vision zero IRL
October 25, 2015 2:21 PM Subscribe
Right. Well, um, using layman's terms... Use a retaining magnetic field to focus a narrow beam of gravitons - these, in turn, fold space-time consistent with Weyl tensor dynamics until the space-time curvature becomes infinitely large, and you produce a singularity.
posted by Drinky Die at 2:43 PM on October 25, 2015 [11 favorites]
posted by Drinky Die at 2:43 PM on October 25, 2015 [11 favorites]
Yeah, that one is a bit unclear. I thought it might mean that any location can be reached in a trip including at most 15 minutes of walking plus some amount of public transit. On further research, though, it looks like it's planned to be just a really dense, small "city". It's not Chengdu itself they're talking about, but rather this planned "satellite."
Also, for whatever it's worth, the linked post is mostly copied from here, just with two new entries thrown on the end.
posted by whatnotever at 2:44 PM on October 25, 2015
Also, for whatever it's worth, the linked post is mostly copied from here, just with two new entries thrown on the end.
posted by whatnotever at 2:44 PM on October 25, 2015
I notice that Copenhagen is thrown in here in its "as is" state, not because of any new plans. Which is a bit of a pity, because there's enough car traffic left in Copenhagen for further improvement.
posted by Namlit at 2:44 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Namlit at 2:44 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm moving to Copenhagen next week with my two bicycles thus helping with the more bikes than people thing. My commute to work will be too long to go by bike unfortunately, but the public transport is awesome so I'll do that instead. My husband already lives there with his one bicycle which he uses to get to work every day and he raves about the bike lanes and suchlike. Car tax and registration is so crazy expensive up there, buying a car has pretty much fallen right off the bottom of our list of things to do.
posted by shelleycat at 2:47 PM on October 25, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by shelleycat at 2:47 PM on October 25, 2015 [5 favorites]
Aspen, Colorado could have been the pioneer, but Hunter S. Thompson and Joe Edwards lost their elections.
posted by delfin at 2:50 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by delfin at 2:50 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
Helsinki’s new app will allow citizens to call up a shared bike, car or taxi, or find the nearest train or bus.
I have this vision of a really long tandem bike going past and I just hop on the free seat at the back and we all share the ride to work. I know that's not what it means, but it would be fun!
posted by shelleycat at 2:52 PM on October 25, 2015 [11 favorites]
I have this vision of a really long tandem bike going past and I just hop on the free seat at the back and we all share the ride to work. I know that's not what it means, but it would be fun!
posted by shelleycat at 2:52 PM on October 25, 2015 [11 favorites]
More on Chengdu Tianfu District Great City from the architects -- includes this lovely site plan [hi-res jpeg]. It's definitely more in the direction of being an arcology. Quite a lot of the space is taken up by several "romantic flower gardens." Looks nice, honestly. I'd love to live in a compact, well-designed, car-free city/town/neighborhood/arcology.
posted by whatnotever at 2:54 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by whatnotever at 2:54 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Paris (namely current mayor Anne Hidalgo) is indeed making a lot of strides. There's going to be an entire bank of the Seine made pedestrian for 2016, which is huge as the motorized vehicle part is between four and six lanes, depending on where you are.
Pollution was so much better on the car-free day in September, it wasn't even funny. Between 20% and 40% lower.
Also: *fraula waves hi from the skyscrapers in La Défense behind the Arc de Triomphe in the article's photo*
Helsinki’s new app will allow citizens to call up a shared bike, car or taxi, or find the nearest train or bus.
We have this in Paris too, but it's still pretty brand new. iDPass by the SNCF; I'm one of the first users because I take the TGV so often over long distances (to get back to my apartment in Nice). Got a free year of electrical car subscription, free first hour, can call up a taxi that will fit with my train's schedule – haven't done that yet though, public transportation here is so practical I've only used a taxi once, and that was to get home from hospital. Which reminds me. Another incentive was averaging out the monthly public transport pass. It used to be more expensive if you regularly travelled to the suburbs; now it's the same price for everyone, 70 euros. I used to pay 89 so that was quite a welcome change. Unlimited travel on Parisian lines (métro-bus-RER), wheehee.
posted by fraula at 2:59 PM on October 25, 2015 [7 favorites]
Pollution was so much better on the car-free day in September, it wasn't even funny. Between 20% and 40% lower.
Also: *fraula waves hi from the skyscrapers in La Défense behind the Arc de Triomphe in the article's photo*
Helsinki’s new app will allow citizens to call up a shared bike, car or taxi, or find the nearest train or bus.
We have this in Paris too, but it's still pretty brand new. iDPass by the SNCF; I'm one of the first users because I take the TGV so often over long distances (to get back to my apartment in Nice). Got a free year of electrical car subscription, free first hour, can call up a taxi that will fit with my train's schedule – haven't done that yet though, public transportation here is so practical I've only used a taxi once, and that was to get home from hospital. Which reminds me. Another incentive was averaging out the monthly public transport pass. It used to be more expensive if you regularly travelled to the suburbs; now it's the same price for everyone, 70 euros. I used to pay 89 so that was quite a welcome change. Unlimited travel on Parisian lines (métro-bus-RER), wheehee.
posted by fraula at 2:59 PM on October 25, 2015 [7 favorites]
I love this idea and would welcome it with open arms. I'm car-less in Seattle and mostly make do by making significant life decisions based on being close to a bus line, like where I live and work. I'd prefer to be living further north or south of the city with larger space for less money but that's not how it works, and I'm fine with that. When my partner moved in with me in September we borrowed a van. Yesterday we picked up some needed shelving (she still had stuff in moving boxes) and out of the blue an awesome record/8 track/cassette home jukebox. I had to argue with the cab-driver to even attempt to get it into the cab. These were spur of the moment purchases and it worked out fine. But what do people in these cities do when they want to move a bed or get rid of a couch?
posted by kittensofthenight at 3:00 PM on October 25, 2015
posted by kittensofthenight at 3:00 PM on October 25, 2015
Also, there's a specific thread that links all of these cities - they were either built long before the car was created, or are being built with non-automobile traffic specifically in mind. It's more about kicking the car out of places it was never really designed to be in than it is converting other cities into car-free paradises. I'd be immensely curious to see the age of the areas that these designated car-free zones are in; I'm willing to bet that they're all older than the mass adoption of the car. Not that I'm against such things, just that we should be more realistic with our expectations - some areas are built to be optimized for the car, others were not.
