I like cars but…
I like cars but…
I can’t help but think that cars (EV included) just aren’t the answer. I feel like bikes aren’t the answer either. I feel like the metro and high speed rail are.
Most people don’t drive because they like driving (US), most people drive because they have to. And that sucks. You shouldn’t feel like you’re forced to drive. Because that’s auto insurance and auto registration that you have to pay.
You can’t eliminate roads altogether. You need at least one or two lanes for fire trucks, ambulances, garbage trucks, etc. but you can create pockets of no car zones.
People like me who like cars, should be able to have places we store our cars. We should have places where we can explore the limits of our cars instead of driving through traffic. But that should be a strictly extracurricular activity.
In the no car pockets, you should be able to walk to a grocery store, hardware store, that has what you need. You should be able to have mixed zoning. Single family units shouldn’t be the norm. If I own a car but it’s not my dedicated form of transportation, I can buy a cooler car and I don’t need a garage next to where I live to store it. I can store it outside no car pockets so that I can take public transport to my car and then take my car to the track.
Yes, it’ll take awhile to get there but why aren’t we doing more to that end? Am I too idealistic?
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Walking, bikes and various forms of public/mass transit are all good, but are still not sufficient in a North American environment.
- Weather sucks. From ankle deep snow that melts to slush and then freezes to be extremely uneven and slippery makes walking unpleasant to dangerous. As much as my city tries to keep up, there is only so much time and funds to clear snow.
- Not everyone is fully able bodied. I'll skip the obvious mobility impaired that people can identify by sight, but include those who look fully able, but for various reasons cannot. ie people with middle ear issues who cannot ride a bike due to lack of balance, or a medical issue where they can do a 30-40 minute walk, but takes them hours to recover.
- Not everything CAN be within a 15-20 minute walk! There are lots on specialty and mom & pop stores that I go to that require longer range transport.
- If you have kids, and they are involved in extracurricular activities, especially sports, you need a vehicle to get them to and from their destination.
- Whatever city you live in is different than someone else's. From city design, availability and safety of public transit, environment etc. Should every city aspire to be more friendly to those without a car, sure. But the reality is that most cities have spent the last 50 years being built around a car. Making changes to small pockets to be walk-able is a good start, but the reality is that it will be decades before any major overall change would be feasible. Until then we should also look to minimize the environmental impact of cars and EVs are a good start to that.