[HN Gopher] Something special is happening in Barcelona
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       Something special is happening in Barcelona
        
       Author : reallydontask
       Score  : 164 points
       Date   : 2021-10-23 18:00 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (twitter.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (twitter.com)
        
       | alkonaut wrote:
       | This is very clever. I could imagine this makes drivers pick
       | other times to drive eventually so once this is common enough,
       | then at certain times there would be very little traffic. If
       | cities were effectively car-free for just 30 minutes in the
       | morning that could make a huge difference in the number of people
       | riding bikes.
        
       | Tomte wrote:
       | Some towns in Germany have this concept for students walking to
       | their schools. There are even improvised bus stop signs at the
       | side of the road.
        
         | dgellow wrote:
         | We called this Pedibus in my Swiss hometown when I was a kid in
         | the 90s and 00s. We had signs where kids could wait for the
         | "walking bus", a group of kids going to school together, often
         | lead by an adult.
         | 
         | Edit: that's still a thing! https://pedibus.ch/
        
       | LeoPanthera wrote:
       | This is a surprisingly clever idea. (Or maybe I am not clever
       | enough to come up with stuff like this.)
       | 
       | As explained the followup tweets: By extending the route to cover
       | multiple schools, with fixed arrival times at each destination,
       | people can join and leave the "bike bus" as it passes through.
       | Even regular business commuters are joining the bike bus.
       | 
       | I love it.
        
       | Aachen wrote:
       | "Something special" oooh, how mysteriously... enticing...
       | clickbait... Does someone who clicked want to suggest a better
       | title for OP?
        
         | smegcicle wrote:
         | I was hoping something to do with the catalonian secession
         | movement, but it's just.. kids riding bikes?
        
       | curiousgal wrote:
       | That's a great way to engrain cycling in them. Hopefully they
       | grow up to be good cyclists though, as a pedestrian currently
       | living in Paris, urban cyclists suck.
        
       | Anthony-G wrote:
       | We've also had similar "cycle buses" for school children in Irish
       | cities for the past few years:
       | https://www.rte.ie/news/2020/0901/1162590-school-cycle-bus-l...
        
       | yawaworht1978 wrote:
       | I used to live in Barcelona, the infrastructure is definitely
       | anti car in every aspect, it's desired to be. For such a large
       | city, the car traffic is minimal, there are not enough parking
       | opportunities, especially at the beach. There would be space, but
       | the government knows better, if you have ever been in a tourist
       | destination in Spain during peak season you will know that there
       | is no way to accommodate all the cars. The only traffic jams
       | you'll encounter is if an accident happened or if you go from
       | Barcelona outwards toward the airport, when commuters go home on
       | Friday afternoons or evening when headed to the nicer , less
       | crowded beaches in the south. But absolutely nothing compared to
       | London, I have lived there as well and driven a car. It's the
       | city with the worst traffic jams you can imagine, it starts at
       | 7am and never really ends, after 8pm it's quite calm and deserted
       | one weekdays. But weekends, if you wanna go from the south east
       | to the north, God help you. It's very bicycle friendly, own parts
       | of the roads, unobstructed by cars. Taxis have a separate lane,
       | and buses as well. The public transportation is also very good,
       | affordable, you have buses, underground trains, and well,
       | overground trains. And it's a nice city to walk, the old part of
       | town, the huge parks, really nice.
       | 
       | A role model implementation as far reducing car traffic issues
       | go. Many people use these electro kind skateboards(forgot name)
       | and scooters. And many people just walk. Of course , it needs to
       | be mentioned that Barcelona is not built like American suburb
       | areas, it's all apartment blocks of 3-7 stories, all blocks glued
       | together. It's tight, they even have a convention on how to dry
       | your clothes on balconies and how not to do it. Barcelona has
       | many other issues, the typical ones for large cities, but
       | transport and car traffic, I haven't seen better in Europe.
        