(I'm also reasonably uncomfortable with any list hailing construction projects in the UAE, given that they're all made with slave labor.)
posted by Punkey at 3:07 PM on October 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
(I'm also reasonably uncomfortable with any list hailing construction projects in the UAE, given that they're all made with slave labor.)
posted by Punkey at 3:07 PM on October 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
In the backseat of what are teenagers supposed to make out in, exactly?
posted by jonmc at 3:09 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 3:09 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
15 minutes
Please tell me it's because moving sidewalks.
posted by LarsC at 3:16 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Please tell me it's because moving sidewalks.
posted by LarsC at 3:16 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
In the backseat of what are teenagers supposed to make out in, exactly?
Is it a coincidence that car-free cities have lots of public parks?
posted by lollymccatburglar at 3:17 PM on October 25, 2015 [13 favorites]
Is it a coincidence that car-free cities have lots of public parks?
posted by lollymccatburglar at 3:17 PM on October 25, 2015 [13 favorites]
Also: Madridlenians? Like, was that better than just saying "madrileños"?
posted by lollymccatburglar at 3:18 PM on October 25, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by lollymccatburglar at 3:18 PM on October 25, 2015 [5 favorites]
But what do people in these cities do when they want to move a bed or get rid of a couch?
I'm carless in Toronto and I manage to get a lot of things of varying sizes/awkwardness home by bike or public transit (although carrying two 44" long, 14 pound flatpacks of these under my arms to the bus stop was a bit of a challenge when the wind whipped up.)
But that trip convinced me that I'm ready to pay delivery/removal fees as needed a few times a year for really large things that I really need or need to get rid off. (If I had a driver's license, I'd rent as needed.) Even a potential makes-me-want-to-sit-down $500 annually for deliveries/removal services/car rental is still well under what it could cost to fuel, insure and maintain a personal car each year.
(Of course, I also try to buy less stuff, and anything that I want to get rid of can be given away or sold via Freecycle or Craigslist.)
posted by maudlin at 3:21 PM on October 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'm carless in Toronto and I manage to get a lot of things of varying sizes/awkwardness home by bike or public transit (although carrying two 44" long, 14 pound flatpacks of these under my arms to the bus stop was a bit of a challenge when the wind whipped up.)
But that trip convinced me that I'm ready to pay delivery/removal fees as needed a few times a year for really large things that I really need or need to get rid off. (If I had a driver's license, I'd rent as needed.) Even a potential makes-me-want-to-sit-down $500 annually for deliveries/removal services/car rental is still well under what it could cost to fuel, insure and maintain a personal car each year.
(Of course, I also try to buy less stuff, and anything that I want to get rid of can be given away or sold via Freecycle or Craigslist.)
posted by maudlin at 3:21 PM on October 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
But what do people in these cities do when they want to move a bed or get rid of a couch?
There's this fantastic thing that happens when the 90% of traffic that is unnecessary ceases: it becomes easier for the remaining necessary traffic to move. I'm sure the cities that do this sort of thing have thought of it. After all, they still have fleets of municipal service vehicles that need to get around.
I'd love for my city to shut down most of downtown, but I'm sure the chamber of commerce is already arming for the fight.
posted by klanawa at 3:33 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
There's this fantastic thing that happens when the 90% of traffic that is unnecessary ceases: it becomes easier for the remaining necessary traffic to move. I'm sure the cities that do this sort of thing have thought of it. After all, they still have fleets of municipal service vehicles that need to get around.
I'd love for my city to shut down most of downtown, but I'm sure the chamber of commerce is already arming for the fight.
posted by klanawa at 3:33 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
Meanwhile in Washington DC, churches are using the 1st Amendment to remove bike lanes, and claim ownership of on-street parking, calling car-free infrastructure "a cancer" that will destroy their congregations.
Given historical precedent, the church will likely succeed.
posted by schmod at 3:34 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
Given historical precedent, the church will likely succeed.
posted by schmod at 3:34 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
kittensofthenight, I use a bike trailer for that sort of thing. For example, Bikes at Work trailers.
Heavy-duty bike trailers are usually a shared resource among a community of people. For instance, me and my partner have one because we're building a house, and someone dropped by just yesterday morning to borrow it.
posted by aniola at 3:37 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Heavy-duty bike trailers are usually a shared resource among a community of people. For instance, me and my partner have one because we're building a house, and someone dropped by just yesterday morning to borrow it.
posted by aniola at 3:37 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
I don't know how people who use transit do it, though. Or people who walk. How do people who walk haul everything around? Push-carts? Wagons? Backpacks?
posted by aniola at 3:37 PM on October 25, 2015
posted by aniola at 3:37 PM on October 25, 2015
Bejing with and without cars.
There's a saying used in China, originally just to refer to one event, but it broadened, I really liked it when I first heard it, it reminded me of Pepsi Blue, something that might be pretty neat, but there is some sort of marketing agenda beneath the clear surface.
APEC blue (Chinese: APEC蓝) refers to the rare blue sky in Beijing during APEC China 2014 due to emission reduction campaign directed by Chinese government. Because of its transience, the new phrase "APEC blue" also refers to something wonderful but also fleeting.
Hopefully these changes become more permanent, and lasting.
posted by infinite intimation at 3:39 PM on October 25, 2015 [4 favorites]
There's a saying used in China, originally just to refer to one event, but it broadened, I really liked it when I first heard it, it reminded me of Pepsi Blue, something that might be pretty neat, but there is some sort of marketing agenda beneath the clear surface.
