they hadn't provided any of the necessary signage or machines for this, they decided it was illegal to park there at all, with fines and tow trucks for non compliance. An email from them suggested "cycling or using public transport as the weather is nicer".

I cannot stress this enough. No warning, no compromise, no other use for this land, just an immediate draconian announcement.

It's very easy to call another group entitled if you're not one of them

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