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Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

greeneuropeanjournal.eu

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Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#591

Post by Tade0 »

rcpt wrote: post #518
Saline9515 wrote: post #447

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, if you live in the most expensive part of the town, which is often the epicenter, it may be ok. However, not everyone can afford this, or justify the expense, especially since you are pitted against childless couples that don't have to support children financially. Also, the presence of bikes on the sidewalk makes it hostile for vulnerable pedestrians, and generally turn a pleasant experience (walking in a city…

Childless couples aren't competing for 4 bedroom apartments. The problem is that cities forbid construction of those.

Neither do families, as that's out of reach financially. In a dense city centre a three bedroom apartment is already a sign of wealth.

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#592

Post by bee_rider »

dfee wrote: post #582
bee_rider wrote: post #557

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bit weird they decided to include some barbs about how their environment was NOT like some city, even when trying to be positive.

Me? I was just providing an alternate perspective that life beyond the boroughs is not just strip malls. I've spent a bunch of time in Manhattan. Cumulatively, many months of my life. It's a fun experience, but I'm not interested in raising my kids there.

Not you, the person you were quoting. They are the one that decided to include all the “NOT” stuff, right?

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#593

Post by jakubmazanec »

deltarholamda wrote: post #225
powvans wrote: post #10

This is really amazing to see trending on HN. I spent a couple days in Pontevedra this summer while walking the Camino de Santiago. It was absolutely delightful and what I experienced aligns with the article. The old town was filled with wide streets almost exclusively for walking, cafes and restaurants that sprawled into plazas, and people young and old enjoying the car free public space. It was one of the first sto…

>Where it exists you can see that there is tremendous demand for it. Everybody loves public transit until they get panhandled for the jillionth time, or they witness (or experience) violence, or some other anti-social behavior sours the whole thing. I spent some time in NYC during the Giuliani years, after the city did a lot of work cleaning it all up: stopping turnstile jumpers, removing graffiti, more police, etc.…

> Everybody loves public transit until they get panhandled for the jillionth time, or they witness (or experience) violence, or some other anti-social behavior sours the whole thing.

Maybe this is just another "American version" of something - in Czechia, public transportation is truly safe (incidents happen, of course, but it's like one per year that makes it to the news), even at night.

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#594

Post by Tade0 »

Simon_O_Rourke wrote: post #590

This would lead to literally murder in my part of upstate New York. Heck, my neighbor will even park on his own lawn to avoid the ten foot walk from the pavement.

I had a neighbour like that, only it was right in front of our apartment building.

Needless to say, we didn't get along.

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#595

Post by jjevanoorschot »

Saline9515 wrote: post #415
darkamaul wrote: post #232

While the current Paris administration has its detractors, its policies, removing surface parking, expanding bike lanes, and lowering speed limits, have done tremendous good for air quality (see the Airparif study for details in [0]). Paris may not yet be at Amsterdam’s scale, but only 5 % of daily trips in the city are made by car. It’s staggering that roughly 50 % of public space is allocated to cars [1], despite t…

It's a reason among others, but this bike-centric policy (pedestrians nor public transport are the priority) led to an exodus of families [0]. I am among them, as I realized pretty quickly that it's a real pain to move around, buy groceries, go to the doctor, and so on with very young children in Paris, especially if you don't own a car. And now you have to deal with the uncivil behavior of the cyclists, moreover. It…

What you’re describing is perfectly possible without a car.

I live in Amsterdam and have a young family. We own an electric cargo bike that we use for groceries and to cart around our daughter. You can use it with an infant car seat and for larger kids.

When we need a car we use a car sharing app. There are around 10 cars within walking distance of our flat.

Many people in cities _want_ a car but don’t need one.

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#596

Post by rcpt »

Saline9515 wrote: post #538
rcpt wrote: post #518

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Childless couples aren't competing for 4 bedroom apartments. The problem is that cities forbid construction of those.

Everyone is competing for space. I don't see how cities prevent building larger apartments. European cities are mostly built out anyway, and the tendency is rather more to split large apartments to cater to the childless crowd.