APEC blue (Chinese: APEC蓝) refers to the rare blue sky in Beijing during APEC China 2014 due to emission reduction campaign directed by Chinese government. Because of its transience, the new phrase "APEC blue" also refers to something wonderful but also fleeting.
Hopefully these changes become more permanent, and lasting.
posted by infinite intimation at 3:39 PM on October 25, 2015 [4 favorites]
That breaks my heart, schmod.
I'd love to use that precedent to join a nature-based religion and remove car lanes.
posted by aniola at 3:39 PM on October 25, 2015 [5 favorites]
I'd love to use that precedent to join a nature-based religion and remove car lanes.
posted by aniola at 3:39 PM on October 25, 2015 [5 favorites]
klanawa, I like to think of it as "opening up downtown" rather than shutting it down.
When the streets are filled with people, it is then that the streets are alive.
posted by aniola at 3:42 PM on October 25, 2015 [6 favorites]
When the streets are filled with people, it is then that the streets are alive.
posted by aniola at 3:42 PM on October 25, 2015 [6 favorites]
Haven't had a car in over 20 years. Don't miss it in the slightest. Public transportation and the occasional cab work just fine. When we moved to our place in 2000, we did rent a U-haul. It feels good to be car free on the Island of Oahu.
posted by scottymac at 3:58 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by scottymac at 3:58 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Car-free Oahu. Now THAT would be an island paradise!
posted by aniola at 4:34 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by aniola at 4:34 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
How lovely for people with full mobility. As a disabled person I can tell you this is a living nightmare. When I lived in Seattle I often had to drive to the suburbs to do my shopping because the lack of parking meant I couldn't get within a reasonable walking distance for my abilities. I even had to tell the courthouse I couldn't do jury duty because the only parking available was down a steep hill I could not traverse. They actually told me this was a common problem and excused me. The university I am currently attending prides itself on the fact that it is actually designed to "encourage walking and biking", however they completely ignore the fact that anyone in a wheelchair or reliant on a cane or walker has to traverse up to a quarter mile of loose cobblestones, stairs (with no elevator or ramp alternative), and hills to get to class if they can't park in the limited disabled parking offered.
I would love to see fewer cars on the road, but the fact that these cities seem to have this "Logan's Run" vision of healthy, young people jogging everywhere feels a bit exclusionary to those of us who are already fighting to stay involved in public life.
posted by evilcupcakes at 4:39 PM on October 25, 2015 [39 favorites]
I would love to see fewer cars on the road, but the fact that these cities seem to have this "Logan's Run" vision of healthy, young people jogging everywhere feels a bit exclusionary to those of us who are already fighting to stay involved in public life.
posted by evilcupcakes at 4:39 PM on October 25, 2015 [39 favorites]
The irony in that DC church's opposition to the bike lanes is that some of the many luxury apartment complexes they own in the city tout having a bike room as among the amenities (e.g.).
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 4:43 PM on October 25, 2015
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 4:43 PM on October 25, 2015
I want to understand this, because it sounds impossible.
The corollary is that everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:46 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
The corollary is that everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:46 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yes! Access for people of all ages and physical abilities absolutely needs to be taken into account when talking about a car-free future.
For this reason, frequent access to pedestrian parking (benches) and 24-hour public restrooms need to be a part of these conversations as well.
posted by aniola at 4:52 PM on October 25, 2015 [6 favorites]
For this reason, frequent access to pedestrian parking (benches) and 24-hour public restrooms need to be a part of these conversations as well.
posted by aniola at 4:52 PM on October 25, 2015 [6 favorites]
If only I could live in a country that did things properly.
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:13 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:13 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
I don't know how people who use transit do it, though. Or people who walk. How do people who walk haul everything around? Push-carts? Wagons? Backpacks?
Some combination. I have one of those old lady collapsible shopping cart things I will sometimes take to the store if I need to buy cat litter or a case of beer or whatever, but I live super close to the supermarket, the co-op and the farmer's market and I try to buy small enough quantities at a time that I stuff it all in a few tote bags and schlep it home. Of course I largely work from home and live alone so near-daily shopping (which I enjoy) is a luxury I have.
Note: I do have a car, which I use for travel and large object purchases and the like. But day to day, I'm mostly on foot
posted by thivaia at 5:53 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Some combination. I have one of those old lady collapsible shopping cart things I will sometimes take to the store if I need to buy cat litter or a case of beer or whatever, but I live super close to the supermarket, the co-op and the farmer's market and I try to buy small enough quantities at a time that I stuff it all in a few tote bags and schlep it home. Of course I largely work from home and live alone so near-daily shopping (which I enjoy) is a luxury I have.
Note: I do have a car, which I use for travel and large object purchases and the like. But day to day, I'm mostly on foot
posted by thivaia at 5:53 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
It would be nice. I almost got run over in a crosswalk (walking on the pedestrian light) yesterday. There wasn't really any excuse.
posted by Nevin at 6:17 PM on October 25, 2015
posted by Nevin at 6:17 PM on October 25, 2015
One thing that works wizard for hauling heavy loads (bags of flour, sugar, boxes of potatoes, etc.) is a large stroller. Most of them have large wheels; they collapse into a trunk; multiple levels in most cases; easy to push; and I like to believe that people notice them a little more thinking there is a baby inside. And hey if anyone hits your re-purposed stroller they get to feel really horrified for a little while.
posted by Mitheral at 6:30 PM on October 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Mitheral at 6:30 PM on October 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
I would dearly love to not drive to and from school every weekday.
Bicycling seems a little impractical, at least for right now.
Winters here are not great for long-distance bike commuting (though many people do it and good for them), and the couple of 700ft summits are, to be honest, a little intimidating.
I might give public transit a shot when my kid can go it alone.
Have to do some work to see if there is a way to cut down the 45 minute transit time google is giving me right now, though.
What I mean to say is, I applaud all of these efforts, but it might be a long time before it trickles down to your average U.S. city.
posted by madajb at 6:49 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Bicycling seems a little impractical, at least for right now.
