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.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Put up a PARK(ing) lot


CNet had a top page news article about the PARK(ing) Day movement that has inspired people around the world.

http://www.news.com/2300-11395_3-6209471-3.html?tag=ne.gall.pg

A beautiful, gentle, effective way of showing people just how much better our towns and cities will be when we have a little LESS parking space, and a bit more PARK space. San Francisco is really one city in the USA that has been taking a lead on these kinds of initiatives for quite a few years now. Still nowhere near the scale of initiatives in cities and towns of Japan and much of Europe, but they are moving in the right direction.
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