8 ms·

What I wouldn't give to have a planned neighborhood where cars are banned. It would be kids wonderland. In US at least even inside gated communities u can't le

What I wouldn't give to have a planned neighborhood where cars are banned. It would be kids wonderland. In US at least even inside gated communities u can't leave kids (3-6) by themselves because cars. Imagine all those kids having fun without parent supervision.

rootusrootus 4y ago
It isn't cars that kept me from leaving my 3 year old unsupervised. It's not like there aren't other (in many cases more significant) dangers to a young child.
- concordDance 4y ago
  Most notably: other children
- scrollaway 4y ago
  Stranger Danger, eh? I hope your kids will find a better life for theirs. https://youtu.be/oHlpmxLTxpw https://youtu.be/oHlpmxLTxpw
  - iso1631 4y ago
    I wouldn't trust a 3 year old to not jump off a wall, stick their head down a drain, eat some random berries, etc.
    - asdff 4y ago
      Sounds like the stuff I was doing in recess in kindergarten honestly. The kids will be alright. You can't watch them for every waking second as it is.
      - lp251 4y ago
        we’re you in kindergarten at 3? remarkable!
      - iso1631 4y ago
        You don't have teachers or any other caregiver at kingergarten? You just leave the kids alone for a few hours? I'm impressed you remember what you were doing at 3 to be honest.
        asdff 4y ago
        The teachers can't watch everything at once at the playground. We were doing things like climbing on top of the slides and jumping off. Sure you'd get scolded, if you were caught that is, but with 200 kids running around a huge space it's not so easy to make sure they aren't all horsing around. Not to mention stuff outside of school. Parties where the adults are chitcatting and talking amongst eachother gives opportunities for the kids to be tearing around the neighborhood or playing in the woods.
      - rootusrootus 4y ago
        Wait a second, I said 3 year old. Kindergarteners are about twice that age. We're talking about different maturity levels entirely.
  - BuyMyBitcoins 4y ago
    What a snide comment. You know nothing about the GP’s neighborhood or living situation. Dismiss it as “stranger danger” if you wish, but what if their concerns about the safety of unsupervised children is rooted in some genuine concern? Again, they just said cars weren’t the main reason. Doesn’t that imply something else?
  - rootusrootus 4y ago
    No, I know stranger danger is mostly BS. The world is much safer now than it was when I was a kid. But a 3 year old does lots of fairly dumb things. E.g. swallow a single lithium battery and you can die.
- macintux 4y ago
  I wouldn't even trust a 3-year-old to run around on pavement unsupervised without giving themselves a concussion.
scrollaway 4y ago
> What I wouldn't give Then I have good news for you: for not that much effort, you can move to Europe. Several cities here are bike friendly and becoming more so every week. Here are the streets that are becoming pedestrian in Brussels, two weeks from now: https://www.brusselstimes.com/brussels-2/248559/the-brussels-streets-that-will-be-pedestrianised-and-prohibited-for-cars-in-august https://www.brusselstimes.com/brussels-2/248559/the-brussels...
- tjr225 4y ago
  - scrollaway 4y ago
    I'm responding to someone who said "what I wouldn't give". If someone tells me "I'd do anything to live somewhere like this", then yes, I'll inform them of their possibilities.
    - tjr225 4y ago
      If you read the article it is clearly about America.
      - scrollaway 4y ago
        And if you read the two comments in question?
        tjr225 4y ago
        I would expect suggesting possible immigration/leaving extended family/taking a massive pay cut over improving ones home would be a preposterous response! I suspect you know its preposterous but are enjoying some sort of pride in Europe? The idea that you need to move to a different continent for something so simple and attainable by other means is... Idk, you've lost me. Have a good one!
rr888 4y ago
> In US at least even inside gated communities u can't leave kids (3-6) by themselves because cars. Because cars is the wrong answer. In the 60s and 70s the kids were running around the streets all day and cars then were bigger and harder to control. (I'm assuming you mean 5-10 yo as 3/4/5 really do need supervision even in safe environments)
- scrollaway 4y ago
  What is the right answer, then? For what it’s worth: the right answer is still cars, just indirectly. Yes there are more factors but those factors are caused by how American suburbia is designed and evolved over the last fifty decades, which, surprise … Walking to school is impossible in most of the US. Biking to school on six lane stroads is unthinkable especially for a child. Mobility is freedom and independence, and that independence is removed from American children. And so things evolve in exactly one direction: that of less and less freedom to roam the dangerous streets. Parents of children in the 60s and 70s were raised with their full freedom and had no reason to prevent their kids from roaming the streets. It takes multiple generations for these changes to take effect in the mindsets of people. America will take decades to heal from its car centric mistakes… when it finally starts.
  - tjr225 4y ago
    > Walking to school is impossible in the US. This is not true where I live in Tacoma, WA. In fact, in our neighborhood on the North End, I would guess somewhere around 40% of kids walk to school. There is an elementary school two blocks away from me, and a middle school five or so blocks away. The private schools are a bit further and would require driving or cycling. The neighborhoods I used to live in the residential areas of the Seattle core(Madrona,Leschi,CD) were similar.
    - charcircuit 4y ago
      Google maps says that my primary school is an over 4 hour walk from my house.
masklinn 4y ago
> What I wouldn't give to have a planned neighborhood where cars are banned. It would be kids wonderland. It would also require the neighbourhood to have much more relaxed (and saner) zoning rules than the average, and historically it's been the exact opposite.
hammock 4y ago
Here is one idea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airpark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airpark > In US at least even inside gated communities u can't leave kids (3-6) by themselves because cars. This part is sad to me because it seems we are stuck envisioning a place where all the houses face the roads, and all the walking paths are next to the roads and the only place kids can play is in the road or next to the road! As an alternative, imagine a house that backs up to a park. Instead of playing in the front by the road, play in the back without conditions (I can recommend you some examples). Or, imagine even in a downtown of a city, a one-block-long gated community with dense townhouses facing each other, an oasis away from traffic (again I can share examples) These exist today, they aren’t just in some urbanist sketchbook. They aren’t super common and maybe people just don’t think of them.
chasd00 4y ago
My sisters gated community is mostly golf cart only. Which is pretty nice because even her kids drive it to the marina and pool/water park.
- Tade0 4y ago
  My pet theory is that just like everything in nature keeps evolving into crabs, eventually every mode of personal transportation evolves into a golf cart. The Japanese have kei cars, the Dutch and other people living in bicycle-centric cities cargo bikes - sometimes you just need the extra luggage space.
burlesona 4y ago
This is my dream too. I'm starting to work on it, doing some very early research now. Consider filling out my survey if you want to weigh in: https://airtable.com/shrdtCXsJfbzZ719W https://airtable.com/shrdtCXsJfbzZ719W
dmartinez 4y ago
This project in Tempe, AZ markets itself as the first planned car-free community in the US: https://culdesac.com/ https://culdesac.com/ I’m hoping that if it is successful, developers will build similar projects elsewhere.
krater23 4y ago
All those kids would be run over by speeding bikers. Just try to be pedestrian in the nederlands cities...
bjoli 4y ago
I live in such an area. With 2 exceptions, there is an area of just over .5 km2 (138 acres) where there are virtually no cars. I can let my kids out anytime. It was built during the "million program" where the Swedish state built apartments for a shitload of people and elevated the living standards for about 2 million people. For some reason it is not considered a nice area, but in many ways it is heaven. I can bike to work in 12 minutes. My son's preschool is just 5 minutes away by foot. We have a moderately sized grocery store and a pharmacy within crawling distance. All areas in the "million programme" are not like that, but one pretty general idea was that since people living there didn't have their own garden they should have access to ample green spaces.

