Car Free Cities

[Big Kahuna]

http://www.carfree.com/

The idea is to build a completely new, planned city, with great public transportation, a European feel, lots of open green space, and a greater sense of community.

Over the past few weeks there's been a lot of talk about "Should New Orleans be rebuilt"? "What are we going to do with all these poor displaced people?"

Rather than FEMA trailer parks, maybe we should be thinking of turning a big cornfield in Nebraska into this kind community?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I think it is a good idea

but the location of said city should be planned carefully so there are enough jobs to support the population.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

2. I don't drive. I love it. n/t

[Longhorn]

3. Don't forget the bike paths!

It would be great to be able to shop, commute, and ride for fun without dealing with all that auto traffic!

[barenakedbiker]

4. America Already Has The Best Bike Paths

The problem is the price of gas is still too low.

[BlueEyedSon]

5. America does not. Getting from point A to point B on a bike here

would get you run over by a soccer mom in an Ford Expedition.

[barenakedbiker]

8. I ride 10 miles every day...

I am still here.

[BlueEyedSon]

11. You live somewhere in the US that is very different from here.

So please don't judge the whole US by your 10 miles, its a big country!

Have you ever ridden in Manhattan, for example?

[barenakedbiker]

14. Yes, I have ridden in Mahattan

http://www.times-up.org/about.php

[BlueEyedSon]

16. Does that fall under the category of "best bike paths"?

:)

[barenakedbiker]

22. Screw That!

Just take over the streets.
www.critical-mass.org
http://donsorsa.smugmug.com/gallery/761502

[barenakedbiker]

15. So have my friends

http://www.messengers.org/

[BlueEyedSon]

18. I have too. But not since my bones were much faster-healing.....

oh, and I have a scar (some idiot opeded a car door in front of me).

Anyway, you would admit it's not for everyone, yes?

[barenakedbiker]

24. You need to stay away from the car doors

and, take your lane.

www.critical-mass.org

[barenakedbiker]

25. Bikes probably not for..

the elderly with arthritis.

[phusion]

10. Our "bike paths" here

usually consist of an extra white stripe along the shoulder which is littered full of broken glass and other debris.

[barenakedbiker]

17. You already have bike paths....

The problem is the price of gas is still too low.

[phusion]

20. I guess you missed my point?

:shrug:

[BlueEyedSon]

21. Maybe salaries are too high?

:rofl:

[BlueEyedSon]

6. Where are the solar panels/windmills?

[phusion]

7. H.S. Thompson tried to do something similar in Aspen

when he ran for Sheriff. I realize Aspen is not the same size of the community that site is envisioning, but he had some good ideas:

"Our program, basically, was to drive the real estate goons completely out of the valley: to prevent the State Highway Department from bringing a four-lane highway into the town and in fact to ban all auto traffic from every downtown street. Turn them all into grassy malls where everybody, even freaks, could do whatever's right. The cops would become trash collectors and maintenance men for a fleet of municipal bicycles, for anybody to use. No more huge, space-killing apartment buildings to block the view, from any downtown street, of anybody who might want to look up and see the mountains. No more land-rapes, no more busts for "flute playing" or "blocking the sidewalk"...fuck the tourists, dead-end the highway, zone the greedheads out of existence, and in general create a town where people could live like human beings, instead of slaves to some bogus sense of Progress that is driving us all mad."

I would absolutely love living somewhere like that...Driving sucks!

[CantGetFooledAgain]

9. That kind of thinking is brilliant

If we build it, they will come. People would get on waiting lists to live in that kind of community.

Thanks for the link, I look forward to learning more about this.

[RJRoss]

12. Where are the McMansions?

Murkins love their big ol' empty houses, jammed asshole to elbow right next to one the other.

I love the "urban village" idea - I hate having to drive to buy my groceries.

[barenakedbiker]

13. Get a Grip!

Rather than FEMA trailer parks, maybe we should be thinking of turning a big cornfield in Nebraska into this kind community?

Since when has the government has come up with any good ideas. Remember, democracy is nothing more than the mass acceptance of mediocracy.

[Big Kahuna]

27. Get a grip yourself...

Read the website.

Blessed be

[GreenPartyVoter]

19. I thought that said CAT-free cities...I was ready to sic my tigers on you!

Now that I see what the post is really about, I think it's a great idea.

[Big Kahuna]

30. Never!

I love cats! Plus, they keep the city rat & plague free! :)

[GreenPartyVoter]

31. Not to mention they are so cute-iful. *g*

[DBoon]

23. Paul Goodman wrote an essay long ago

on banning cars from Manhattan:

http://www.bopsecrets.org/CF/goodman-cars.htm

[magnolia]

26. Another plus:

Walking and bike riding would force Americans to get more exercise which would cut down on obesity, improve mental and physical health. Not having to breath exhaust would improve health too.

The drug companies, health insurance and medical industry owns us. We can fight back by improving our health.

[dcfirefighter]

28. It's a nice book

I've had it for years (or had it, I lent it out).
The website is great, though, highly recommend it.
Had I won that $250 Megamillions, I'da bought me a big ranch somewhere and built one.

[maxsolomon]

29. don't ban the cars

TAX them like they do in central London!

New Orleans can be a walking city - the numbers of residents without cars proves that.

this will make your blood boil:

http://americandreamcoalition.org/pad05.html

[dcfirefighter]

33. some of their points are true

but they talk out of both sides of their mouth: "the American Dream Coalition supports giving people freedom of choice in how they use their land and what forms of transportation they use, provided only that people pay the full costs of their choices"

Pay the full cost of your choice.

Your right to swing your fist ends short of my nose.

You take the best land, you by definition, exclude me.

Pay the full present annual value of that land, and see how many automobile suburbs are left in 20 years.

[Big Kahuna]

32. bump?

Well, you never know till you try! :)