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The title and website headline are misleading, this isn't going to be car-free, it's going to be _no privately owned cars_. > We’re bringing together services

The title and website headline are misleading, this isn't going to be car-free, it's going to be _no privately owned cars_. > We’re bringing together services like ridesharing, bikes and scooters, and same-day grocery delivery, so zero private cars means zero hassle. Here's why this matters from someone who lives here: 4 months out of the year Tempe's average temperature is above 99F. This means one of the following: 1. Residents will heavily use ride sharing and delivery during the summer, just "in place of" owning a car. 2. Culdesac will install a ridiculous amount of outdoor cooling for its residents, one might imagine this will require a fair amount of water. Don't get me wrong, this is a cool idea, but is Tempe the right place to do it? There are many options like semi-underground homes that could have been trialed here which would have fit the local climate; but they aren't doing that. Seems like they are trying to create a one-size-fits-all solution which IMO will not work outside of California.

widowlark 7y ago
Probably not - I suspect it's only there because Arizona has a storied history of planned communities
AlotOfReading 7y ago
You don't want to be building anything underground in Tempe. There's a nasty layer of natural concrete called Caliche about a meter below the surface in much of the area. Archaeologists hate the stuff because it's so expensive and time consuming to dig through. The local indigenous people have been building sustainable apartment blocks called pueblos for a long time though. They're surprisingly nice during the summer (approx. 80F inside), even without AC.
- kitten_mittens_ 7y ago
  Caliche is very real even up in Idaho. There’s a local superstition about breaking through a 30cm layer to be able to have a tree grow successfully.
noobermin 7y ago
Not quite 99F (which is like 37C) but Singapore is VERY humid compared year round (as opposed to 4 months) of ~90 F (32 C). On many days I've seen "feels like 39 C" on google weather. Despite all that, car ownership is 12 per 100 people. People rely heavily on public transit, which is air conditioned (AC seems to be their sin, but it's definitely more efficient than AC in every car on top of burning gas to get it to move around). I think as you allow as a possibility in the end of your reply, it's not like it can't work, but non-ebikes and scooters might become a bit much for some people unless there's copious cover.
- jdnenej 7y ago
  Riding an ebike in 39c is uncomfortable but not unthinkable. I do it semi regularly. If your trip is >10km it's not that bad at all. You will probably have to shower when you get home but it's still better than owning a car.
  - avar 7y ago
    Being on a modern E-Bike in 39C is definitely way more comfortable than walking. You can adjust the power settings so you barely have to touch the pedals to move, it's less effort than walking, and you'll be traveling at up to 25 km/h so you'll get some air cooling you wouldn't get if you were just walking. I've ridden mine in up to 35C and it's like stepping into an oasis compared to standing still in that temperature, more so if you wear clothing like loose fitting cotton clothing that benefits from the increased airflow.
    - fiter 7y ago
      In my experience this would be air heating and not air cooling because the air temperature is higher than the skin temperature, unless you're already sweating and being evaporatively cooled from that.
    - learc83 7y ago
      >so you'll get some air cooling you wouldn't get if you were just walking. 39C is well above skin temperature so you're only going to get evaporative cooling and the effectiveness of that depends on humidity. It's possible the heating effect of the hot air blowing over your skin overwhelms the evaporative cooling and you are actually getting net warming. Even if the humidity is low if you're not already drenched in sweet, it's going to feel awful.
mindslight 7y ago
And no mention of how they plan to ward off Uber's killbots, known to roam Tempe. Given the opacity of the financial system, how do we even know this is being developed by humans? The whole thing could just be a setup to lure more fleshy targets out into the open.

widowlark 7y ago

Probably not - I suspect it's only there because Arizona has a storied history of planned communities

AlotOfReading 7y ago

You don't want to be building anything underground in Tempe. There's a nasty layer of natural concrete called Caliche about a meter below the surface in much of the area. Archaeologists hate the stuff because it's so expensive and time consuming to dig through. The local indigenous people have been building sustainable apartment blocks called pueblos for a long time though. They're surprisingly nice during the summer (approx. 80F inside), even without AC.

kitten_mittens_ 7y ago
Caliche is very real even up in Idaho. There’s a local superstition about breaking through a 30cm layer to be able to have a tree grow successfully.

noobermin 7y ago

Not quite 99F (which is like 37C) but Singapore is VERY humid compared year round (as opposed to 4 months) of ~90 F (32 C). On many days I've seen "feels like 39 C" on google weather. Despite all that, car ownership is 12 per 100 people. People rely heavily on public transit, which is air conditioned (AC seems to be their sin, but it's definitely more efficient than AC in every car on top of burning gas to get it to move around). I think as you allow as a possibility in the end of your reply, it's not like it can't work, but non-ebikes and scooters might become a bit much for some people unless there's copious cover.

jdnenej 7y ago
Riding an ebike in 39c is uncomfortable but not unthinkable. I do it semi regularly. If your trip is >10km it's not that bad at all. You will probably have to shower when you get home but it's still better than owning a car.
- avar 7y ago
  Being on a modern E-Bike in 39C is definitely way more comfortable than walking. You can adjust the power settings so you barely have to touch the pedals to move, it's less effort than walking, and you'll be traveling at up to 25 km/h so you'll get some air cooling you wouldn't get if you were just walking. I've ridden mine in up to 35C and it's like stepping into an oasis compared to standing still in that temperature, more so if you wear clothing like loose fitting cotton clothing that benefits from the increased airflow.
  - fiter 7y ago
    In my experience this would be air heating and not air cooling because the air temperature is higher than the skin temperature, unless you're already sweating and being evaporatively cooled from that.
  - learc83 7y ago
    >so you'll get some air cooling you wouldn't get if you were just walking. 39C is well above skin temperature so you're only going to get evaporative cooling and the effectiveness of that depends on humidity. It's possible the heating effect of the hot air blowing over your skin overwhelms the evaporative cooling and you are actually getting net warming. Even if the humidity is low if you're not already drenched in sweet, it's going to feel awful.

mindslight 7y ago

And no mention of how they plan to ward off Uber's killbots, known to roam Tempe. Given the opacity of the financial system, how do we even know this is being developed by humans? The whole thing could just be a setup to lure more fleshy targets out into the open.