         | Darmody wrote:
         | It has a good public transport system, yes, but ironically it's
         | the only city where I felt kind of insecure in the subway.
         | Always making sure nobody is going to pickpocket me or I don't
         | look the wrong way at some guy looking for trouble.
         | 
         | A friend of mine works there as security and after all the
         | stories he told me I rather get in a car and deal with the
         | traffic.
         | 
         | And I'm saying this as someone who uses the subway to commute
         | but in a safer city. I literally get in, close my eyes and open
         | them after 20 minutes.
        
         | agumonkey wrote:
         | how did people react to reduction of cars ? in many places
         | every step toward reduction of car use is met with a lot of
         | rants if not anger.
        
           | qgadrian wrote:
           | People who live in the city live it, people (specially rich
           | people) who drives from outside the city hate it.
        
           | 908B64B197 wrote:
           | The problem is a bunch of place introduce traffic limitations
           | or some congestion tax...
           | 
           | But then do nothing else! You have to find an alternative for
           | people to not take their car (closer grocery shop for
           | instance).
           | 
           | Meanwhile the money goes to some pension fund for
           | underperforming, unionized municipal workers...
        
             | agumonkey wrote:
             | I see, it's not smarter than here.
        
       | rektide wrote:
       | once again just really really wish there were p2p ways to connect
       | & send data about.
       | 
       | i imagine the phones on the bike bus advertising who they are,
       | what their schedule is, who can join, how to join, and letting
       | folks about know what the route is, what disruption to expect,
       | how to plan around this happening.
       | 
       | hoping on the bandwagon is enough to make this happen in some
       | places but i think the core kernel idea could use some
       | shareability & amplifiability in other places. a more
       | reductionist expression is simply that the real world lacks
       | virality potential. projects like Google's Eddystone[1]/Project
       | Lighthouse (2015) are few & far between, underfunded & in
       | Eddystone's case seemingly abandoned, but embuing reality with
       | more of the neat connective capabilities of the computerized
       | info-verse remains- i think- a key enabler.
       | 
       | [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddystone_(Google)
        
       | frereubu wrote:
       | I had an idea similar to this, based on my experience of Critical
       | Mass cycle rides in London:
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass_(cycling)
       | 
       | It was called "Cycle Pods", which would be mini-critical mass
       | rides for commuters. You'd probably need between five and ten
       | riders who cycle the same route each day at a roughly similar
       | pace, so you could register with a route and see whose rides were
       | similar to yours.
       | 
       | The other idea was even more loose, where you'd wear something
       | like a tabard with an identifiable "cycle pods" logo where anyone
       | who was wearing one was effectively advertising that they were
       | open to riding with other people. I preferred this version
       | because it's simpler and decentralised. Anyone could make
       | something with the logo on it, so no purchase or registration
       | needed.
       | 
       | I love the idea of doing it with kids, but honestly some of the
       | reactions we got from car and van drivers with the Critical Mass
       | rides, even when we were going at a decent pace, were incredibly
       | dangerous, and I'd worry about that with kids unless the police
       | were involved, as they were in this Bicibus. We had to have
       | outriders looking out for car drivers who'd try to drive into the
       | middle of the mass. There's something about cyclists taking over
       | the road that really provokes some drivers.
        
         | agumonkey wrote:
         | damn I thinking about this for a while and found nothing,
         | you're the first with links toward prior history. Super
         | interesting.
        
       | yokaze wrote:
       | If you read this, or other things about reducing car traffic in
       | Barcelona, one should keep the following in mind:
       | https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/lafabricadelsol/en/noticia/...
       | 
       | 6000cars/km2 in Barcelona.
       | 
       | San Francisco/Oakland metropolitan area has 4000/sq mi...
       | 1540/km2
       | 
       | Guttenberg, NJ has the highest in the US with 20,600/sq mi
       | (8000/km2)
       | 
       | Source:
       | https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.planetizen.com/node/45622%3...
        
         | mastax wrote:
         | Barcelona has a population density of 16,000/km2, while the
         | city of San Francisco has a density of 2,419/km2.
        
         | kaladin-jasnah wrote:
         | De-AMPed link: https://www.planetizen.com/node/45622
        
           | vanilla_nut wrote:
           | Thank you. Some of us forced to use neutered browsers on iOS
           | really appreciate this.
        
