7 ms·

At one point I was determined to move to a car-free neighborhood in the US. Unfortunately they all seem to be tourist islands: Fire Island, Monhegan Island, Mac

At one point I was determined to move to a car-free neighborhood in the US. Unfortunately they all seem to be tourist islands: Fire Island, Monhegan Island, Mackinac Island, Bald Head Island, etc. I gave up and resigned myself to teaching my kids how to avoid being killed by drivers and advocating for safer street design. But if someone ever builds a Cyclocroft[1] or Culdesac[2] in my region I'd happily move there. [1] https://twitter.com/mrmoneymustache/status/1096078409568989184 https://twitter.com/mrmoneymustache/status/10960784095689891... [2] https://culdesac.com/ https://culdesac.com/

rhodin 4y ago
No just Bikes has an episode about a car free neighborhood [1], in Canada. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWDFgzAjr1k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWDFgzAjr1k
- asoneth 4y ago
  Love the channel. The Toronto Islands seem like an attractive place to live. With a population of only ~700 and a (full) waiting list capped at 500 it's clearly in high demand, which makes it all the more strange to me that more developers aren't building places like these. I mean, I can't be the only one who is willing to pay 2-3x more to live in a neighborhood with no cars.
  - dagurp 4y ago
    Because in most places in North America it would be illegal to build because of strict zoning laws https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=ajSEIdjkU8E https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=ajSEIdjkU8E
  - Thorrez 4y ago
    Well in this case the no-car neighborhood's houses are 1/3 the price of normal houses due to a weird law. I wonder how much that contributes to the waitlist.
- ahaferburg 4y ago
  Ah. I was searching for "Not Just Bikes", but you have a small typo, so I added my own comment. Highly recommended channel!
midoridensha 4y ago
I simply moved out of America. If you want to live a real car-free life safely in a place where you can have a real job, a normal life, and not just live on some weird little tourist island, that's the only way to make it happen. As a bonus, you avoid many other problems that America has: a spiraling crime wave, housing crisis (depending on where you go), school shootings, mass shootings, more guns than people, religious restrictions and laws pushed by religious groups, I could go on and on.
- presentation 4y ago
  Same here, I only have one life and given that I have the means to, I might as well live it somewhere whose values align with mine. No regrets! (Based on your username I'm guessing you're also in Japan?)
  - midoridensha 4y ago
    >Same here, I only have one life and given that I have the means to, I might as well live it somewhere whose values align with mine. Yep, this was exactly my thought process too! >(Based on your username I'm guessing you're also in Japan?) Good catch! Yes, that's correct. Biking isn't perfect here, but it's not bad, and I'm not afraid for my life.
    - cscurmudgeon 4y ago
      How’s the diversity and acceptance of foreigners? Will non-white immigrants be treated fairly? During a conference there, I (a brown person) didn’t feel as welcome as in the US. Same holds for Europe. The US despite its flaws is orders of magnitude more diverse and welcoming than the alternatives here. I am okay sacrificing walkability for being treated as an equal.
      - sofixa 4y ago
        > I (a brown person) didn’t feel as welcome as in the US. Same holds for Europe Europe is vast. You might get funny looks in a country that doesn't have lots of non-their own colour palette, especially in smaller places. E.g. in a smaller village in Romania, "brown" people are rare, so funny looks or the occasional ignorant comment are.. expected. However if you go to a more mixed country, like France, Spain, Germany, Italy, there will be the occasional hardcore racist (as everywhere, stupid is not nationality/ethnicity specific) but those are rare, mostly old, and shunned by society. And extremely rare in big cities. (As an example, a few years ago in Paris an old lady sad "of course it's a black person" about a woman talking loudly in an African sounding language on a bus, and multiple people reprimanded her).
L_Rahman 4y ago
Roosevelt Island isn't car free, but if you're willing to accept 15mph max speeds, no through traffic in exchange for living in NYC with some of the most incredible views it's a nice place to be.
- asoneth 4y ago
  Good point. I used to bike over the Queensboro bridge every day and daydream about living there. I even took the gondola once to see what a commute like that would be like. We ended up looking at a couple condos in an older building near the church there but never made any offers and eventually moved to New England for other reasons. But Roosevelt Island and Governor's Island were like the two places I ever felt halfway relaxed in NYC.
  - rrdharan 4y ago
    Throw Randall's on that list too.. the quietest of them all.
nickip 4y ago
What about Davis CA? Town designed and inspired by Dutch Biking. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/aug/03/davis-california-the-american-city-which-fell-in-love-with-the-bicycle https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/aug/03/davis-califor...
fud101 4y ago
How do you teach to avoid being killed?

