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I agree that certain zones in NYC seem like they would be ready for this type of development. I also agree with the author that Boston would be a perfect candidate if they get their transit priorities in order and invest in the MBTA, because pedestrian wise its an excellent city.
A sleeper may be Montreal, and I think that may be the city I actually vote for. Great commitment to pedestrian only streets, strong Metro system and just a pleasure of a city to walk through in general.
1. Montreal
2. Boston
3. NYC
4. DC
Those would be the main contenders.
Boston could start by shutting down the North End to everything but commercial traffic. Also Newbury street would be a cool pedestrian thoroughfare.
People in Portland, OR HATE cars, I drove a sprinter van delivering wine for a living, and I got so much crap from those dang hipsters and hobos. One tried to kick my van while it was moving, guess what buddy, I'm not stopping if you break your foot!
Toronto doesn't have a single pedestrian only street, with most its streets catering to cars. It has 2.5 subway lines, similar to Vancouver a city 1/3 of its size. We are still scrapping above ground LRTs projects in favour of underground subways because the LRTs will "take lanes from the cars".
Hell no, Toronto won't be car free in 50 years. You think too highly of it. It might look like it has a great public transport system, but it doesn't unless you live in the more urban 10% of the city that is downtown and its peripheries.
I think in about 40-50 years Midtown and Downtown Manhattan will be car free.
Have you ever been to either parts of Manhattan? Midtown just might have the widest most usable roads of any major city in the nation. the north-south avenues are rivers of traffic.
The areas south of Houston St are much more narrow but even they are perfectly navigable by auto.
The only city that this could happen to in the near future would be Boston.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
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LOL at this whole thread.
Look, I am personally car-minimal myself and prefer to walk / use transit 99% of the time, but let's get real: Our entire society is based car transport. Even in these so-called basitions of car-freeness like Manhattan...where there are 4 million parking spots and more taxis than there are people (ok, that's an exaggeration, but it sure seems like it some times.)
Sure, there will be plenty of cities that become more car-free friendly than they already are, but until a superior form of personal transport comes around the car is here to stay.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Joshua
Have you ever been to either parts of Manhattan? Midtown just might have the widest most usable roads of any major city in the nation. the north-south avenues are rivers of traffic.
The areas south of Houston St are much more narrow but even they are perfectly navigable by auto.
The only city that this could happen to in the near future would be Boston.
I'm going to sound like a broken record, but yeah, clearly there are a lot of folks who don't understand how NYC works. The reason why so many people don't own cars isn't because they don't want to, it can just be too much of an headache/expense to own one. Since transit is to a level where you do need one, people opt for them. That doesn't take the desire away though.
When you go out to the other four boroughs, car usage skyrockets. Why? Because it's not such a hassle to own a car there.
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