i think that it’s important to reserve enough space to streets. not to build lanes, but to build cafes and seating banks and trees there. it’s a typical problem of cities that they figure out that there’s not enough space to build trees, bike lanes, etc. after the houses are built. better reserve space first.
this isn’t really a showerthought but more of a general opinion, but i’ll post it here anyways because i don’t know where else to post it. (pls tell me if there’s a better community to post it to instead)
If you can restrict the cars, you’ll have plenty of room for everything else. A 12’ car lane can permit dozens of cars per minute or hundreds of bikes or thousands of pedestrians. The worst part is, the more car-based infrastructure you build, the worse it gets as more people are forced to drive.
The more space for cars the more spread out everything becomes and so the less walking is a reasonable option. Remember cars include parking someplace even if not on the street.
Even if you eliminate personal cars, car infrastructure is still a necessity in most cities - public transport depends on it, workers depend on it (or do you see tradies lugging their shit around on a bus?), deliveries depend on it (let it be your Amazon orders, shops’ deliveries, construction materials and so on).
I agree that we have too many cars on our streets regardless where you live, but uprooting entire existing infrastructure that is relied upon by more than just your target group isn’t going to help the situation.
Here’s an example, tradies use all sorts of things, ranging from kei trucks to just loading everything on the back if a motorbike.
I literally have never seen someone use a f150 here as a work truck, they’re too impractical and expensive.
I see workers hauling tools, 20’ rebar, etc on bikes every morning. Occasionally I see a washer+dryer+refrigerator on the back of a 2 wheeler. But typically large loads like that are handled by 3 or 5 wheelers. Large concrete mixers and dumptrucks are uncommon enough its OK if they block an entire street for a night.
The important part isn’t that the roads are narrow, its that the environment is hostile enough to cars that they aren’t anybody’s primary transport.
Blocking half a street might be okay, but the other half should remain free. Just so emergency services have access. And probably also thrash and other stuff…
They have access from the other direction, and presumably they know to avoid important times, idk, maybe theres a permitting process.
If you allow 2 full lanes on residential streets, people start buying cars and parking them in the street. Wider lanes can work if the city can prevent street parking and discourage home parking, the important thing is that you don’t increase traffic. Japan requires proof of a parking spot to register a vehicle.
Street parking is pretty preventable probably, but currently my city rather makes money off of it. But Germany is still pretty far from ridding itself of urban car use…
In places hostile to cars, it’s perfectly possible for delivery trucks and emergency vehicles to use streets intended for pedestrians. Trucks make deliveries at early hours before there are many people around, and emergency vehicles use sirens and drive at slower speeds. As far as general package delivery, people just use smaller scale methods.
Wow. It’s so easy! I also hear if we all stop eating, food insecurity will disappear within 30 days.
Tell me you’ve only ever lived in car-centric hellscapes without telling me you’ve never left America.
Spot on, if everything around me was walkable and bikeable I’d still need to drive my car. I’d perish without inhaling exhaust and tire dust. Sunlight? Gross. People? Disgusting. Typical walkbrains