rootusrootus 4y ago

It isn't cars that kept me from leaving my 3 year old unsupervised. It's not like there aren't other (in many cases more significant) dangers to a young child.

concordDance 4y ago
Most notably: other children
scrollaway 4y ago
Stranger Danger, eh? I hope your kids will find a better life for theirs. https://youtu.be/oHlpmxLTxpw https://youtu.be/oHlpmxLTxpw
- iso1631 4y ago
  I wouldn't trust a 3 year old to not jump off a wall, stick their head down a drain, eat some random berries, etc.
  - asdff 4y ago
    Sounds like the stuff I was doing in recess in kindergarten honestly. The kids will be alright. You can't watch them for every waking second as it is.
    - lp251 4y ago
      we’re you in kindergarten at 3? remarkable!
    - iso1631 4y ago
      You don't have teachers or any other caregiver at kingergarten? You just leave the kids alone for a few hours? I'm impressed you remember what you were doing at 3 to be honest.
      - asdff 4y ago
        The teachers can't watch everything at once at the playground. We were doing things like climbing on top of the slides and jumping off. Sure you'd get scolded, if you were caught that is, but with 200 kids running around a huge space it's not so easy to make sure they aren't all horsing around. Not to mention stuff outside of school. Parties where the adults are chitcatting and talking amongst eachother gives opportunities for the kids to be tearing around the neighborhood or playing in the woods.
    - rootusrootus 4y ago
      Wait a second, I said 3 year old. Kindergarteners are about twice that age. We're talking about different maturity levels entirely.
- BuyMyBitcoins 4y ago
  What a snide comment. You know nothing about the GP’s neighborhood or living situation. Dismiss it as “stranger danger” if you wish, but what if their concerns about the safety of unsupervised children is rooted in some genuine concern? Again, they just said cars weren’t the main reason. Doesn’t that imply something else?
- rootusrootus 4y ago
  No, I know stranger danger is mostly BS. The world is much safer now than it was when I was a kid. But a 3 year old does lots of fairly dumb things. E.g. swallow a single lithium battery and you can die.
macintux 4y ago
I wouldn't even trust a 3-year-old to run around on pavement unsupervised without giving themselves a concussion.

