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More car friendly, Amsterdam is beautiful but it seems like such a hassle to own a car there.
Owning a car is expensive and yes driving in the old centre of Amsterdam is difficult and crowded, since it has a lot of canals and the areas beside the canals were never made for cars and are wide enough for only one car. That is what gives a lot of European cities their charm. Walkable, quieter and on a more human scale.
Outside the old centre the roads are fantastic, modern and well kept.
I have driven in The Netherlands a few times and have enjoyed it. ( although I do avoid the old centre ).
Transit is plentiful and handy, as is their great train network to get you to places quickly.
Having a auto - centric city does not mean it's a better place to live.
More car friendly, Amsterdam is beautiful but it seems like such a hassle to own a car there.
On the plus side, its probably safe to say the Dutch aren't suffering from a high rate of traffic deaths, or from an epidemic of obesity and related health problems. I don't think I ever saw anyone in the Netherlands who looked like they were overweight.
On the plus side, its probably safe to say the Dutch aren't suffering from a high rate of traffic deaths, or from an epidemic of obesity and related health problems. I don't think I ever saw anyone in the Netherlands who looked like they were overweight.
Lol yea because 10 traffic related deaths per 100,000 people is a high rate..
and i'm not a chubby chaser so i don't really care about how many obese people they have.
Compared to the Netherlands where it is many times lower, the rate of traffic deaths in North America is very high. But the rate of debilitating injury that doesn't result in death is many times higher still. Statistically you are much more likely to be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life as a result of a car accident than you are to die from it. And for some the latter might be preferable. 2/3rds of US adults are overweight while more than 1 in 3 are obese, the most in the world. Its not a trivial matter.
Compared to the Netherlands where it is many times lower, the rate of traffic deaths in North America is very high. But the rate of debilitating injury that doesn't result in death is many times higher still. Statistically you are much more likely to be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life as a result of a car accident than you are to die from it. And for some the latter might be preferable. 2/3rds of US adults are overweight while more than 1 in 3 are obese, the most in the world. Its not a trivial matter.
So is 10 traffic deaths per 100,000 people high?
I'll still stick with driving my car. to me selling my car for a bicycle is a large drawback.
Cycling a drawback in Minnesota? I guess you don't live in Minneapolis, which I read was one of the top three cycling cities in the country with excellent cycling infrastructure.
Cycling infrastructure is only useful if there are a lot of places it gets you to. Plus bicycles aren't climate controlled and Minneapolis has a lot of cold. Mind you, warmer places aren't necessarily better, especially if workplaces don't have showers since Minneapolis' summers are already somewhat hot. I do agree that from a personal point of view, having a car usually increases convenience, but if I can live in a place where it's already quite convenient to get around by foot, bike or transit, the added cost of the car isn't worth it. There are only a few places where a car doesn't increase convenience, mainly New York (and mainly Manhattan).
It snows quite a bit in the Netherlands too but it doesn't seem to stop them from biking in the middle of winter. It might seem extreme to those of us who are homebodies and spend all our time indoors and behind the wheel but the Dutch are accustomed to it because they are outdoors so much. Their bodies are probably a lot better physically conditioned and hardier than ours for the most part.
Cycling infrastructure is only useful if there are a lot of places it gets you to. Plus bicycles aren't climate controlled and Minneapolis has a lot of cold. Mind you, warmer places aren't necessarily better, especially if workplaces don't have showers since Minneapolis' summers are already somewhat hot. I do agree that from a personal point of view, having a car usually increases convenience, but if I can live in a place where it's already quite convenient to get around by foot, bike or transit, the added cost of the car isn't worth it. There are only a few places where a car doesn't increase convenience, mainly New York (and mainly Manhattan).
You'd be suprised how many people bicycling around here in December. I would never do it, its nice that they're saving the environment and all but I find it crazy!
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