A City in Germany Aims to Be 'Car Free' in 20 Years: Would You Like to Live in a City Without Cars?

Question

Would you want to live in a city without cars? Well, it may be happening in the not-so-distant future. Hamburg is planning to be "car free" within 20 years. The German city has started working on a plan to fulfill its goal of making the city a more environmentally friendly place by having less cars on the street.

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The city plans to create a "Green Network" -- or Grünes Netz, if you want to keep it German -- where it will convert 40 percent of the city into pedestrian-only zones that are car-free.

What do you think about this idea? Would you want to live in a city where a big chunk of the town is designated for pedestrians and cyclists rather than cars and buses? Would you want to live in a city without cars, period? Sound off.

Answer 1

Yeah sure. Get exercise, enjoy the outdoors.

Answer 2

Until the early 1900's we all did with out cars. The reason its so "**** to be without a car" is because we have built our communities in such a way to make it impossible to be without one. If tomorrow all cars in the country suddenly became unusable, we would rebuild our communities to function with out them.

Answer 3

I can't wait to live in Germany one day! :D

Answer 4

I visited Lake Chautauqua NY and all inbound roads lead to parking lots on the outskirts of town, Most of the town is as is was in the 1800's , Horse carriages, a blacksmith and livery stables with horses for rent, Bicycle rentals, Ice cream shops The entire west shore of the lake. An antique steam vessel ferry's tourists on the lake the old pavilion is huge they have concerts there, Summer 1971 we stayed 10 days saw ELP there and Johnny Winter a week later way lay-d back town .

Answer 5

That is silly, and "progressives" real goal of regression back to the horse and buggy days.

Answer 6

I wouldn't mind biking or walking everywhere through the city. I would have a car just in case, such as if there was an emergency or I was heading out of the city.

Answer 7

It would not be the first time a town or city did it. Ironically during the days of the Model T Henry Ford purchased an entire town and made it car free.

Answer 8

That would be cool!

Answer 9

Do you have the slightest idea of how **** it is to be without a car?

Answer 10

Do you have a car? Our communities are big because population. Public transport is so unconventional and time consuming it took me 3 hours to travel what would take at most 45 minutes.

Answer 11

I would enjoy that. It would be a nice change.

Answer 12

I do understand but have had many acquaintances that have not had cars but live in big cities and get along just fine!

Answer 13

Visited Mackinac Island (Michigan) in 1996. ONLY bikes, horse-carriage, OR walking there. Ambulance and fire-trucks exist there, with small air-strip for emergency flights out. A nice place to visit. The horse-droppings are common, that keeps the street-cleaners busy !!!!

Answer 14

Hamburg might not be a car-free city in the future.

Answer 15

It would give me an excuse to get a really awesome bike.

Answer 16

That would be awesome. European countries are much more conducive to this than Americas urban sprall dominated states. My in laws lived in Vienna for 3 yrs and didn't have or need a car.

Answer 17

I would give it a try at least

Answer 18

I hear their transportation in Germany is good.

Answer 19

I don't want to give up anything that takes away my independence. I do not want to live by other's schedules. And I do not want to lose a way to escape a situation should I feel the need to.

Answer 20

I won't be 20 any longer and mu bad knees won't like it at all. Just another idiot idea for the "greenies" who hate convenience.

Answer 21

Yes and no walking good but no cars

Answer 22

Free car life is so great that means creating other stuff is on the road i like that...

Answer 23

Cities don't have ***** roads. The streets would be in better shape from not having cars on them. No one in a modern area is going to give up emergency vehicles.

Answer 24

A place not to go, just like New York has become.

Answer 25

why cant there be a maybe ****** i mean come on A **** LOAD OF GOOD THINGS CAN COME OUT OF THIS. like fresh clean air more healthy people less kids getting hit by cars but the down side if i get shot the police are gonna ride in on bikes like where he went or high speed bike chases with cops sticking there *** in the air to gain speed on the bad guy. or what about a fire sets the fireman isn't there after ten minutes complaining about why i live on a big *** hill i had to kick my scooter twice as **** to get up here. or somebody robs a bank with an actual car what the swat team gonna do? hang on the back of the robbers car while riding skateboards? what if i need an ambulance to get me cause my leg broke?

Answer 26

Absolutely!!

If the city has a quality, 24x7 mass transit system, why bother with a car?

I grew up in NYC, and never had a car, until I joined the Air Force and got sent to California, where it was impossible to get around without one. For the last 30 plus years I've lived in Nebraska, again, where it is pretty much impossible to exist without a car.

But I also lived in Berlin, Germany, and for four years had no need of a car, and no problems living without one.

I seem to recall a columnist I was following a couple years ago who was based in Philadelphia, who often noted that most of the time he neither needed nor wanted a car. Living in the city center, a car was far more trouble than it was worth. But he also noted that Philly had come up with something (??PhillyCar??) where you subscribed for something like $50 per year, and then you could go to any of over 100 offices around the city and "check out" a car, for as little as a day, or as long as a week (with some fees based on usage longer than the hour). I'm vague on the details now, as I never lived there, but it struck me then that such a system would make great sense. No car to worry about or pay for, for the 95% of the time you didn't require a car, and an easy, inexpensive system to obtain a car for that 5% of time you did need it.

Answer 27

I would love to give it a try.

Answer 28

Sure , why not? I wont have to worry about getting hit by a car when im walking from one place to another :D plus it would be much healthier to walk . Although if i get some type of expensive car someday , law or no law im takin that baby for a test drive ! ;D

Answer 29

In a heartbeat!

Answer 30

gets there trips and breaks legs trys to call for an ambulance. they get there 20 minutes later talking about the only way to get to the hospital is on a every ***** road while complaining about we only got speed bikes
id love to live in a town with no cars but the power of the if questions ruin everything like what if i got seriously hurt and needed an ambulance?

Answer 31

Answer 32

But only after Star trek type transporters are invented and installed in every home ;-)

Answer 33

Answer 34

I'd love to! Only **** people :-D

Answer 35

Would you really want to have to walk everywhere you go in our cities?
Perhaps a bad area is in the way.

Answer 36

Sounds so cool!

Answer 37

It would be nice if more people got off of their *****!

Answer 38

As long as there is good and not expensive public transportation: city also needs to be tightly constructerd with everything sort of within walking distances

Answer 39

Cars, gas, insurance ... I can't imagine public transport adding up to that.

Answer 40

German cities are usually great for walking and biking and don't have all that suburban sprawl that plagues US cities.

Answer 41

Your independence is illusory. what happens when there is no oil or it becomes too expensive to afford? You have simply traded your dependence on public transport for a monetary dependence on the car. Suppose you could get on a train or bus and work on your lap top, read or watch a movie rather than spending your time stuck in traffic. Wouldn't you have more time to yourself to do whatever you wished rather being a slave to a machine?