       | GekkePrutser wrote:
       | I live there too, and traffic here is pretty busy. Personally I
       | don't really understand why so many people drive. Because public
       | transport here is extremely efficient and cheap. I don't even own
       | a car here and I'm really happy to no longer need one.
       | 
       | But if I had kids I wouldn't really let them participate. Even
       | with the police escort, they might lose the group and be on their
       | own in this busy city.
       | 
       | I'm from near Amsterdam myself and there cyclists are the kinds
       | of the road. Here it's very different.
       | 
       | The mayor is very green and she's trying to pedestrianise a lot,
       | but it's limited to a few lane closures and a handful of
       | "superilla" test blocks. I think there is a lot of resistance to
       | it. I really support her efforts but sadly she doesn't seem to be
       | that popular. She also tried to clean up an area near the
       | seafront with seedy nightclubs and casinos but got a lot of flak
       | for that. I often see graffiti blaming her for stuff :(
        
         | pavel_lishin wrote:
         | > _But if I had kids I wouldn 't really let them participate.
         | Even with the police escort, they might lose the group and be
         | on their own in this busy city._
         | 
         | At what age would you be comfortable with them biking on their
         | own?
        
         | permalac wrote:
         | Being in power thanks to Manuel Valls, who was running for a
         | reactionary far right party, did not help on her reputation.
         | 
         | Also, she is leading the highest amount of council driven
         | evictions, which does not help either. (for context she reached
         | office on her first time thanks to the anti eviction
         | associations.)
         | 
         | She is green, yes.
         | 
         | But she is over promising and under delivering.
        
       | reducesuffering wrote:
       | Reminds of the rideouts happening all over US cities. If only
       | they would just clamp down on swerving cars.
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/-1mmAdy3D8o?t=254
        
       | Fargren wrote:
       | Reminds me of Masa Critica in Buenos Aires, a monthly event where
       | lots (probably around a hundred, maybe two?) of bikers would
       | pedal from the city center to the outskirts, to show support for
       | the rights of people using bicycles.
        
         | SkeuomorphicBee wrote:
         | It also reminded me of Massa Critica here in Porto Alegre
         | (Brazil). Unfortunately it also reminded me of the time a
         | driver here purposefully plowed thru the whole peloton of
         | cyclists, injuring dozens.
        
         | pjc50 wrote:
         | Similarly "critical mass" protests in London, which were in
         | endless trouble with the police.
         | https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/nov/26/critical-mass-lon...
         | 
         | Having children do it does decrease the chance of being broken
         | up for obstructing cars.
        
           | Fargren wrote:
           | Oh, same name so these are almost certainly related. I didn't
           | know about that.
        
             | timeon wrote:
             | "critical mass" is monthly event in many cities.
        
         | throwawaysea wrote:
         | Critical mass events are incredibly disruptive and are an
         | offensively aggressive act to those who are just trying to go
         | about their day and use the infrastructure for its funded
         | intent - which is to say, cars and other motorized vehicles
         | that move at higher speeds. It's one thing to advocate for
         | changes through proper political channels. It's another thing
         | entirely to hijack infrastructure, clog intersections by
         | circling up, and violently harass drivers (what I've seen in
         | SF). That's not a protest, but a riot, and participants should
         | be arrested and charged.
        
           | carapace wrote:
           | You're being little hyperbolic (in re: SF Critical Mass) but
           | not by much. I live in SF, don't drive, and I used to commute
           | by bike, but IMO the advocacy here can get a little, um,
           | _intense_.
        
           | SkeuomorphicBee wrote:
           | That is a very clueless take. Cars disruptively and
           | offensively aggressively hijack that infrastructure every
           | single day, then cyclists claim back one single road for only
           | two hours a month and you claim they are the disruptive ones?
           | They are not clogging intersections, they are using them.
           | 
           | The intent of the infrastructure is to move people, cars and
           | other motorized vehicles hijacked it and excluded other
           | users.
           | 
           | And to claim that cyclists are violent towards drivers is the
           | pinnacle of absurdity. Drivers using their 2 tonne heavy
           | machinery as a weapon, driving towards people, and then you
           | blame the victims for tapping on the bonnet of the aggressors
           | weapon.
        