Winters here are not great for long-distance bike commuting (though many people do it and good for them), and the couple of 700ft summits are, to be honest, a little intimidating.
I might give public transit a shot when my kid can go it alone.
Have to do some work to see if there is a way to cut down the 45 minute transit time google is giving me right now, though.
What I mean to say is, I applaud all of these efforts, but it might be a long time before it trickles down to your average U.S. city.
posted by madajb at 6:49 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
But what do people in these cities do when they want to move a bed or get rid of a couch?
Last week on the bus here in Calgary, mid-morning so not busy, a middle-aged Chinese couple got on with a double-sized mattress, which they proceeded to store in the "disabled" area with fold-up seats. I was kind of surprised, but why the hell not? That seemed like a pretty good use of a partly-filled bus.
posted by sneebler at 6:49 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
Last week on the bus here in Calgary, mid-morning so not busy, a middle-aged Chinese couple got on with a double-sized mattress, which they proceeded to store in the "disabled" area with fold-up seats. I was kind of surprised, but why the hell not? That seemed like a pretty good use of a partly-filled bus.
posted by sneebler at 6:49 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
cichlid ceilidh: "The irony in that DC church's opposition to the bike lanes is that some of the many luxury apartment complexes they own in the city"
Can we pause for a moment to unpack the utter insanity of that statement?
posted by schmod at 6:58 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Can we pause for a moment to unpack the utter insanity of that statement?
posted by schmod at 6:58 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
I would love to only drive for pleasure (like hiking trips and vacations) but right now my life is pretty much the opposite of that, sadly. Even partial and incremental moves towards this, as described in the FPP, are worthwhile, as long as they are done in ways that improve quality of life for all people, not just the cyclists and fit walkers, as noted above.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:04 PM on October 25, 2015
posted by Dip Flash at 7:04 PM on October 25, 2015
If you walk/use transit, you take a jitney cab home from the grocery store/Target if you need something heavy. If you need something big, you wait to get it until you can use your neighbor's/cousin's/co-worker's truck.
An issue is that in the US, carlessness most often indicates poverty (outside of NYC and maybe a couple of other big cities) so while it would make the most sense to rent or hire when you need to move something big, usually one just has to patch together assistance or go without.
Bike trailers are nice as far as they go, so to speak, but I think you have to be pretty seriously fit to move multiple heavy loads over long distances in heavy traffic.
In re Beijing: I worked in Beijing around 2001 (I am so old; it doesn't seem that long ago now) and all those shots of blue skies were how it looked much of the time at least through fall and winter. There's a lot more wind at those times and it clears the sky, but even in the late summer we had many sunny, clear days. There were far, far fewer private cars and far more bikes. Sadly, what was really needed was more buses, as far as I could tell - they were always jam-packed no matter the time of day.
It's been so long since I was there, it seems like a dream. What a wonderful city, though.
posted by Frowner at 7:22 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
An issue is that in the US, carlessness most often indicates poverty (outside of NYC and maybe a couple of other big cities) so while it would make the most sense to rent or hire when you need to move something big, usually one just has to patch together assistance or go without.
Bike trailers are nice as far as they go, so to speak, but I think you have to be pretty seriously fit to move multiple heavy loads over long distances in heavy traffic.
In re Beijing: I worked in Beijing around 2001 (I am so old; it doesn't seem that long ago now) and all those shots of blue skies were how it looked much of the time at least through fall and winter. There's a lot more wind at those times and it clears the sky, but even in the late summer we had many sunny, clear days. There were far, far fewer private cars and far more bikes. Sadly, what was really needed was more buses, as far as I could tell - they were always jam-packed no matter the time of day.
It's been so long since I was there, it seems like a dream. What a wonderful city, though.
posted by Frowner at 7:22 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
How do people who walk haul everything around?
I have not driven in something like twenty-five years, lived on my own most of that time, and have not starved. Essentially all groceries arrived by via a walk back from the grocery store or farmer's market; fortunately I lived in a fairly dense downtown, so there were three major supermarkets within ten minutes' walk. Now I amliving with married to someone with a car and living in a low-density suburb, where most of the groceries arrive by car.
We have been shacked up just over five years, and for five years before that I was living in my one-bedroom apartment in the downtown core, so I have two essentially equivalent spans of time to look at.
Before: carrying a bag or two at most necessitated two to three trips a week to keep food in the fridge. In dismal weather, it was mildly inconvenient. Plus side: more exercise.
Now: we compile a grocery list and go every week or two to come home with a trunk full of food and supplies. Not notably more convenient -- we have to accommodate the schedules of multiple people -- and with several people (there are also offspring involved) of varying appetites and inclinations, the fridge is full. Indeed, so full that we occasionally find forgotten purchases that have lingered well past their best-before date.
There are a couple of grocery places within 1-2 km of my new place, so I hoof it up to one of these for some fresh lunch ingredients when the weather is fine, and also because since I mostly work from home, I want to have a reason to go out at least once a day.
To be honest, my food was fresher when I lived carfree, because usually what I was eating had come home only a few days before.
As far as furniture went in the Before days: I bought a couch new, which I had delivered. Likewise a computer desk. The bed and two or three bookcases I entreated a couple of friends with cars (one for the bed, which arrived as planks and a mattress, one for the bookcases, purchased as three flat packs). In each case, I prevailed upon the friends with cars for about two hours. To do so twice in five years does not seem especially excessive. When I moved out, I rounded up four or five people and we loaded my entire apartment -- at least, what I did not divest myself of ahead of time -- into a cube van. That took about three hours, then I took them all out for dinner. Then one of the friends drove me and my belongings to the new place. All told between 2005 and 2010, I cadged well under 24 person-hours of time to furnish and subsequently empty the apartment.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:29 PM on October 25, 2015 [4 favorites]
I have not driven in something like twenty-five years, lived on my own most of that time, and have not starved. Essentially all groceries arrived by via a walk back from the grocery store or farmer's market; fortunately I lived in a fairly dense downtown, so there were three major supermarkets within ten minutes' walk. Now I am
We have been shacked up just over five years, and for five years before that I was living in my one-bedroom apartment in the downtown core, so I have two essentially equivalent spans of time to look at.
