Micro.blog

martinfeld
martinfeld

Car parks are a blight on our world.

A wide-angle shot that shows a rough road surface in the lower half of the picture and buildings, a crane and the sky in the distance

mcg
mcg

@martinfeld Generally that could be shortened to just “cars”.

pimoore
pimoore

@martinfeld Couldn’t agree more, I wish car culture would go away.

Denny
Denny

@pimoore @martinfeld Agreed. I want a world of walking, cycling, and electric rail. No cars and no planes either. A smaller, quieter, friendlier world where we can feel real soil beneath our feet and shade above our heads.

In reply to
martinfeld
martinfeld

@Denny @pimoore @mcg I agree with all three of you that cars are the real issue. 👍 If I weren't in the position of having to drive to an office and other sites, I would get rid of mine in a heartbeat.

pimoore
pimoore

@martinfeld @denny @mcg In my case I live in a small town with no access to public/mass transit elsewhere when needed. It’s virtually impossible to go car-less.

topgold
topgold

@Denny would your reframed world have a place for slow boats? I want to figure out a way to visit some of the equatorial islands where I once worked but without burning holes in the sky.

odd
odd

@topgold I once read a book (still not finished), called “Slow Boats to China” after the song, but I’m afraid those were not CO₂ neutral. If you do make a trip like that, on non-toxic boats, please consider taking notes, and writing about it, (maybe even a book). 📚

odd
odd

@Denny Sounds great to me! I think it’s a hard sell, but at things deteriorate, it might become easier. 🤑🔫

topgold
topgold

@odd if I do that trip, and write the book, I want you to write the foreward.

JohnBrady
JohnBrady

@pimoore Same here: small town, limited bus service, couldn't live here if we didn't use a car. But less than 100 years ago there were train lines running through all the villages around here! And it it happened then it can happen again.

Denny
Denny

@topgold Sure! Slow boats sound pretty nice to me!

JohnBrady
JohnBrady

@topgold I've dreamed of going to Europe again (from US), and won't take a plane (I justify my anxiety issues by saying I'm being ecologically conscious). I learned that you can get passage on freighters, and that it's pretty affordable; there are even travel agents who specialize in it. That's what I'd probably look into.

Denny
Denny

@JMaxB @pimoore Yep. We'll need to redesign much of our infrastructure! But seeing what they've done in the Netherlands over the past 35 or so years, well, any state/city/county can do it that wants to. And now with electric bikes and new small electric vehicles coming in different forms. Horace Dediu refers to it as micromobility. But small, size appropriate electrical vehicles that are slower, more efficient for in-city travel or shorter routes. Then electrical rail for longer routes.

martinfeld
martinfeld

@pimoore It's a shame that you don't have access to such transport—makes things difficult! I live in a regional city that has a railway line to other metropolitan areas and we do have bus services, but there isn't anything like light rail and there could be more cycling lanes away from cars.

Ddanielson
Ddanielson

@JMaxB @pimoore Yes, this. My grandfather worked on an electric railway, in the 1920s and 30s, that connected towns along Puget Sound. This is now being slowly recreated as light rail…..but slowly….and with the suburban sprawl it won’t work quite as well. Also, there were electric streetcars in the three larger cities back then.