|
Once a year, we talk about what life could be like without cars.
Actually, we talk about this in quite a lot of detail throughout the
year, but it is a new idea for many, so they perhaps need something
simpler to begin with.
December
25, 2011: Life Without Cars: 2011 Edition
December
19, 2010: Life Without Cars: 2010 Edition
December
13, 2009: Life Without Cars: 2009 Edition
December
21, 2008: Life Without Cars
Today, we live in a wasteland that I call "Suburban Hell." You might
not like the fact that I'm calling your neighborhood and lifestyle
"hellish" -- people with a thirty-year mortgage don't want to be
told that they made a mistake -- but a mistake is what it is. I
personally grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, and lived in some
of the nicest suburbs of New Jersey and Connecticut (Montclair and
Westport), so don't give me the "that doesn't apply to my
neighborhood" story. Been there and done that.
Besides being basically unpleasant (at least when you leave the
driveway and suburban yard), it is also hideously expensive and
laborious to maintain, and terrible for the environment. If we could
find a way to make a nicer environment, that is also cheaper and
easier to maintain, and also very environmentally-friendly, that
would be good, no?
March
14, 2010: The Traditional City: Bringing It All Together
Most people, when they think of living without cars, imagine living
in their present Suburban Hell neighborhood with something like a
bicycle. Of course this stinks. That's why you own a car today,
instead of just a bicycle. A car costs about $700 a month all-in,
and you wouldn't pay that expense (times two or three for some
families) if you didn't feel it was necessary.
So, the secret to living without cars is to make an environment
where cars are not necessary, and are in fact a needless burden.
This is quite common throughout the world, today. It was the way
everyone lived prior to 1900, before cars (and bicycles) existed.
August
1, 2010: The Problem With Bicycles
The solution is what I call the Traditional City. It is a pattern of
urbanization that is common throughout the world, in Europe, China,
Japan, and even the pre-Columbian Americas. This is because it
reflects the natural needs of humans, which are about the same
everywhere. Today, this 5000-year-old pattern is improved by a
subway and train system, and also motor vehicles mostly for carrying
cargo or shared transportation (buses and taxis). So, you don't have
to ban all motor vehicles, although some places do (Venice) with
excellent results. I certainly wouldn't recommend using a
horse-drawn wagon instead of a diesel truck. However, these are all
commercial vehicles. Nobody needs a personal automobile.
The Traditional City is, first and foremost, a place for people.
Almost every part of it is a place that is designed for and
dominated by people, not automobiles.
October
10,
2009:
Place and Non-Place
We are all very familiar with the Traditional City. It is such a
pleasant and fun Place that many people pay thousands of dollars and
get on a plane just to escape their Suburban Hell environment for a
week or two, and visit a Traditional City environment.
Lucca, Italy
The basic recipe for a Traditional City
environment is to make a street that is designed for people.
This is much narrower than a street designed for automobiles, so
I call it a "Really Narrow Street." This street in Lucca, Italy
is only about fifteen feet wide, from building to building.
There is no central automobile roadway or sidewalks, the entire
space from edge-to-edge is devoted to people. Motor vehicles do
not have to be banned from these streets, and in practice, I am
sure that people in Lucca, Italy get their deliveries, trash
pickup and so forth from motorized commercial vehicles driving
on streets like this. However, most of the time, there is no
reason to drive there, because it's very slow and there's no
parking. It would be faster and easier to walk. So, there's no
traffic.
Uzes, France
Another characteristic of the Traditional
City is that the building height tends to be no higher than
about six stories, and the building is flush up against the
street with no setback or greenery in front, and also
minimal spaces between buildings. You can have private
courtyards, backyards, gardens and so forth, and public
parks, but there's no Suburban Hell-style "front yard."
So far, we have looked at some very classic European
environments, but you can have the same basic principles
with more of a contemporary theme. The result is different,
but also excellent.
You can see why people want to spend their vacations in
places like this. Doesn't it look like fun?
Who would pay good money to visit your Suburban Hell
neighborhood on their vacation? Maybe ... nobody?
This isn't a medieval European village. Everything here
was built after 1950. But the basic design elements are
the same.
And, it is a lot of fun!
