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

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

#351

Post by illiac786 »

GonzagueGB wrote: post #344
anvuong wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's time to stop caring about these stereotypes over-amplified by social media? I'm from Asia and I speak English with a heavy accent, the only French I know is "merci beaucoup", "toilet?", and "au revoir". I've visited Paris twice (1 week each time) and language barrier or the so-called "Parisian elitism" had never prevented me to enjoy my stay there. That being said, there is still a lot to hate about Paris:…

NYC is way filthier of a city than Paris. The subway in NYC is mental, and don’t even talk about how unfriendly people are in NYC compared to Paris. I felt safer in Paris, LA, and Seattle than I ever was in NYC.

That made me smile. I always felt people in Paris are so unfriendly while in New-York I felt almost aggressed by too much friendliness: Never had so many people asking how my day was going…

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

#353

Post by StyloBill »

xyzelement wrote: post #347
watwut wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EU is overall safer then USA. Including Paris. And cops are significantly less likely to shoot you. You dont have to be afraid of them.

Nobody is "afraid of cops" in the US.

Spoken like a true cis white american.

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

#354

Post by pfannkuchen »

black_puppydog wrote: post #262
goldenarm wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting ! My comparison was indeed limited, I only lived in center of Den Haag as a foreigner. Decentralization has its pros and cons, but Paris is way too centralized around Chatelet sometimes.

France as a whole is way too centralized on Paris and it's actually hurting the country. If you do read French, there is a very interesting book from 2024 (IIRC) about this. It's called "Quand le parisianisme écrase la France". Before reading this book I always thought Germany (where I grew up) was the exception for being more decentralized. But it looks like actually France is way more centralized even compared to o…

How is it hurting the country? Japan seems fine with it.

Or maybe it’s a scapegoat?

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

#355

Post by laughing_man »

pkulak wrote: post #284
goldenarm wrote: post #20

I moved from LA to Paris, my mental and physical health improved dramatically. I don't even take the subway, walking and biking are enough where I live. Hopefully we can reach the comfort of dutch cities within a decade.

How's your French? Sounds like a flippant question, but I hear Parisians are not that... tolerant of even bad French speakers, let alone non-speakers. That stereotype has kept me from visiting, let alone living there, despite it probably being my dream city in every other respect. I'm in my mid 40s, and learning a new (spoken) language has become extremely difficult. I spent 2 years trying to learn German a while bac…

When I visited Paris a few years back I found the key was greeting people in French. Maybe spend a couple hours learning how to say hello, how to say "excuse me" and "thank you", how to ask where the nearest toilet is, how to ask for the cheque, etc.

If people see you making the effort, they'll switch to English, in my case, anyway. But you have to show some respect, first. You have to let people know you understand you're a guest in their country.

Of course, this was many years ago. Things may be different now. And of course, if you're going to live there you're going to have to learn the language as quickly as you can.

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

#356

Post by shakow »

orochimaaru wrote: post #314
shakow wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Frenchman living in Paris – we have such a huge expat community already (and many english-speakers, I worked with Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, Americans, Canadians) than one more or less will be a non-event. Now it's true that Americans tend to love to frighten each other with firecamp stories about the Big Bad Frenchman, but IME it's mostly a mix of latent francophobia and a grapevine of bad experience between what i…

>>> say “hello” first when talking to someone, the absence of a hierarchical relationship between hospitality personnel and customers These two are generally adhered to in the US as well. May be the hierarchy part is there if you're staying at really exclusive resorts. But by and large, most folks are polite. There is obviously the random asshole. But those exist everywhere.

> These two are generally adhered to in the US as well

I'm not sure; granted I did not visit a lot of places in the US, but when I was there (Miami/Denver/Phoenix), I virtually never saw e.g. a customer greets the cashier when buying things.

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

#357

Post by valcker »

illiac786 wrote: post #351
GonzagueGB wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NYC is way filthier of a city than Paris. The subway in NYC is mental, and don’t even talk about how unfriendly people are in NYC compared to Paris. I felt safer in Paris, LA, and Seattle than I ever was in NYC.

That made me smile. I always felt people in Paris are so unfriendly while in New-York I felt almost aggressed by too much friendliness: Never had so many people asking how my day was going…

Did they really care about your day though? I feel that in France this type of conversation is rare but much more genuine and not a part of a “service”.

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

#358

Post by p0w3n3d »

eps wrote: post #341
egman_ekki wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can try an electric bike for those longer distances. It’s really fun to ride if you find a good one.

Especially in the rain, with a kid on a bolted-on backseat behind you and while sharing the road with cars that don't want you to be there. Just throw in an electric motor and will suddenly become fun.

Kids are too big for bolted on seat sadly...

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

#359

Post by rsynnott »

mantas wrote: post #285
rsynnott wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally, restrictions on cars make public transport better automatically, as they make buses work better.

Not really. Unless the restriction is to take a generic lane and dedicate it to buses. But if restriction is to take a generic lane and give it to bicycles, then both cars and buses sit in the same traffic jam.

So, first, it would be rare to bring in restrictions of this sort without doing something to buses. But even if you _don’t_, reduction in traffic helps buses (assuming you already have bus lanes, which any city doing this stuff generally would, the main problem for buses is intersections, which this helps with)

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

#360

Post by illiac786 »

valcker wrote: post #357
illiac786 wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That made me smile. I always felt people in Paris are so unfriendly while in New-York I felt almost aggressed by too much friendliness: Never had so many people asking how my day was going…

Did they really care about your day though? I feel that in France this type of conversation is rare but much more genuine and not a part of a “service”.

Oh no they didn’t but at least they pretended. In Paris, they pretend they hate you I feel.
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