Before: carrying a bag or two at most necessitated two to three trips a week to keep food in the fridge. In dismal weather, it was mildly inconvenient. Plus side: more exercise.
Now: we compile a grocery list and go every week or two to come home with a trunk full of food and supplies. Not notably more convenient -- we have to accommodate the schedules of multiple people -- and with several people (there are also offspring involved) of varying appetites and inclinations, the fridge is full. Indeed, so full that we occasionally find forgotten purchases that have lingered well past their best-before date.
There are a couple of grocery places within 1-2 km of my new place, so I hoof it up to one of these for some fresh lunch ingredients when the weather is fine, and also because since I mostly work from home, I want to have a reason to go out at least once a day.
To be honest, my food was fresher when I lived carfree, because usually what I was eating had come home only a few days before.
As far as furniture went in the Before days: I bought a couch new, which I had delivered. Likewise a computer desk. The bed and two or three bookcases I entreated a couple of friends with cars (one for the bed, which arrived as planks and a mattress, one for the bookcases, purchased as three flat packs). In each case, I prevailed upon the friends with cars for about two hours. To do so twice in five years does not seem especially excessive. When I moved out, I rounded up four or five people and we loaded my entire apartment -- at least, what I did not divest myself of ahead of time -- into a cube van. That took about three hours, then I took them all out for dinner. Then one of the friends drove me and my belongings to the new place. All told between 2005 and 2010, I cadged well under 24 person-hours of time to furnish and subsequently empty the apartment.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:29 PM on October 25, 2015 [4 favorites]
There's a street I ride on when I'm coming home from downtown. It's called Williams Street, and it carries thousands of people on bicycles every day. I get dropped by the crowd of people on bikes after every single stop light. I guarantee you, I'm no athlete. And I have moved multiple heavy trailer loads across the city.
Even taking into account the legitimate issues of physical ability and street safety, I think that for many people it comes down to a matter of priorities rather than a matter of level of fitness. I do agree that it's not something everyone can do (electric bikes expand the number of people who can), that it may not make sense for every situation, and that it requires a paradigm shift.
I fully expect to see carfree cities become common in this century.
posted by aniola at 7:42 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Even taking into account the legitimate issues of physical ability and street safety, I think that for many people it comes down to a matter of priorities rather than a matter of level of fitness. I do agree that it's not something everyone can do (electric bikes expand the number of people who can), that it may not make sense for every situation, and that it requires a paradigm shift.
I fully expect to see carfree cities become common in this century.
posted by aniola at 7:42 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
I will move to the first city in North America to implement this. Seriously. Who's it going to be? Minneapolis?
I happened to spend a few hours today sitting beside a street watching families literally run for their lives from cars on a beautiful boulevard in Chicago. This particular street was designed so that there is a crosswalk across an area that is basically a 4 lane highway through a parkway that has heavy foot traffic. It's complete insanity. Even if one car stops, the rest might just go around them. A few hours later the street was closed down entirely for a halloween parade and it was instantly an order of magnitude better where the police were actually acting as crossing guards and the cars that did get through were going about 1/8th of the speed.
posted by mike_bling at 7:59 PM on October 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
I happened to spend a few hours today sitting beside a street watching families literally run for their lives from cars on a beautiful boulevard in Chicago. This particular street was designed so that there is a crosswalk across an area that is basically a 4 lane highway through a parkway that has heavy foot traffic. It's complete insanity. Even if one car stops, the rest might just go around them. A few hours later the street was closed down entirely for a halloween parade and it was instantly an order of magnitude better where the police were actually acting as crossing guards and the cars that did get through were going about 1/8th of the speed.
posted by mike_bling at 7:59 PM on October 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
I don't know how people who use transit do it, though. Or people who walk. How do people who walk haul everything around? Push-carts? Wagons? Backpacks?
I walked home with a 15kg digital piano keyboard once...
But seriously most of the time I just order bulky stuff online and it appears at my doorstep.
After I get home from work I walk 10 minutes to the nearest store, buy some fresh food / ingredients, take it home and cook it and eat it, if there are any leftovers they go into my lunch box for the next day or get binned. Zero food wastage. Self service supermarket allows me to buy, say, exactly 15 cents of ginger as garnishing if that is exactly what I need for my cooking that night, or exactly 1 carrot. I must say that I can tell the difference in freshness when I cook stuff that's directly off the shelf of the supermarket as opposed to sitting in my fridge or freezer for a few days. And what I lose out on in bulk discount (buying a carrot loose is about twice as expensive as buying them by the bag) I gain in avoiding wastage and getting fresher product in my food, and the freedom of deciding what I really want to eat as opposed to trying to "use up" the stuff in the fridge that is nearing the end of its life.
High density inner city living is a great model for the future, I think.
posted by xdvesper at 8:16 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
I walked home with a 15kg digital piano keyboard once...
But seriously most of the time I just order bulky stuff online and it appears at my doorstep.
After I get home from work I walk 10 minutes to the nearest store, buy some fresh food / ingredients, take it home and cook it and eat it, if there are any leftovers they go into my lunch box for the next day or get binned. Zero food wastage. Self service supermarket allows me to buy, say, exactly 15 cents of ginger as garnishing if that is exactly what I need for my cooking that night, or exactly 1 carrot. I must say that I can tell the difference in freshness when I cook stuff that's directly off the shelf of the supermarket as opposed to sitting in my fridge or freezer for a few days. And what I lose out on in bulk discount (buying a carrot loose is about twice as expensive as buying them by the bag) I gain in avoiding wastage and getting fresher product in my food, and the freedom of deciding what I really want to eat as opposed to trying to "use up" the stuff in the fridge that is nearing the end of its life.
