3 ms·

Roel, since you're an expert -- can you help shed light on the history? From what I've read, other demographically and geographically similar countries in Europ

Roel, since you're an expert -- can you help shed light on the history? From what I've read, other demographically and geographically similar countries in Europe have much lower rates of cycling. These other countries were undoubtably also not designed for cars, they were designed for horses and pedestrians (as I can attest from having driven in Europe). The source materials that I've read suggest that there was a major inflection point in the 1970's where bike transport share stopped declining and started increasing, and also that the linear miles of bike path have increased dramatically (3x?) in the past 20 years.

Someone 13y ago
That's from http://bicycledutch.wordpress.com http://bicycledutch.wordpress.com (http://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/index-by-theme http://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/index-by-theme is an excellent entry point, too) My layman's view is that both sides are right. Most city centers date from before 1900, so they weren't designed for cars (Amsterdam wasn't even designed for carriages). Up to ~end of World War two~, cars weren't common enough to build 'cars first; all others enter at your own risk' neighborhoods (for example, the first river car tunnel, the Maastunnel in Rotterdam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastunnel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastunnel), built in 1937-1942 has separate tubes for cyclists and pedestrians. Traffic jams formed at its escalators in the fifties) After World War Two, there was a period when the USA seemed to show the future. That led to ideas that cities such as LA were the future of city building. Some ideas/attempts to reshape cities were formed/made, but those were abandoned or at least seriously adjusted really soon. For example, the Bijlmer (1968; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bijlmer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bijlmer) was designed as a paradise for cars, but also as one for pedestrians. In the same period, Ommoord also is very car friendly. Yet, its neighborhoods also have the typical dead end streets that make streets safer for kids to play in, and it has a metro connection to the center of Rotterdam. Almere (1978; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almere http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almere) already shows a trend away from 'cars first'. Later, we got Houten (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houten http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houten) So, yes, there was a trend towards 'cars first', and there was a turn, but that turn was made very early. That made the turn relatively easy. Changing LA into a 'cars are guests' city would be a challenge on a different scale.

Someone 13y ago

That's from http://bicycledutch.wordpress.com http://bicycledutch.wordpress.com (http://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/index-by-theme http://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/index-by-theme is an excellent entry point, too) My layman's view is that both sides are right. Most city centers date from before 1900, so they weren't designed for cars (Amsterdam wasn't even designed for carriages). Up to ~end of World War two~, cars weren't common enough to build 'cars first; all others enter at your own risk' neighborhoods (for example, the first river car tunnel, the Maastunnel in Rotterdam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastunnel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastunnel), built in 1937-1942 has separate tubes for cyclists and pedestrians. Traffic jams formed at its escalators in the fifties) After World War Two, there was a period when the USA seemed to show the future. That led to ideas that cities such as LA were the future of city building. Some ideas/attempts to reshape cities were formed/made, but those were abandoned or at least seriously adjusted really soon. For example, the Bijlmer (1968; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bijlmer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bijlmer) was designed as a paradise for cars, but also as one for pedestrians. In the same period, Ommoord also is very car friendly. Yet, its neighborhoods also have the typical dead end streets that make streets safer for kids to play in, and it has a metro connection to the center of Rotterdam. Almere (1978; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almere http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almere) already shows a trend away from 'cars first'. Later, we got Houten (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houten http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houten) So, yes, there was a trend towards 'cars first', and there was a turn, but that turn was made very early. That made the turn relatively easy. Changing LA into a 'cars are guests' city would be a challenge on a different scale.