The Kel Word: Walk This Way

Knowing I wanted to write an eco piece today, I first thought I'd cover how Montana Senator Max Baucus is doing his darnedest to weaken that august (and I use that term lightly) body's climate change bill before it even gets out of the Environment and Public Works Committee which is chaired by California's Barbara Boxer. Baucus did such a bang-up job emasculating his own committee's health care reform bill that it's no wonder he wants to gut this major initiative, as well.

But then I saw a story that totally gruntled me, despite Baucus' best efforts at chagrining... car-free cities. Did you know that 25% of British households are sans auto?

All around Europe, concerned citizens are forgoing motorization in places like Amsterdam, Vienna, Cologne, Hamburg, Edinburgh, and Nuremberg, among others. Some whole neighborhoods ban all non-emergency and non-service vehicle traffic. In Groningen, the Netherlands' capital of cycling, 40% of intercity travel is done via bicycle making it the largest car-free area in Europe. Half of the town is fully pedestrianized and entirely closed to through traffic. That's a pretty huge deal considering Groningen boasts 16,500 residents, 75% of whom do not own cars.

The results of de-autoing an area: kids playing in the streets and neighbors actually talking to each other. In fact, a study found that the fewer the cars traveling on a given road, the more social interactions there will be between that block's residents. Folks who live on heavily trafficked streets have about one-fifth of the social contacts as those who live on lightly traversed roadways. All that biking and walking is also good for physical health, in addition to the emotional benefits.

If we must have urban centers, and I fear we must, smart growth and new urbanism are the way to go. Reliable, efficient, and sensible public transportation, coupled with robust regulations and forward-thinking policy could transform our cities into eco beacons. Our crumbling and deficient American infrastructure needs a major overhaul anyway. Instead of patches and glue, why not really go for it?

Imagine the decreased stress levels we'd witness in New York with, say, 75% fewer cars doing battle on the streets. Imagine the leveling of egos we'd see in Los Angeles if 75% of the population took the bus.

As for those of us who don't live in major metropolitan areas, well, maybe we should go back to horse-drawn carriages or something. I'm not sure. But getting the cars out of our cities would be a giant leap for mankind. Even bigger than bombing the moon!