High density inner city living is a great model for the future, I think.
posted by xdvesper at 8:16 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
All of these intra-city transportation designs are interesting, but inter-city transit is probably even more important for getting rid of cars. Taking about turning each suburban center into its own little city is also great, but unless every working person in a given household can get jobs all in that same urban center (and then afford to live in a place with so many job opportunities), at least one of them is hopping in a car twice a day. (Or, I guess, taking a bus connection on each side to regional rail or whatever, but I think most people won't tolerate a 90+ minute commute when the direct route would take half that or less.)
posted by WCWedin at 8:53 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by WCWedin at 8:53 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
All of these intra-city transportation designs are interesting, but inter-city transit is probably even more important for getting rid of cars.
Even at a 2:1 time ratio between public transport and driving some people will still choose public transport - I have a 26km commute each day that takes me 35 minutes in a car, or 75 minutes by public transport. I am actually "cost neutral" with both options and consider them both equally desirable. (cost being all costs, not just money)
The difference is between spending 35 minutes driving, or spending 25 minutes walking + 30 minutes relaxing in a train where I can surf the net, play mobile games or have a nap. Ironically I feel like I have less overall time driving, since I count that 25 minutes of walking as mandatory exercise, and the 30 minutes as a good time for catching up on news / social media / a quick nap after work, while the 35 minutes of driving is completely wasted time. Obviously YMMV depending on what kind of train route you have (mine is pretty quiet and the train layout is as such that you're likely to get a seat) and this won't happen for routes that are standing room only.
posted by xdvesper at 11:19 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
Even at a 2:1 time ratio between public transport and driving some people will still choose public transport - I have a 26km commute each day that takes me 35 minutes in a car, or 75 minutes by public transport. I am actually "cost neutral" with both options and consider them both equally desirable. (cost being all costs, not just money)
The difference is between spending 35 minutes driving, or spending 25 minutes walking + 30 minutes relaxing in a train where I can surf the net, play mobile games or have a nap. Ironically I feel like I have less overall time driving, since I count that 25 minutes of walking as mandatory exercise, and the 30 minutes as a good time for catching up on news / social media / a quick nap after work, while the 35 minutes of driving is completely wasted time. Obviously YMMV depending on what kind of train route you have (mine is pretty quiet and the train layout is as such that you're likely to get a seat) and this won't happen for routes that are standing room only.
posted by xdvesper at 11:19 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
I don't know how people who use transit do it, though. Or people who walk. How do people who walk haul everything around? Push-carts? Wagons? Backpacks?
Get it delivered, mostly. We moved a few months ago and had to buy a whole house's worth of furniture, and all of that was bought online and dropped off at our house.
I used to buy food every couple of days and carry it home, either in a backpack or on bags hung on the baby's pram, but that was when the supermarket took 7 minutes to walk to and I had more time to do it. Now we get food delivered once a week.
Throwing out bulky stuff can be trickier, but the council will take away an old sofa/mattress/whatever for a fee.
posted by Catseye at 12:33 AM on October 26, 2015
Get it delivered, mostly. We moved a few months ago and had to buy a whole house's worth of furniture, and all of that was bought online and dropped off at our house.
I used to buy food every couple of days and carry it home, either in a backpack or on bags hung on the baby's pram, but that was when the supermarket took 7 minutes to walk to and I had more time to do it. Now we get food delivered once a week.
Throwing out bulky stuff can be trickier, but the council will take away an old sofa/mattress/whatever for a fee.
posted by Catseye at 12:33 AM on October 26, 2015
I have a 26km commute each day that takes me 35 minutes in a car, or 75 minutes by public transport. I am actually "cost neutral" with both options and consider them both equally desirable. (cost being all costs, not just money)
This used to be me , and then I had kids and losing critical breakfast or time-to-daycare-pickup became critical.
posted by warriorqueen at 6:00 AM on October 26, 2015
This used to be me , and then I had kids and losing critical breakfast or time-to-daycare-pickup became critical.
posted by warriorqueen at 6:00 AM on October 26, 2015
In terms of moving stuff on bike trailers, I think it depends on what one means by "heavy" and how many loads are moved in a short time frame. I mean, I know a wiry bike guy who moved his entire estate (futon, frame, table, computer table, chairs, books, a couple of small shelves, microwave, musical instruments, etc) by bike trailer to a new apartment that was about eight blocks away, and he was pretty beat by the time he'd done it all.
As usual with this kind of discussion of bike stuff, bike trailers are great for routine stuff and moderately heavy loads in decent weather for most people, and long rides with unusually large loads through an ice storm for the fittest.
I couldn't move my household on a bike trailer, both because I'm forty with a bad hip and because I have some really, really heavy old family furniture (srsly, stuff that two strong people struggle with), plus a lot of books. I could certainly move some of it on a bike trailer, and I have pretty much lived in the same neighborhood for the past fifteen years, but if I were doing a cross-city move, it wouldn't be possible.
It's not the "oh, I need to bring home forty pounds of squash and it's five miles" stuff I worry about; it's "I need to replace my mattress and the mattress discounter is fifteen miles away" or "whoops, guess I'm moving to St. Paul now".
posted by Frowner at 6:33 AM on October 26, 2015
As usual with this kind of discussion of bike stuff, bike trailers are great for routine stuff and moderately heavy loads in decent weather for most people, and long rides with unusually large loads through an ice storm for the fittest.
I couldn't move my household on a bike trailer, both because I'm forty with a bad hip and because I have some really, really heavy old family furniture (srsly, stuff that two strong people struggle with), plus a lot of books. I could certainly move some of it on a bike trailer, and I have pretty much lived in the same neighborhood for the past fifteen years, but if I were doing a cross-city move, it wouldn't be possible.