           | frereubu wrote:
           | I participated in London, and saw mostly the opposite. Most
           | of the ride was well-behaved and didn't hold people up much,
           | and there were drivers constantly behaving in really
           | dangerous ways, like trying to drive into the mass. Like you
           | and someone else who replied to you, I was uncomfortable with
           | the deliberate blocking of intersections, but "participants
           | should be arrested and charged" is way over the top for what
           | used to happen in London - perhaps SF had a different vibe.
        
             | ardit33 wrote:
             | Yeah, it started devolving into vandalism / hatred towards
             | cars:
             | 
             | Critical Mass cyclist attacks car with U-lock in San
             | Francisco https://www.kron4.com/news/critical-mass-cyclist-
             | attacks-car...
             | 
             | Minivan's rude introduction to Critical Smash
             | https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-
             | ross/article/Minivan-s...
             | 
             | A Toyota mini van sits in a repair shop in Mountain View
             | with a broken back window and numerous scratches to the
             | body. The van was attacked by critical mass riders last
             | friday. At the time of the attack a woman and five kids
             | were in the car.
        
               | lostdog wrote:
               | You found one event from 2007 where the driver didn't
               | exercise control of their vehicle "According to police,
               | Ferrando had allegedly tapped one of the cyclists'
               | tires."
               | 
               | And one from 2015 where the driver endangered the
               | cyclists "then a driver of a Zipcar moves toward the
               | cyclists."
        
           | pedalpete wrote:
           | This is why I stopped attending, and I think it harmed the
           | effectiveness of the movement.
           | 
           | In Vancouver, we were having a great ride through the city.
           | We may have been delaying traffic a bit, but that's fine.
           | Then they decided to ride up the Lions Gate Bridge (the main
           | artery in and out of the city) and stop all traffic going in
           | both directions for about 10-15 minutes.
           | 
           | The friends I was with all agreed we wouldn't participate
           | again because of those actions.
        
         | bodo11 wrote:
         | In Europe (mainly Germany ATM) there has been a wordplay on
         | this for a few years, the "kidical mass" movement:
         | 
         | https://kinderaufsrad.org/
        
       | throwaway2016a wrote:
       | This is great.
       | 
       | I wish I lived in a more bike friendly area. Here that would
       | result in people being honked at and cars impatiently passing
       | them at high speeds.
        
       | throwawaysea wrote:
       | This would be incredibly frustrating to me as a car driver. I
       | don't think having shared roads for a vocal minority of bikers
       | makes sense. It basically slows down everyone to bike speed,
       | which I realize is the unspoken strategy of bike activists, and
       | it is also why I am against supporting bike-friendly policies in
       | their current form. It makes more sense to have cities build
       | raised biking/walking lanes outside of the traffic (on pillars).
       | Why aren't cities exploring such strategies to accommodate those
       | who like the fast point to point benefits of cars alongside those
       | who are OK taking it slow or going out for a bike ride?
        
         | AlotOfReading wrote:
         | Have you ever spent time in BCN? Unless you're way out in the
         | suburbs of Badalona, there's very little reason to use a car
         | for commuting. Secondly, raised lanes are horrendously
         | expensive, ugly, and reduce street level light. Any city where
         | they're the default is going to be a city where bike
         | infrastructure effectively doesn't exist.
         | 
         | Cities should serve people, not cars.
        
