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When I was in Copenhagen 4 years ago, cars were pretty plentiful. (Not so much street parking.) I read that car ownership there is about 30%. Where were you thi

When I was in Copenhagen 4 years ago, cars were pretty plentiful. (Not so much street parking.) I read that car ownership there is about 30%. Where were you thinking of?

deathanatos 7y ago
As an American, outside of NYC and maybe Boston, 30% car ownership sounds incredibly low to me. I'm in SF, and while I know some who don't, the overwhelming majority of people that I know own a car. I take public transit daily — and I need a car to get to it.
- jmchuster 7y ago
  Quick search indicates nowhere in the US is close to 30% car ownership, with NY coming at the lowest at 45% car ownership. New York, NY 45.6% Newark, NJ 59.7% Washington, DC 62.9% Jersey City, NJ 62.9% Cambridge, MA 63.2% Boston, MA 66.2% Paterson, NJ 67.0% Hartford, CT 67.4% San Francisco, CA 70.1%
  - magduf 7y ago
    NYC is a very large city, that really would make more sense being separated from NY state and turned into a separate city-state. Manhattan alone is larger than many other cities, and it's only one "borough" in the city. If you look at Manhattan by itself, I'm sure you'll see very different numbers on car ownership. It's the people in Bronx, Queens, etc. that skew the numbers.
    - zamfi 7y ago
      Just leaving this here: https://www.nycedc.com/blog-entry/new-yorkers-and-their-cars https://www.nycedc.com/blog-entry/new-yorkers-and-their-cars
      - magduf 7y ago
        Exactly, that proves my point. Thanks for the post. Manhattanites' car ownership rate is extremely low, while in places like Staten Island it's very high. (Staten Island is not like the rest of NYC, and has poor public transit. It's basically a suburb.)
b_t_s 7y ago
For the average American that's like saying that "30% of the population of this city has legs". Sure that's a lot of people walking around, but if you look around and 70% of the population is in wheelchairs, thats pretty stunning. I've been to Copenhagen. It was lovely. I walked and took public transport everywhere. But the streets _were_ eerily deserted of motor vehicles as compared to any non-European city I've visited.
CalRobert 7y ago
Cars are indeed around - and Copenhagen was as car-choked as anywhere else as recently as the 70's. DK/NL cuture shifted in part because of protests saying "Stop using your car to kill children" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_in_the_Netherlands https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_in_the_Netherlands I've driven in Amsterdam and paradoxically it's a hell of a lot nicer than driving in, say, LA. I don't wish to conflate Denmark and the Netherlands but they've both made huge improvements in similar fashion with respect to livable cities. If career allows it I might still move because I want to live somewhere my child can ride a bike to school. Houten comes to mind.

When I was in Copenhagen 4 years ago, cars were pretty plentiful. (Not so much street parking.) I read that car ownership there is about 30%. Where were you thinking of?

deathanatos 7y ago

As an American, outside of NYC and maybe Boston, 30% car ownership sounds incredibly low to me. I'm in SF, and while I know some who don't, the overwhelming majority of people that I know own a car. I take public transit daily — and I need a car to get to it.

jmchuster 7y ago
Quick search indicates nowhere in the US is close to 30% car ownership, with NY coming at the lowest at 45% car ownership. New York, NY 45.6% Newark, NJ 59.7% Washington, DC 62.9% Jersey City, NJ 62.9% Cambridge, MA 63.2% Boston, MA 66.2% Paterson, NJ 67.0% Hartford, CT 67.4% San Francisco, CA 70.1%
- magduf 7y ago
  NYC is a very large city, that really would make more sense being separated from NY state and turned into a separate city-state. Manhattan alone is larger than many other cities, and it's only one "borough" in the city. If you look at Manhattan by itself, I'm sure you'll see very different numbers on car ownership. It's the people in Bronx, Queens, etc. that skew the numbers.
  - zamfi 7y ago
    Just leaving this here: https://www.nycedc.com/blog-entry/new-yorkers-and-their-cars https://www.nycedc.com/blog-entry/new-yorkers-and-their-cars
    - magduf 7y ago
      Exactly, that proves my point. Thanks for the post. Manhattanites' car ownership rate is extremely low, while in places like Staten Island it's very high. (Staten Island is not like the rest of NYC, and has poor public transit. It's basically a suburb.)

b_t_s 7y ago

For the average American that's like saying that "30% of the population of this city has legs". Sure that's a lot of people walking around, but if you look around and 70% of the population is in wheelchairs, thats pretty stunning. I've been to Copenhagen. It was lovely. I walked and took public transport everywhere. But the streets _were_ eerily deserted of motor vehicles as compared to any non-European city I've visited.

CalRobert 7y ago

Cars are indeed around - and Copenhagen was as car-choked as anywhere else as recently as the 70's. DK/NL cuture shifted in part because of protests saying "Stop using your car to kill children" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_in_the_Netherlands https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_in_the_Netherlands I've driven in Amsterdam and paradoxically it's a hell of a lot nicer than driving in, say, LA. I don't wish to conflate Denmark and the Netherlands but they've both made huge improvements in similar fashion with respect to livable cities. If career allows it I might still move because I want to live somewhere my child can ride a bike to school. Houten comes to mind.