It's not the "oh, I need to bring home forty pounds of squash and it's five miles" stuff I worry about; it's "I need to replace my mattress and the mattress discounter is fifteen miles away" or "whoops, guess I'm moving to St. Paul now".
posted by Frowner at 6:33 AM on October 26, 2015
I live car-free (no kids) and it's mostly fine. Helps that I live in a city (Vancouver, BC) with good transit and good car-sharing programs. Sure, it takes longer to get from point A to point B, so I try to use that time for exercise and contemplation.
Just judging from my typical haphazard trajectory around the grocery store, having a car might be a time waster for me.
posted by mantecol at 7:04 AM on October 26, 2015
Just judging from my typical haphazard trajectory around the grocery store, having a car might be a time waster for me.
posted by mantecol at 7:04 AM on October 26, 2015
If folks are serious about car-free living in the US, though, car-free options have to be available and very cheap for working class people. Which means that they must be intra-city, absent some revolution that leads to the expropriation of the housing of the wealthy. And they have to be ultra-reliable and run at odd hours, or all the people who work swing shift in some horrible job are going to be stranded or else need the same elaborate and fragile car networks that they have now. Or, of course, we could scale back 24-hour businesses and people could mostly just work what used to be known as business hours.
posted by Frowner at 7:20 AM on October 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Frowner at 7:20 AM on October 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
I seriously think the automobile is one of the most destructive inventions of all-time and it can't be eliminated soon enough.
posted by entropicamericana at 7:58 AM on October 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 7:58 AM on October 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
I lived in Copenhagen for 12 years. I biked everywhere. It's a flat country, so it was easy. The infrastructure added extra ease with bike lanes making for smooth journeys across the city centre. Public transport also added ease: you can take your bike on trains and the metro - lifts make it accessible. My friend who is disabled also travels around Copenhagen with ease. Buses, trains and metro are integrated and have easy access points (and plenty of lifts).
I now live in Glasgow, Scotland. It's very different. The bike lanes are routinely used as parking space; the much-touted bike path system is marred by unsuitable paving in many places (and is deteriorating in other); bike parking has improved over the last few years but it's still cumbersome; the city council has devised an infrastructure which makes biking through the city centre completely hazardous for anyone on a bike; you cannot take your bike with you on the subway; and sometimes the only way to access places are by biking on major roads (not recommended and I count myself as a savvy cyclist). I have friends here who are disabled and most subway stations are inaccessible to them as are many buses.
It's startling to see how political decisions about pathways and public transport impact on how you engage with where you live. I don't think there's anywhere in Copenhagen I haven't been. By contrast, huge swathes of Glasgow are still uncharted territory. I don't inhabit Glasgow in the same way.
posted by kariebookish at 8:57 AM on October 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
I now live in Glasgow, Scotland. It's very different. The bike lanes are routinely used as parking space; the much-touted bike path system is marred by unsuitable paving in many places (and is deteriorating in other); bike parking has improved over the last few years but it's still cumbersome; the city council has devised an infrastructure which makes biking through the city centre completely hazardous for anyone on a bike; you cannot take your bike with you on the subway; and sometimes the only way to access places are by biking on major roads (not recommended and I count myself as a savvy cyclist). I have friends here who are disabled and most subway stations are inaccessible to them as are many buses.
It's startling to see how political decisions about pathways and public transport impact on how you engage with where you live. I don't think there's anywhere in Copenhagen I haven't been. By contrast, huge swathes of Glasgow are still uncharted territory. I don't inhabit Glasgow in the same way.
posted by kariebookish at 8:57 AM on October 26, 2015 [3 favorites]
The True Costs of Driving
posted by the man of twists and turns at 1:33 PM on October 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 1:33 PM on October 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
Glasgow is also a great example of cities supporting good public transport infrastructure for some and not others. The west is relatively prosperous and has the underground, the south is relatively prosperous and has a good suburban rail network, and the north and east are poorer and have... less. Some trains, in some places, if you're lucky.
I live in Edinburgh now where public transport is mostly buses, but the buses are pretty good. Still council-owned (unlike most of Scotland), with great coverage across most of the city. From where I live out in the suburbs I can either walk 5 minutes to my nearest bus stop, or 10 minutes to a busier one a little further away, and there's a bus along every few minutes. They run 24 hours a day. I pay £54 for a four-weekly ticket that gives me unlimited use, including the express out to the airport. It's great!
And then the council decided to reintroduce trams, and it went very wrong.
posted by Catseye at 2:13 PM on October 26, 2015
I live in Edinburgh now where public transport is mostly buses, but the buses are pretty good. Still council-owned (unlike most of Scotland), with great coverage across most of the city. From where I live out in the suburbs I can either walk 5 minutes to my nearest bus stop, or 10 minutes to a busier one a little further away, and there's a bus along every few minutes. They run 24 hours a day. I pay £54 for a four-weekly ticket that gives me unlimited use, including the express out to the airport. It's great!
And then the council decided to reintroduce trams, and it went very wrong.
posted by Catseye at 2:13 PM on October 26, 2015
I've been ignoring metafilter a lot lately and actually engaging on twitter. It's kind of against type for me (I prefer homespun communities like this one to Giant Corporate Brands or whatever), but it's where the discussion on liveable urban spaces is happening with activists, politicians, and the public right now.
One thing that keeps coming up is this notion that car-free life hurts the disabled. From the activists' side, we keep pasting long lectures and links showing how protected bike lanes in the Netherlands are full of mobility scooters and wheelchairs. This is often appealing to advocates for the disabled!
But sometimes you get folks who are genuinely hurt by things like speed bumps, where a bus going over one causes intense pain to joints or disturbs an already difficult-to-maintain position of the body. I've been trying to get the London cycling advocates engaged with people like transportforall and the group that fought the "shared space" debacle.
It's not just about getting these people on our side for political reasons, but also that we have a real need to incorporate their perspectives. Who better to help us design roads for their most vulnerable users? Who better to help us find the best ways to protect people from cars?
Furthermore, many of us are able (adjective), but through not driving find ourselves disabled (transitive verb) by the car-first built environment. We have opportunities for real sympathy here, but we must be careful not to presume that we have Real Understanding of what everyone is going through.