           | throwawaysea wrote:
           | I have spent a lot of time in Barcelona, and love the city,
           | although I've only had short stays (~weeks) and haven't
           | resided there in the traditional sense. I think increasing
           | car hostility makes it less hospitable and accessible to many
           | people away from the core. There's also a tradeoff which
           | isn't being acknowledged here. A city that manages its
           | density appropriately will have faster travel times via cars
           | compared to public transit or biking (BCN may be past this
           | inflection point). You can see this in cities like Seattle -
           | it's not even a close comparison, as driving is at least
           | twice as fast as any alternate mode. That time saved is very
           | valuable, and necessary for anyone who wants to live a rich,
           | fulfilled lifestyle with room for activities, families, and
           | friends.
           | 
           | > Secondly, raised lanes are horrendously expensive, ugly,
           | and reduce street level light.
           | 
           | Having bikes in roads is expensive too. It costs everyone
           | time, which is money. Ugly is subjective. And as for street
           | level light - maybe. That depends on the exact parameters
           | like road width. On a wider arterial road a raised greenway
           | on pillars wouldn't cast a shadow on the street level
           | sidewalks. Chicago has an elevated rail system for example,
           | and it doesn't cause streets to feel dark.
           | 
           | > Cities should serve people, not cars.
           | 
           | Respectfully, this is an empty slogan. You could just as well
           | say "cities should serve people, not bikes". Cities serve
           | people better by accommodating cars. People are who chose to
           | raise taxes and spend money on roads for cars.
        
             | AlotOfReading wrote:
             | Are you suggesting Seattle has a better commute situation
             | than Barcelona? Respectfully, that's insane. Moreover,
             | large parts of the city were designed prior to motorized
             | vehicles and encourage frequent mode mixing. High speed is
             | simply not on the table for discussion. The choice is
             | between low speed, low density car traffic, or mixed mode.
             | The latter is clearly much better for neighborhoods and the
             | city as a whole.
        
             | mejutoco wrote:
             | > A city that manages its density appropriately will have
             | faster travel times via cars compared to public transit or
             | biking
             | 
             | This seems like nonsense. Surely public transport has more
             | capacity than cars, or at least it is not guaranteed that
             | cars have more.
        
         | analog31 wrote:
         | I'm an urban cyclist. I get around town by bike whenever I can,
         | though my family does still own cars for longer trips or moving
         | large objects. I certainly don't try to slow everybody down.
         | Getting into the main traffic lane has that effect, but it's a
         | side effect, and I don't do it very often or for very long. In
         | most cases, I could probably make a safe bet that dipping into
         | the traffic lane isn't slowing down anybody's actual travel
         | time by any appreciable amount.
         | 
         | But I greatly prefer to choose routes that avoid fast,
         | congested car traffic. This also appears to be the approach of
         | my city when developing new or improved roadways.
         | 
         | But truth be told, the major thing slowing cars down is other
         | cars. Trying to increase traffic flow through a given area will
         | eventually cause it to slow down to a crawl, bikes or no bikes.
        
         | edwinjm wrote:
         | The bikers are a minority because the roads are dominated by
         | cards. If you want to change that, you have to start somewhere.
         | 
         | Is it possible? Yes. Please come to the Netherlands and see for
         | yourself.
         | 
         | Or watch the video's on this channel:
         | https://www.youtube.com/c/NotJustBikes
        
         | Muromec wrote:
         | >Why aren't cities exploring such strategies to accommodate
         | those who like the fast point to point benefits of cars
         | alongside those who are OK taking it slow or going out for a
         | bike ride?
         | 
         | Because everybody wants to get from point to point fastest and
         | safest way possible and doing it by car is not the answer which
         | scales.
        
         | SantalBlush wrote:
         | I don't own or use a bike, I am a car driver. Personal cars are
         | absurdly inefficient on many levels. They take up precious
         | urban space (roads and parking lots), they injure and kill
         | people, they are extremely expensive, they are a major source
         | of pollution.... Every time I've been stuck in five lanes of
         | gridlock I've thought to myself, "This is one of the dumbest
         | infrastructure issues that modern humans have to put up with."
         | Bikes and public transportation just make way more sense in
         | urban areas on so many levels, it's not even close. Cars are a
         | blight on the urban landscape. The only reason I drive one
         | daily is because our infrastructure leaves me no other choice.
         | It sucks.
        
         | yodsanklai wrote:
         | Car pollute, are extremely dangerous to other road users, and
         | take a lot of space on the road. Cars in city should be the
         | exception, not the rule.
        