rhodin 4y ago

No just Bikes has an episode about a car free neighborhood [1], in Canada. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWDFgzAjr1k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWDFgzAjr1k

asoneth 4y ago
Love the channel. The Toronto Islands seem like an attractive place to live. With a population of only ~700 and a (full) waiting list capped at 500 it's clearly in high demand, which makes it all the more strange to me that more developers aren't building places like these. I mean, I can't be the only one who is willing to pay 2-3x more to live in a neighborhood with no cars.
- dagurp 4y ago
  Because in most places in North America it would be illegal to build because of strict zoning laws https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=ajSEIdjkU8E https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=ajSEIdjkU8E
- Thorrez 4y ago
  Well in this case the no-car neighborhood's houses are 1/3 the price of normal houses due to a weird law. I wonder how much that contributes to the waitlist.
ahaferburg 4y ago
Ah. I was searching for "Not Just Bikes", but you have a small typo, so I added my own comment. Highly recommended channel!

midoridensha 4y ago

I simply moved out of America. If you want to live a real car-free life safely in a place where you can have a real job, a normal life, and not just live on some weird little tourist island, that's the only way to make it happen. As a bonus, you avoid many other problems that America has: a spiraling crime wave, housing crisis (depending on where you go), school shootings, mass shootings, more guns than people, religious restrictions and laws pushed by religious groups, I could go on and on.

presentation 4y ago
Same here, I only have one life and given that I have the means to, I might as well live it somewhere whose values align with mine. No regrets! (Based on your username I'm guessing you're also in Japan?)
- midoridensha 4y ago
  >Same here, I only have one life and given that I have the means to, I might as well live it somewhere whose values align with mine. Yep, this was exactly my thought process too! >(Based on your username I'm guessing you're also in Japan?) Good catch! Yes, that's correct. Biking isn't perfect here, but it's not bad, and I'm not afraid for my life.
  - cscurmudgeon 4y ago
    How’s the diversity and acceptance of foreigners? Will non-white immigrants be treated fairly? During a conference there, I (a brown person) didn’t feel as welcome as in the US. Same holds for Europe. The US despite its flaws is orders of magnitude more diverse and welcoming than the alternatives here. I am okay sacrificing walkability for being treated as an equal.
    - sofixa 4y ago
      > I (a brown person) didn’t feel as welcome as in the US. Same holds for Europe Europe is vast. You might get funny looks in a country that doesn't have lots of non-their own colour palette, especially in smaller places. E.g. in a smaller village in Romania, "brown" people are rare, so funny looks or the occasional ignorant comment are.. expected. However if you go to a more mixed country, like France, Spain, Germany, Italy, there will be the occasional hardcore racist (as everywhere, stupid is not nationality/ethnicity specific) but those are rare, mostly old, and shunned by society. And extremely rare in big cities. (As an example, a few years ago in Paris an old lady sad "of course it's a black person" about a woman talking loudly in an African sounding language on a bus, and multiple people reprimanded her).

L_Rahman 4y ago

Roosevelt Island isn't car free, but if you're willing to accept 15mph max speeds, no through traffic in exchange for living in NYC with some of the most incredible views it's a nice place to be.

asoneth 4y ago
Good point. I used to bike over the Queensboro bridge every day and daydream about living there. I even took the gondola once to see what a commute like that would be like. We ended up looking at a couple condos in an older building near the church there but never made any offers and eventually moved to New England for other reasons. But Roosevelt Island and Governor's Island were like the two places I ever felt halfway relaxed in NYC.
- rrdharan 4y ago
  Throw Randall's on that list too.. the quietest of them all.

nickip 4y ago

What about Davis CA? Town designed and inspired by Dutch Biking. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/aug/03/davis-california-the-american-city-which-fell-in-love-with-the-bicycle https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/aug/03/davis-califor...

fud101 4y ago

How do you teach to avoid being killed?