Cities prevent larger apartments through onerous zoning codes. It's so expensive to build because of the permits and the risk that only a narrow type of structure has a chance of profit.

> mostly built out

Look at rent in Asia. They actually build towers over there and they build large apartments for families as well as small apartments for couples. There's enough building that the housing market is diverse.

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#597

Post by crote »

stronglikedan wrote: post #433
powvans wrote: post #10

This is really amazing to see trending on HN. I spent a couple days in Pontevedra this summer while walking the Camino de Santiago. It was absolutely delightful and what I experienced aligns with the article. The old town was filled with wide streets almost exclusively for walking, cafes and restaurants that sprawled into plazas, and people young and old enjoying the car free public space. It was one of the first sto…

> Most of our public spaces prioritize cars instead of people. Maybe most but there's plenty of public space that doesn't. People choose to live around the public spaces that do. Some even try to change that instead of moving somewhere that doesn't. The great thing about America is that there's plenty of everything for everyone, but it's not just going to come to you.

That's factually incorrect. Most of America has outlawed proper mixed-use zoning, which means those nice walkable neighborhoods are literally illegal to build.

Even if you don't want to live in a detached home deep in suburbia, there often isn't an affordable alternative.

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#598

Post by justinrubek »

stronglikedan wrote: post #433
powvans wrote: post #10

This is really amazing to see trending on HN. I spent a couple days in Pontevedra this summer while walking the Camino de Santiago. It was absolutely delightful and what I experienced aligns with the article. The old town was filled with wide streets almost exclusively for walking, cafes and restaurants that sprawled into plazas, and people young and old enjoying the car free public space. It was one of the first sto…

> Most of our public spaces prioritize cars instead of people. Maybe most but there's plenty of public space that doesn't. People choose to live around the public spaces that do. Some even try to change that instead of moving somewhere that doesn't. The great thing about America is that there's plenty of everything for everyone, but it's not just going to come to you.

There's plenty of everything, as long as all you want is cars.

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#599

Post by lokar »

deltarholamda wrote: post #225
powvans wrote: post #10

This is really amazing to see trending on HN. I spent a couple days in Pontevedra this summer while walking the Camino de Santiago. It was absolutely delightful and what I experienced aligns with the article. The old town was filled with wide streets almost exclusively for walking, cafes and restaurants that sprawled into plazas, and people young and old enjoying the car free public space. It was one of the first sto…

>Where it exists you can see that there is tremendous demand for it. Everybody loves public transit until they get panhandled for the jillionth time, or they witness (or experience) violence, or some other anti-social behavior sours the whole thing. I spent some time in NYC during the Giuliani years, after the city did a lot of work cleaning it all up: stopping turnstile jumpers, removing graffiti, more police, etc.…

I lived in Manhattan (Chelsea) and took the subway to work and most other outings (when I could not walk) in the few years before Covid.

It was fine. You would get some people trying to sell stuff or in some kind of distress, but it was not all the time and it was easy to manage.

Americans who don't live in dense cities (and use transit) seem to be obsessed with the idea that these are some intolerable dystopias that must be dismantled.

It was the best place I have ever lived, except for the weather...

Re: Pontevedra, Spain declares its entire urban area a "reduced traffic zone"

#600

Post by rcpt »

Saline9515 wrote: post #524
rcpt wrote: post #514

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article says that families are leaving because of high rent. I personally love it when my kids have freedom of movement. Every family we know is the same way. Carting them around all day and then sitting and waiting at various activities just plain sucks.

Fourth paragraph: "Her war on motorists, who last year were hit with a double whammy of speed cuts on the capital’s ring road and the tripling of parking fees for heavy vehicles, such as SUVs, has also sparked fury among families." Right now in Paris, when you have a newborn, the only mobility solution is to take an Uber if you need to go somewhere >1km from where you leave. Buses are very slow and crowded, the subwa…

That just says people are mad about parking fees.

And I don't know why you need an SUV in Paris. Seems like an unnecessary luxury that most people wouldn't care for.

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