Although these are very different cultures, we see that
the basic format is the same. A Really Narrow Street
designed for people. Buildings side-by-side and up against
the street, with no setback. That's really all there is to
it. With a good train system, you have everything you need
for modern living. You can live comfortably, even
joyously, without a car. You can see, just from looking at
the pictures, that a personal automobile is both
unnecessary and, in fact, a burden. That's why the people
who live in places like this generally don't own
automobiles.
December
27, 2009: What a Real Train System Looks Like
See how there are no cars in any of these streets? They
just don't go there.
Where are the cars?
Don't need them.
In fact, Americans are perfectly
capable of making such environments. However, for some
strange reason, they do so primarily as some sort of
amusement park destination.
However, it works even then. At some subconscious
level, people figured out that this basic format is so
attractive that people want to go there on their
vacation, and will pay money to do so. Even if the
architecture is a little childish.
This village is the "Harry Potter" attraction at
Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. It is very
popular. People pay good money to be in a Traditional
City environment.
This is a very different sort of theme than the Harry
Potter village in Orlando, but you can see that the
basic design elements are the same. Pedestrian
streets. Buildings up against the street and
side-by-side. No cars.
Las Vegas.
You can even have a single-family-detached residential
(i.e. suburban-style) house, but within a Traditional
City environment. We looked at how this is done.
July
31,
2011:
How
To
Make a Pile of Dough With the Traditional City 5: The
New New Suburbanism
July
17,
2011:
How
To
Make
A
Pile
of
Dough
Wi...
the Traditional City 4: More SFDR/SFAR Solutions
target="_blank" June
12,
2011:
How
to
Make
a
Pile
of
Dough...
City 3: Single Family Detached in the Traditional City
Style
We also looked at many ways that you can create
Traditional City environments today, in the United
States, in the midst of Suburban Hell, even without a
train system. It's not really that hard once you put
your mind to it. It could even be quite profitable.
Maybe, very profitable.
target="_blank" November
11,
2012: HTMAPODWTTC 10: Let's Bulldoze a Big Box
Shopping Center 2: No, Seriously target="_blank"
target="_blank"July
1, 2012: How To Make a Pile of Dough With the
Traditional City 9: Townhouses With Parking target="_blank"
April 22, 2012: How to Make a Pile of Dough With the
Traditional City 8: Shared Parking
target="_blank" April
1, 2012: How To Make a Pile of Dough With the
Traditional City 7: Let's Bulldoze a Big Box Shopping
Center target="_blank"
target="_blank"May
15, 2011: How To Make A Pile of Dough With the
Traditional City 2: A Ski Resort Village
We even looked at ways to combine high-rise
construction, in excess of ten stories and even fifty or
more stories, with Traditional City design elements, to
create a new hybrid that has the best characteristics of
both.
target="_blank" September
23, 2012: Corbusier Nouveau 3: Really Narrow Streets
With High-Rises target="_blank"
August 26, 2012: Corbusier Nouveau 2: More Place and
Less Non-Place
target="_blank" August
19,
2012: Corbusier Nouveau
We see that it is not really difficult at all to create
places where nobody needs a personal automobile -- or,
if they do need one, to interact with the rest of
Suburban Hell, at least they do not need one within
their immediate Traditional City neighborhood.
It is all a lot easier than you think. It is cheaper and
easier than building Suburban Hell. You just have to
imagine it.
target="_blank" June
6, 2010: Transitioning to the Traditional City 2:
Pooh-poohing the Naysayers
target="_blank" May
23, 2010: Transitioning to the Traditional City
Imagine Life Without Cars. Or, even better, on your next
vacation, visit a place like the ones described above.
This is not a fantasy. There are hundreds of beautiful
real-life places in the world like this. Book a week in
Venice, Osaka, Vienna, Bangkok, Melbourne, Barcelona,
Quebec City or Cairo. Search out the best examples of
Traditional City fabulousness within the city (some
neighborhoods are better than others). See for yourself
how well it works, and how much more fun it is than your
Suburban Hell catastrophe (or New Urbanist failure).
Live the Dream, if only for a week. Make it your
reality, even if temporary at first. You can do it
tomorrow, if you like.
It's so obvious.
| |
