CARFREE TOKYO

- a collection of notes and reflections on urban living from the perspective of a family of five in Tokyo. My epiphany was many years ago, but being hit by a motorbike and seeing my life flash before my eyes caused a sudden change that slowly made me reflect on whether American style auto-centric urban transportation of the Roosevelt era really is a capital G "Good Idea" for civilized modern cities in the 21st Century. This blog explores the good and the bad in urban planning and design, here and elsewhere. The goal is simple - not "death to all cars," just more walkable communities, quiet tree-lined streets, good public transport, traffic calming, Velib style bicycle sharing and a bit of common sense. The bolg is mostly theraputic, so I don't go wanting to throttle every dangerous driver I come across, but partly also out of a real desire to see positive change. This blog explores how it can be done, the people who do it, and how, in many small ways, this very old idea may at last have found its zeitgeist. Comments and suggestions welcome.

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Build carfree streets and they will come - on foot

And build roads and highways and carparks - and surprise surprise, people will come in cars.



Interesting article HERE reminding us that all the scientific evidence points to the fact that we may not really actually need those highways and carparks that the generation before us so vehemently fought for. The real result of all the extra roads is that the average American now apparently drives three times as much as he did in the 60's. Hmmm. Autopia?
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