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The "Fuck Cars" crowd often really seems to get upset when you tell them you prefer the personal autonomy that using a car offers even at the expense of walkabl

The "Fuck Cars" crowd often really seems to get upset when you tell them you prefer the personal autonomy that using a car offers even at the expense of walkable cities. And they often seem completely baffled when someone actually likes the suburbs, having a yard, not living like a sardine in a highly taxed and regulated municipality, etc. So is it really a "conspiracy theory" to be opposed to the sweeping changes they want to make to infrastructure and society?

diordiderot 4y ago
If car drivers would actually pay the price it cost (i.e. stop gov subsidizing suburbs / managing parking minimums) and let people who actually live in the cities decide where cars can drive, then we'd be cool
patchymcnoodles 4y ago
Does it say, that then everybody has to live 15 minutes away from everything. It targets big polluted cities to make them a better living. Nobody says, you are disallowed to have more space for you if you want to and living in suburbs. That's exactly part of conspiracy theories. I grew up and lived very long in Berlin. I rarely needed a car, never owned one there and I know many people who moved to Berlin and then got rid of their cars, as they didn't use it anymore. Berlin is not an example of a 15-minute-city but much better in a way of everything is close by, instead of having one center, it has several. You can apply same for Zurich. Zurich is small in comparison to other european capitals (or capitals around the world in general). So in around 30 minutes walking you can be everywhere. Still a lot of cars there, but it is just so much more convenient, that you don't need it. But if you wanna use it, sure go ahead. And according to many rankings it is one of the best cities to live in (and I would agree with that).
- natoliniak 4y ago
  My problem with the article is that it builds something of a straw man "conspiracy theorist" to battle against, instead of looking at the actual problem: "The plan will require local residents to apply for permits to drive on certain streets" and the glossed over "filters" This immediately creates an economic structure where only the wealthy would be able to freely drive while ushering everyone else into something of a forced utopia. There are plenty of organic "15-minute neighborhoods" all over Europe (and even in the USA) where people voluntarily surrender cars (I'm one of those people) but forcing people to do this only fuels weird culture wars. Build truly car free infrastructure first and residents will ditch cars freely.

diordiderot 4y ago

If car drivers would actually pay the price it cost (i.e. stop gov subsidizing suburbs / managing parking minimums) and let people who actually live in the cities decide where cars can drive, then we'd be cool

patchymcnoodles 4y ago

Does it say, that then everybody has to live 15 minutes away from everything. It targets big polluted cities to make them a better living. Nobody says, you are disallowed to have more space for you if you want to and living in suburbs. That's exactly part of conspiracy theories. I grew up and lived very long in Berlin. I rarely needed a car, never owned one there and I know many people who moved to Berlin and then got rid of their cars, as they didn't use it anymore. Berlin is not an example of a 15-minute-city but much better in a way of everything is close by, instead of having one center, it has several. You can apply same for Zurich. Zurich is small in comparison to other european capitals (or capitals around the world in general). So in around 30 minutes walking you can be everywhere. Still a lot of cars there, but it is just so much more convenient, that you don't need it. But if you wanna use it, sure go ahead. And according to many rankings it is one of the best cities to live in (and I would agree with that).

natoliniak 4y ago
My problem with the article is that it builds something of a straw man "conspiracy theorist" to battle against, instead of looking at the actual problem: "The plan will require local residents to apply for permits to drive on certain streets" and the glossed over "filters" This immediately creates an economic structure where only the wealthy would be able to freely drive while ushering everyone else into something of a forced utopia. There are plenty of organic "15-minute neighborhoods" all over Europe (and even in the USA) where people voluntarily surrender cars (I'm one of those people) but forcing people to do this only fuels weird culture wars. Build truly car free infrastructure first and residents will ditch cars freely.