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I know there are some attempts at car-free/lite communities, but nothing substantial or more than a glorified subdivision surrounded by cars, or wilderness.
Let's say a young family was looking for a community that was car-lite, to be safe, healthy, pleasant, sustainable. Where would that be? There has been a very small up-cropping of people in this country who are interested in such a lifestyle, but the fallacy is that they still live in the pollution and dangerous roads of personal automobiles. It's a catch-22. To feel safe, you need to be part of the problem and impose danger/risk on others. Drive instead of being vulnerable on a bike. Pollute the air instead of breathing in polluted air.
Is the closest thing just a small town in the countryside? Low density, few people, few cars?
Do I just need to more to Copenhagen/Amsterdam/some other foreign place?
I currently live in Austin TX and ride an electric bicycle I built for myself for transportation, (which is amazing), but I still own a car that I drive about 500 miles a year (almost always due to gf). I feel a lot safer on a faster "moped" than a pedal only bicycle, but of course still dislike being in car land. I dislike driving my car in the 'city' and would leave the house much less often if it weren't for my bike. I hate traffic and parking, and love the freedom of my bike.
For anyone suggesting cities where you don't need a car, like NYC - the pollution and traffic danger there is the worst I've ever experienced. No thanks.
Come on down here to Victoria, Texas. Only 120 miles away. Nice, level ground and residential streets on a grid, where even a pedal bike is safe and comfortable to ride clear across town. Nothing is more than 5 miles away (except cows). But a big enough city you never need to go to "the city" for anything.
I know there are some attempts at car-free/lite communities, but nothing substantial or more than a glorified subdivision surrounded by cars, or wilderness.
Let's say a young family was looking for a community that was car-lite, to be safe, healthy, pleasant, sustainable. Where would that be? ...
For anyone suggesting cities where you don't need a car, like NYC - the pollution and traffic danger there is the worst I've ever experienced. No thanks.
Don't write off NYC so quickly. It sounds like you're thinking Manhattan, in which case you'd be right. But there are other parts o the city where its NOT crowded and dangerous to ride a bike, and where its walkable to most everything you need to do (though you may choose to ride a train or bus if you work in Manhattan). Lots of neighborhoods in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and some in the Bronx fit this description. And yes, even in Manhattan lots of people still ride a bike to work in all but the worst weather. That should increase when a bike-sharing program starts next spring.
But you can find those quiet bike-friendly nabes I think in every city with developed mass transit. They're certainly in Washington DC, San Francisco and Chicago, e.g.
The trick is to look at the NEIGHBORHOOD, not the city in general. Mistaking Manhattan for all of NYC, or The Loop for all of Chicago is a mistake too many people make. There are places in all these cities that are low-key and bike friendly.
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