[sustran] Re: More about on-street parking

[Eric Bruun]

Todd

You are indeed a fundamentalist. Personally, I can see times when a car is OK to use. For example,
when carrying large items.

Not all buffers are alike, by the way, when it comes to shopping districts. Stores want to be visible, and for aesthetics, facades often need to be visible, not blocked by trees. 

Even though I would like to see far fewer cars in our cities, I think that pushing for an absolute ban
is counterproductive. We wouldn't even be able to get in the door to most politicians' offices.

Eric Bruun



-----Original Message-----
>From: Todd Edelman <edelman at greenidea.info>
>Sent: Apr 25, 2006 2:31 AM
>To: Asia and the Pacific sustainable transport <sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org>
>Subject: [sustran] Re: More about on-street parking
>
>Hi,
>
>I suppose I could admit I am a "carfree fundamentalist" who sees nothing
>sustainable about cities which allow individually owned and operated cars
>inside....so I will just mostly ignore this "better car parking" stuff. 
>So just comment:
>
>> ...
>> on-street parking can act as a buffer between pedestrians and a busy
>> arterial.
>
>I have heard this argument before. Arent there better buffers? For
>example, trees, plants, bikelanes, watercourses, sculptures, vending
>machines, and so on? In carcities, how about if it was a rule that if you
>are so close to pedestrians you simply have to drive really, really slow?
>This is not rocket science.
>
>---
>
>This list really confuses me sometimes.
>
>Do people want to spend their whole professional lives (and afterwards)
>regulating parking and trying to get cars to slow down? How many people on
>this would be perfectly happy to not be able to use a car if their city
>was designed to provide everything you need without one? To reference a
>recent thread on this list, are people ready to sacrifice
>sustainability(!) for peace, quiet, safety and proximity?
>
>Thanks,
>T
>
>------------------------------------------------------
>
>Todd Edelman
>International Coordinator
>On the Train Towards the Future!
>
>Green Idea Factory
>Laubova 5
>CZ-13000 Praha 3
>
>++420 605 915 970
>
>edelman at greenidea.info
>http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain
>
>Green Idea Factory,
>a member of World Carfree Network
>
>
>
>================================================================
>SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). Because of the history of the list, the main focus is on urban transport policy in Asia.