Can we make cities car free?

Resources:

Produced by Dave Amos in sunny San Luis Obispo, California.
Edited by Ryan Alva in Los Angeles, California.
Audio by Eric Schneider in cloudy Cleveland, Ohio.
Select images and video from Getty Images.
Black Lives Matter.

[CityBeautiful]

Sorry to all Finnish speakers out there! I pronounced Kalasatama as KalaTaSama. I’ll try to do better next time!

[Xambonii]

It seems like a feedback cycle. Without cars you want to live within walking distance and then you don't need a car because everything is built for walking. LA and American suburbs are an example of the opposite.

[CNM]

Life would definitely be better if most of life's essential services were within walking distance. Plenty of green spaces, parks, outdoor amenities, Grocery, schools, healthcare and childcare. Cars are expensive financially, environmentally, mentally and physically. There would also be a stronger sense of community.

[mcmeyer]

I live in The Netherlands and all our cities, even the ones with a population of 20, 000 have banned cars from the centres. The city I live in (Groningen) offers park & ride facilities. Parking lots are build on the outskirts of the city, where you can park for free and you can take the bus towards the city centre and back for just 2 Euros per 3 people. This video basically explained my everyday life.

[orlandoheavener]

I live in Atlanta and really wish it was more walkable and cyclists friendly.

[scifience]

you often mention ¨But that´s for a future video¨. I just want that future video

[scygnius]

I greatly appreciate the environmental/economic end of reducing cars in cities. However, I’d wager what we should really be using as a factor is simply the bump in quality of life. I feel freer, more connected, and overall happier being able to walk/bike to my destinations rather than hop on a big street/freeway just to get my groceries.

[Angarsk]

Great vid. Don't know if you avoided in purpose the "zoning" factor: In Europe, you can walk around the block and find 6 markets, 2 restaurants, 4 cafes... and so on. This makes it so that most of your needs you can suply them with a short, pleasant walk. In cities with single-zoning, you have to travel several kilometers just to buy juice.

[fourtwenty]

I visited Barcelona and Madrid this summer, and my favorite aspect of the cities was EASILY the walkability. So many restaurants and attractions within a 5 mile radius, I didn't even need to rent a car. I was just able to walk or take the train/metro. It was so nice.

[ageoflove]

In Amsterdam only 1/3 of total journeys is made with cars. Another 3rd is cycling and the final 3rd public transport.

[waynepayne]

Cars are ridiculously dangerous. Once you start taking note of how often someone is killed by a car you start to think, how is this allowed? If anything else were this lethal we would have declared it a public health crisis.

[Aeyekay]

After basically being radicalized from watching Not just Bikes, I weep when I look at before and after photos of Americans cities. Our cities layouts were great and they got bulldozed for the car and it’s freeways. So many Cities are extremely ugly and unpleasant to go in, it’s terrible. I hope we can undo the damage and restore cities to their former glory

[emysimo]

Venice: "am I a joke to you?"

[DJAvren]

2:17 'Unlike many US cities'
Ah yes, that famous US highway with it's Arabic signage.

[liljanasufaj]

The only country in the world that used to be car free was Albania, during 50 years of communism. We had only public transport, trains, buses and a few taxis. Private cars were banned by law in all the country. We used to play into the streets and run wild all around the town. No accidents, no traffic, no noises, no pollution. The country was completely virgin, full of wild flowers and fireflies. In terms of nature, we lived in Paradise, but we didn't know that....

[mattwis]

This was definitely the best ad for Nebula I've seen yet

[FuturologyChannel]

Yes, we need more public transportation!

[princeofchetarria]

It’s honestly astounding how much space we have sacrificed to cars, and particularly parked cars (which is how cars spend 90% of their time). Most residential streets in London give well over half of their space to parked cars, and another 30+% to moving cars, leaving less than 20% for pedestrians.

[CommentLikeDescribe]

"... without a car in sight"

Except for the 5 cars, in clear view, in parking spaces, in front of houses.

[UrbaneOracle]

Thanks for this. I'm trying to make something similar happen in Harrisburg, PA as a Planning Commissioner. Removing parking requirements, lowering speed limits to 20mph, and making alleyways into woonerfs are all in my agenda. But...most Harrisburgers look at me like I'm a madman.