scrollaway 4y ago

> What I wouldn't give Then I have good news for you: for not that much effort, you can move to Europe. Several cities here are bike friendly and becoming more so every week. Here are the streets that are becoming pedestrian in Brussels, two weeks from now: https://www.brusselstimes.com/brussels-2/248559/the-brussels-streets-that-will-be-pedestrianised-and-prohibited-for-cars-in-august https://www.brusselstimes.com/brussels-2/248559/the-brussels...

tjr225 4y ago
- scrollaway 4y ago
  I'm responding to someone who said "what I wouldn't give". If someone tells me "I'd do anything to live somewhere like this", then yes, I'll inform them of their possibilities.
  - tjr225 4y ago
    If you read the article it is clearly about America.
    - scrollaway 4y ago
      And if you read the two comments in question?
      - tjr225 4y ago
        I would expect suggesting possible immigration/leaving extended family/taking a massive pay cut over improving ones home would be a preposterous response! I suspect you know its preposterous but are enjoying some sort of pride in Europe? The idea that you need to move to a different continent for something so simple and attainable by other means is... Idk, you've lost me. Have a good one!

rr888 4y ago

> In US at least even inside gated communities u can't leave kids (3-6) by themselves because cars. Because cars is the wrong answer. In the 60s and 70s the kids were running around the streets all day and cars then were bigger and harder to control. (I'm assuming you mean 5-10 yo as 3/4/5 really do need supervision even in safe environments)

scrollaway 4y ago
What is the right answer, then? For what it’s worth: the right answer is still cars, just indirectly. Yes there are more factors but those factors are caused by how American suburbia is designed and evolved over the last fifty decades, which, surprise … Walking to school is impossible in most of the US. Biking to school on six lane stroads is unthinkable especially for a child. Mobility is freedom and independence, and that independence is removed from American children. And so things evolve in exactly one direction: that of less and less freedom to roam the dangerous streets. Parents of children in the 60s and 70s were raised with their full freedom and had no reason to prevent their kids from roaming the streets. It takes multiple generations for these changes to take effect in the mindsets of people. America will take decades to heal from its car centric mistakes… when it finally starts.
- tjr225 4y ago
  > Walking to school is impossible in the US. This is not true where I live in Tacoma, WA. In fact, in our neighborhood on the North End, I would guess somewhere around 40% of kids walk to school. There is an elementary school two blocks away from me, and a middle school five or so blocks away. The private schools are a bit further and would require driving or cycling. The neighborhoods I used to live in the residential areas of the Seattle core(Madrona,Leschi,CD) were similar.
  - charcircuit 4y ago
    Google maps says that my primary school is an over 4 hour walk from my house.

masklinn 4y ago

> What I wouldn't give to have a planned neighborhood where cars are banned. It would be kids wonderland. It would also require the neighbourhood to have much more relaxed (and saner) zoning rules than the average, and historically it's been the exact opposite.

hammock 4y ago

Here is one idea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airpark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airpark > In US at least even inside gated communities u can't leave kids (3-6) by themselves because cars. This part is sad to me because it seems we are stuck envisioning a place where all the houses face the roads, and all the walking paths are next to the roads and the only place kids can play is in the road or next to the road! As an alternative, imagine a house that backs up to a park. Instead of playing in the front by the road, play in the back without conditions (I can recommend you some examples). Or, imagine even in a downtown of a city, a one-block-long gated community with dense townhouses facing each other, an oasis away from traffic (again I can share examples) These exist today, they aren’t just in some urbanist sketchbook. They aren’t super common and maybe people just don’t think of them.

chasd00 4y ago

My sisters gated community is mostly golf cart only. Which is pretty nice because even her kids drive it to the marina and pool/water park.

Tade0 4y ago
My pet theory is that just like everything in nature keeps evolving into crabs, eventually every mode of personal transportation evolves into a golf cart. The Japanese have kei cars, the Dutch and other people living in bicycle-centric cities cargo bikes - sometimes you just need the extra luggage space.

burlesona 4y ago

This is my dream too. I'm starting to work on it, doing some very early research now. Consider filling out my survey if you want to weigh in: https://airtable.com/shrdtCXsJfbzZ719W https://airtable.com/shrdtCXsJfbzZ719W

dmartinez 4y ago

This project in Tempe, AZ markets itself as the first planned car-free community in the US: https://culdesac.com/ https://culdesac.com/ I’m hoping that if it is successful, developers will build similar projects elsewhere.

krater23 4y ago

All those kids would be run over by speeding bikers. Just try to be pedestrian in the nederlands cities...

bjoli 4y ago

I live in such an area. With 2 exceptions, there is an area of just over .5 km2 (138 acres) where there are virtually no cars. I can let my kids out anytime. It was built during the "million program" where the Swedish state built apartments for a shitload of people and elevated the living standards for about 2 million people. For some reason it is not considered a nice area, but in many ways it is heaven. I can bike to work in 12 minutes. My son's preschool is just 5 minutes away by foot. We have a moderately sized grocery store and a pharmacy within crawling distance. All areas in the "million programme" are not like that, but one pretty general idea was that since people living there didn't have their own garden they should have access to ample green spaces.