So yes, I do believe that a proper city design first focuses on people walking and cycling and using mobility aids, able and disabled, and then makes some space for car-drivers to do the heavy deliveries. I believe that the best place to start is to unravel motoring destinations from motoring thoroughfares. And to build better junctions to protect safety of all where different modes interact.
None of this is about 50cm-wide stripes of paint on an A road, or "Logan's Run visions of the young and able" or anything. This is about protecting vulnerable road users by keeping the cars away from them!
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:38 AM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
One thing that keeps coming up is this notion that car-free life hurts the disabled. From the activists' side, we keep pasting long lectures and links showing how protected bike lanes in the Netherlands are full of mobility scooters and wheelchairs. This is often appealing to advocates for the disabled!
But sometimes you get folks who are genuinely hurt by things like speed bumps, where a bus going over one causes intense pain to joints or disturbs an already difficult-to-maintain position of the body. I've been trying to get the London cycling advocates engaged with people like transportforall and the group that fought the "shared space" debacle.
It's not just about getting these people on our side for political reasons, but also that we have a real need to incorporate their perspectives. Who better to help us design roads for their most vulnerable users? Who better to help us find the best ways to protect people from cars?
Furthermore, many of us are able (adjective), but through not driving find ourselves disabled (transitive verb) by the car-first built environment. We have opportunities for real sympathy here, but we must be careful not to presume that we have Real Understanding of what everyone is going through.
So yes, I do believe that a proper city design first focuses on people walking and cycling and using mobility aids, able and disabled, and then makes some space for car-drivers to do the heavy deliveries. I believe that the best place to start is to unravel motoring destinations from motoring thoroughfares. And to build better junctions to protect safety of all where different modes interact.
None of this is about 50cm-wide stripes of paint on an A road, or "Logan's Run visions of the young and able" or anything. This is about protecting vulnerable road users by keeping the cars away from them!
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:38 AM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
One thing that keeps coming up is this notion that car-free life hurts the disabled.
This part of the debate is really interesting to me. One of my reasons for not driving is a visual impairment. I legally could drive by DVLA standards, but it's pretty borderline, and when taking driving lessons years ago when my eyesight was better I did not at all feel that I had a safe field of vision. (Oh, hi overtaking tractor, didn't see you there!) So while I appreciate this is not quite the same as someone who is entirely unable to drive due to disability, it does make me keenly aware that there are many people who can't (or can't easily, safely or happily) drive due to disability and really rely on public transport and safe walking routes and so on, and need serious structural support in place for that. If I lived, say, in the nearest town where I have family, I could just about commute to work and back via bus but it would seriously, seriously limit anything else I wanted to do. Here, though, I have 24/7 access to public transport. I have a meeting next week on the other side of the country, no problem - I can just hop on a train!
And then I remember how much of a hassle it must be to use those same trains if you can't just hop on a train, because you're in a wheelchair and you need to call ahead, get someone to bring out a ramp, plan all your journeys in advance, find out which stations are staffed and unstaffed at the times you want to travel, and deal with the people storing luggage and bikes and pushchairs in the wheelchair space, and the picture doesn't look so good. In theory, all the trains are wheelchair friendly. In practice... we still have a long way to go.
There has to be overlap here, though, right? We surely can't be in a situation where the choice is either 'you're screwed if you need a car' vs 'you're screwed if you need to get around without one'.
posted by Catseye at 6:41 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
This part of the debate is really interesting to me. One of my reasons for not driving is a visual impairment. I legally could drive by DVLA standards, but it's pretty borderline, and when taking driving lessons years ago when my eyesight was better I did not at all feel that I had a safe field of vision. (Oh, hi overtaking tractor, didn't see you there!) So while I appreciate this is not quite the same as someone who is entirely unable to drive due to disability, it does make me keenly aware that there are many people who can't (or can't easily, safely or happily) drive due to disability and really rely on public transport and safe walking routes and so on, and need serious structural support in place for that. If I lived, say, in the nearest town where I have family, I could just about commute to work and back via bus but it would seriously, seriously limit anything else I wanted to do. Here, though, I have 24/7 access to public transport. I have a meeting next week on the other side of the country, no problem - I can just hop on a train!
And then I remember how much of a hassle it must be to use those same trains if you can't just hop on a train, because you're in a wheelchair and you need to call ahead, get someone to bring out a ramp, plan all your journeys in advance, find out which stations are staffed and unstaffed at the times you want to travel, and deal with the people storing luggage and bikes and pushchairs in the wheelchair space, and the picture doesn't look so good. In theory, all the trains are wheelchair friendly. In practice... we still have a long way to go.
There has to be overlap here, though, right? We surely can't be in a situation where the choice is either 'you're screwed if you need a car' vs 'you're screwed if you need to get around without one'.
posted by Catseye at 6:41 AM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
This is where I am happy to see groups like Wheels for Wellbeing are starting to get people thinking "beyond the bicycle", as it were. When we advocate for cycling, we are trying to accommodate a wide variety of human-scale wheeled mobility aids.
One current trend has been for people (usually mothers) with Christiania-style cargo tricycles to point out cycling provision that is too narrow for their bakfietsen. Anything a trike like that can't fit through, a mobility scooter or tricycle wouldn't be able to navigate either. And with electric assist, we're finding that even two-wheelers have a larger potential audience than they once did!
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 4:33 PM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
One current trend has been for people (usually mothers) with Christiania-style cargo tricycles to point out cycling provision that is too narrow for their bakfietsen. Anything a trike like that can't fit through, a mobility scooter or tricycle wouldn't be able to navigate either. And with electric assist, we're finding that even two-wheelers have a larger potential audience than they once did!
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 4:33 PM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
« Older Are the ‘90s already history? | Hideo Kojima Is the Jonathan Franzen of Video... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
I want to understand this, because it sounds impossible.
posted by Going To Maine at 2:33 PM on October 25, 2015 [4 favorites]