           | throwawaysea wrote:
           | > pollute
           | 
           | I consider the level of pollution to be minimal. It's not
           | even noticeable in many US cities. Plus this is also always
           | improving, particularly with increasing popularity of hybrids
           | and electric cars.
           | 
           | > extremely dangerous to other road user
           | 
           | First off, "extremely dangerous" is hyperbole. The number of
           | fatalities on roads is very low, and it will keep getting
           | lower as safety features like blind spot monitoring become
           | standards. Roads are already incredibly safe - in the US the
           | fatality rate is something like 1 per 100 million vehicle
           | miles.
           | 
           | But safety is also why roads should be reserved for motorized
           | vehicles. Your assertion also seems very one sided. Safety is
           | a two way thing - a substantial portion of bikers put
           | themselves in danger by riding where they really shouldn't.
           | 
           | > take a lot of space on the road
           | 
           | They also provide a lot of utility, which is why taxpayers
           | funded roads and parking spaces to begin with. I, and I
           | suspect most people, don't mind using space for things that
           | are high value, like cars.
        
             | jon_n wrote:
             | > I consider the level of pollution to be minimal. It's not
             | even noticeable in many US cities.
             | 
             | Transport is one of the highest contributors to greenhouse
             | gases in the US with light vehicles being the largest
             | contributor to that sector
             | https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi?Dockey=P10127TU.pdf
             | 
             | >The number of fatalities on roads is very low,
             | 
             | Road traffic crashes are a leading cause of death in the
             | United States for people aged 1-54
             | https://www.cdc.gov/injury/features/global-road-
             | safety/index...
             | 
             | > and it will keep getting lower as safety features like
             | blind spot monitoring become standards.
             | 
             | The rate has been pretty stagnant for the last 10 years htt
             | ps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in..
             | .
             | 
             | > the US the fatality rate is something like 1 per 100
             | million vehicle miles.
             | 
             | This is true, but this number needs context. Average US
             | driver covers 13k a year * by a lifetime of driving your
             | over 1/2 a million miles per person, so the number you
             | should be presenting is 1 in 200 chance to die. And thats
             | just fatalities, when you consdier serious injury as well,
             | the number isn't great.
             | 
             | > I suspect most people, don't mind using space for things
             | that are high value, like cars.
             | 
             | Was with you until "like cars". Cars waste a lot of space.
             | They take up space in city centres, parked, while you're
             | working/shopping, when you're actually in them they're
             | still using a lot of space for typically one person. I
             | think we'll see a lot more of this in the coming decades:
             | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeway_removal
        
           | maccolgan wrote:
           | >take a lot of space on the road
           | 
           | That's the point, cars deliver a lot of personal space &
           | comfort that really make it attractive vis a vis public
           | transport.
        
         | whazor wrote:
         | Agreed on the shared roads, but in cities it is better to put
         | the cars on pillars. Removing cars from roads does wonders and
         | makes neighborhoods look much nicer. Instead of the pillars you
         | can remove cars from most roads and have limited one-way roads
         | that are fast and without traffic lights. The cars can park in
         | a parking garage and continue on foot/bike/tram. I believe this
         | is faster for the cars as well.
        
         | desas wrote:
         | Most bike activists don't have an unspoken strategy of slowing
         | people down. They want to be able to use their bike to get
         | places safely and quickly and they want others to feel able to
         | do that too.
         | 
         | It doesn't make sense to create biking / walking lanes raised
         | up on pillars because a) that introduces artificial hills and
         | b) it increases effort to get places - you'll only be able to
         | get on or off the raised system at a ramp, which might be
         | inconvenient.
         | 
         | In London the average car speed is 11-12 mph, and then you'll
         | have to walk to / from a car park. Cars aren't always fast and
         | point to point
        
         | noobermin wrote:
         | Traffic already slows everyone down, no need for bike activists
         | to do that.
        
       | moralestapia wrote:
       | This has been going on in Guadalajara (Mexico) for like 10 years
       | or so (before the pandemic).
       | 
       | It got so big that at one point the city decided to close some of
       | the main roads every Sunday, making them exclusive to
       | pedestrians, bicycles, scooters, or whatever-thing-that-is-not-a-
       | car.
        
