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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

#271

Post by mcv »

drnick1 wrote: post #255
frnx wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The new large cycling strips that appeared in the last 5-6 years are so good. At commute time there are frequently jammed with /cyclists/, but let's face it it's miles better than being stuck in a car. I shudder to think about the alternative where each cyclist was instead alone in a small car, this wouldn't even fit on the roads.

> At commute time there are frequently jammed with /cyclists/, but let's face it it's miles better than being stuck in a car. Cycling is wonderful, except when it rains, when it's cold, when it's hot, when it's windy, or when you want to carry stuff. So it's not a practical solution 80% of the year.

Get a rain coat, a warm coat, take it off, and make sure you've got a big crate on your bike.

Wind does suck. I can't help you there.

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

#272

Post by david-gpu »

tw-20260303-001 wrote: post #240
david-gpu wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a pedestrian, I would rather risk a crash with a cyclist than with a car.

As a pedestrian I would hope that those cyclists remember when they’re pedestrians too. Both can kill you easily. But cars don’t sneak up on you silent from behind when you’re on a sidewalk.

Have you looked at any actual data about the rate at which drivers and cyclists kill people in your area? Can you even find news about the last time a cyclist killed a pedestrian in your city?

Because I keep an eye on the official Police stats in Toronto and it is eye-opening. Statistically, drivers kill people, and cyclists don't. It is not even remotely close.

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

#273

Post by apothegm »

pizza234 wrote: post #179
jstummbillig wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: What is the hard part? If you took all of that stuff and did it as quickly as you could somewhere else, what's would be the biggest issue? People + resistance to change of any kind? The outcome seems so obviously good. I have never heard of anyone complaining about a city becoming less car centric, but maybe somehow it's an under-represented story?

There are places where car is simply the mean of transport - to the point where using the car is preferred to literally a five minutes walk. In contexts like this, using a car is perceived as a right - restricting usage doesn't make people think "I'll take the chance to use the bike", rather "How the f*ck do I get there now?".

The trouble is that the backlash occurs even in places that are pedestrian and transit dominated.

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

#274

Post by convolvatron »

thrance wrote: post #259
tw-20260303-001 wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a pedestrian I would hope that those cyclists remember when they’re pedestrians too. Both can kill you easily. But cars don’t sneak up on you silent from behind when you’re on a sidewalk.

> Both can kill you easily. What a ridiculous statement. Motorized vehicles are involved in the vast majority of road casualties. You are much, much more likely to die from a car accident than a bike accident.

as a former pedestrian only and bike rider for the last 5 years, we really do have to admit that bike riders can be real assholes. whether or not the level of injury is the same, it definitely feels an unwarranted physical threat to have a biker shoot past you from behind or run you down in the crosswalk.

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

#275

Post by nxm »

rimbo789 wrote: post #60
youknownothing wrote: post #49

[flagged]

Yes it is ideological: cars kill cities, kill communities and are bad for everyone involved. They are dangerous to drivers and non drivers alike and are deeply anti social. We need less cars everywhere period. Putting cars in cities was also deeply ideological. It was about segregation and as a way to extract as much resources from people as possible. The imposition of cars was about turning people into consumers who…

No - we chose car as we were offered a way to not have to live in shoeboxes and having freedom to drive and explore not on anyone schedule.

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

#277

Post by oftenwrong »

rapht wrote: post #73

This article omits so many negatives from the "cyclist's paradise" vision of Hidalgo's 2 terms that I don't know where to start. Families are the first casualties: the Paris metro is nowhere near accessible to strollers except if you are willing to go to the chiropractor after each week end, and using your car - hell, even parking your family car - is a no go as soon as there is some kind of hipster sports event or j…

Surely the school streets are a great benefit for families, yes? That seems as pro-child as public space allocation could be.

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

#278

Post by marc_g »

gambiting wrote: post #265
drnick1 wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At commute time there are frequently jammed with /cyclists/, but let's face it it's miles better than being stuck in a car. Cycling is wonderful, except when it rains, when it's cold, when it's hot, when it's windy, or when you want to carry stuff. So it's not a practical solution 80% of the year.

God I hate this argument so much - it's just such an obviously incorrect statement which is always hard to win against because then the other side will always say "well what if you live in Novosibirsk and it's -60C outside, WHAT THEN CYCLISTS" - well nothing, if you live there then yeah I guess it doesn't work. But if you live in London, Paris, Warsaw, Barcelona, Talin or Stockholm it just doesn't hold water , and th…

I’m with you. As someone who cycles every day, just put the right clothes on when the weather calls for it, and if you need to buy a sofa, then rent an hourly car for ten bucks.

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

#279

Post by rootusrootus »

yulker wrote: post #118
TimK65 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Interesting how correctly naming them motorists sharpens how "the default" is often to be presumed drivers and pedestrians and cyclists are marginal

I don’t know that it’s a helpful distinction. A lot of people do it all - drive, walk, bike, and take public transit. Only in this kind of discussion do I see people declaring it a team you have to choose.

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

#280

Post by pkulak »

goldenarm wrote: post #210
mrtksn wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you think about all those videos on how dangerous Paris is? Having made the move, would you say that those stem from real experiences and are organic or would you say that it was an organized campaign for some political reason? Or maybe something else? Trump keeps saying that they want to prevent USA becoming a dangerous place like Europe, even said that recently and the Irish president disagreed with him. As…

I don't have anecdata, but Paris homicide rate is 6x less than LA, 10x fewer car related deaths, but only 1.2x less crime. Comparing countries and policies is a great thing, we have to learn from each other. Just be careful of misinformation and out of context numbers. Sure France's GDP seems lower, but they don't need a larger car and a larger diet coke to be happier.

I just paid about 2 grand for new tires on my car. That contributed to GDP, but it certainly didn't make me happier than I'd be if I didn't need a car in the first place. GDP is very misleading when it's measuring work that shouldn't need to be done in the first place. Hurricanes and earthquakes are also amazing for GDP, especially in places that never bothered to prepare for them.
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