Carfree Cities

   

After seeing what happened in New Orleans in the Hurricane's wake, I've been giving a bit of thought to city design. More specifically, how to build them better. While the people of Louisiana and Mississippi have an enormous job ahead of them to repair and rebuild, the rest of us are going to get a different surprise.

The impact of the storm on gas prices has been immediate - my local gas station is charging almost 20% more than it did a week ago. That's made me think long and hard about how I use my car for nearly everything - a quick trip to the grocery store, a visit to friends, work, or a trip to the movies. Like many in North America I live in a suburban community that's separated from "conveniences" like community centers, libraries, commuter trains, and shopping areas by a two mile ribbon of road.

It doesn't have to be this way. Joel Crawford has created Carfree Cities, a site that encourages people to reconsider the role of cars in urban communities. He proposes a clever synthesis of old-world multi-story districts and modern rapid transit to ensure people are nearly always within walking distance of a train station.

The site is well laid out and the ideas are compelling. Under normal circumstances, I'd encourage you to pick up a copy of Crawford's Carfree book as well, but today I think the money would be better given to help others.

Carfree Cities (carfree.com)
Carfree Cities Book (via Amazon)