         | AshamedCaptain wrote:
         | But that is exactly what is happening here -- that they are
         | closing the roads where these people are biking, on morning
         | commute rush hour times.
         | 
         | Otherwise the story is just "kids go to school on bike".
        
           | peterburkimsher wrote:
           | During rush hour, we're in a hurry to meet other people and
           | serve them. So we're trying to optimise for time, and that's
           | right, we should go to work!
           | 
           | On the way home though, if we optimise for connectedness by
           | being willing to stop and pick up litter on the way, the
           | whole city will be clean!
           | 
           | This idea didn't actually came from me. It was UncleBob -
           | Expecting Professionalism that our wonderful manager Michael
           | chose at work on 2021-08-09. I bike to and from work every
           | day, so decided to apply the "clean as you go" philosophy to
           | every area of life, to love my neighbours the trees, birds,
           | eels, snails. And it's brought a lot of "thank you"s, which
           | multiplied happiness :)
           | 
           | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSaAMQVq01E&t=2021s
        
         | jolmg wrote:
         | I thought that was because of a lacking density of parks in the
         | city.
        
           | peterburkimsher wrote:
           | What is the optimum density of parks in a city?
           | 
           | A possible suggestion is to change our metric for success
           | from financial gain to connectedness.
           | 
           | For city planning, like everything else, that could be
           | achieved using a Sierpinski triangle: lots of space in the
           | middle (with walking & bike paths) and high-density on 3
           | sides. Are there any SimCity players here who could simulate
           | this for us?
           | 
           | Whether the city is willing to re-zone accordingly is the
           | bigger question. I pray that San Francisco's leaders will re-
           | zone before the earthquake does it for us.
        
         | wrnr wrote:
         | Sort of the same thing happens in SE Asia traffic but then they
         | drive scooters, it looks messy but if you are part of the swarm
         | it feels very natural.
        
         | blacksmith_tb wrote:
         | I think that's a little different, a ciclovia[1]. We have them
         | here in Portland OR, one weekend a month in the summer.
         | 
         | 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciclov%C3%ADa
        
           | moralestapia wrote:
           | Sure, the thing is that it started as civic movement aimed at
           | 'reclaiming' the streets from cars, which was very similar to
           | what OP posted.
           | 
           | Eventually it got quite large, i.e. thousands of people on
           | each gathering, and it became some sort of peaceful rally
           | that happened every week. In the end, the govt. had no choice
           | but to concede them certain things like ciclovias, cycling
           | roads, legislation, etc.
           | 
           | I lived in the city for a while and let me tell you, it is
           | AMAZING to have all that much space just for walking around,
           | talking, having coffee, whatever, even if it's only for one
           | day a week.
           | 
           | I want to emphasize on the scale and impact of said project,
           | it is ~30 km of roads that are completely closed for cars for
           | the whole day. The roads that close are (check this out!) the
           | most important ones, running through the middle of the city.
           | At the beginning, people were worried that this would have
           | some negative effect as, you know, the main roads would be
           | completely closed; but today, a decade later, there have been
           | zero negative consequences for that. Most people that live
           | nearby just run their errands walking because they know they
           | can't use their car anyway. Cars are not as important as
           | people seem to believe and I would argue that they're more
           | harmful as a whole than if they weren't there at all.
           | 
           | I am super thrilled about projects like ->
           | https://culdesac.com/, hopefully I can retire to a place like
           | that.
        
       | throw63738 wrote:
       | Some pictures show there is perfectly working cycling path next
       | to road. As someone who walks and uses bus, I have little
       | sympathy for such stunts. Just another privileged group stealing
       | public roads. Next time it will be politician and his convoy.
        
         | _Wintermute wrote:
         | "Stealing public roads", you do realise the roads are for
         | people, not just motor vehicles? Especially in densely
         | populated cities.
        
           | tgsovlerkhgsel wrote:
           | If there is a sidewalk and cycling path, then in most
           | countries, the road is very specifically for motor vehicles.
        
           | throw63738 wrote:
           | Some people use bus!
        
         | chrisseaton wrote:
         | We had roads before we had cars. Cars stole roads from people.
        
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