Thing is though the anti-pedestrians care not a dot. My favourite local example is the one tiny bit of the Hastings CBD that has been cut off from cars between Market St & Russell St:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/39°38’29.2"S+176°50’33.9"E/@-39.641439,176.8420221,439m/
Its been closed to cars for ages; but even though there’s apparently not been any accidents from the way the rail travels through that park because the track is not blocked off it needs redevelopment to add a fence protecting people from trains.
And as soon as that was mooted some of the retailers in that one little block, despite being surrounded by parking every other side but that 75m stretch of Heretaunga St, started campaigning to allow cars back down it again. Because apparently having full blown parking lots 50m away from them its the lack of cars outside their door that’s impacted their trading (not global trading down turns, cost of living crises and covid pandemics).
If anything the parking behind the retail sections of Hastings is way better than the street parking anyway, there’s more spaces for differently abled people, and its way easier to get in & out of the masses of actual parking lots. If you travel further east along Heretaunga St there’s a section from Russell St to Hastings St that could also easily be pedestrianised too.
Its got loads of hospitality outlets, a fair bit of retail and crucially - is surrounded with car parking. Particularly in summer in the height of the fun seasons it would be a wonderful place to allow more al fresco dining and entertaining and events* but the naysayers will never let it happen.
*They run a few night festivals through summer with temporary road closures and they are very well attended.
Amazing! I looked this up. Rue de Meaux (Meaux St) in Paris is not in the CBD. It’s way out in the 19th Arrondisement - sort of like, Mt Eden in Auckland or Hataitai in Wellington only with a really cool canal in it) and it was already designated a rue appaisée which is a low traffic area. That said Paris does have traffic limitations in the central areas.
I like the idea of fewer cars but so often it’s done in a way that makes public spaces (and some shops etc) way less accessible for some disabled people. This is especially important to consider in New Zealand, because here, mobility aids are not funded for all of the disabled people who can’t walk.
I’d agree with this kind of response, if the people who raised them actually gave a fuck about disabled people. But they don’t - they only use it as an excuse to not improve something. It’s always a blocker. Never to suggest changes that actually benefit disabled people like more disabled parks, better and wider pedestrian spaces, smoother transitions between grades, more ramps in places without them.
But it’s never that. It’s just another thinly veiled “muh car park”.
I understand your point of view but fwiw, this isn’t an excuse and I do care about disabled people.
I myself am disabled with mobility challenges. My wheelchair is very rickety and fragile because I can’t afford a decent one or a power assist (most people don’t know this but in New Zealand, people disabled by serious illness are generally not eligible for disability funding - so if you are not mobile, you don’t get mobility aids, you are just… left to rot, which is what I was talking about in the last comment).
I also have to lie down a lot if I do go anywhere, and I can suddenly collapse or need medication or warm clothing, so my wish list for public spaces is going to be a bit different to the needs of a healthy disabled person with independent propulsion, which is who most people think of when they list the kind of things you listed.
I don’t expect society to cater to my kind of disability. But I’m only human, and you possibly have no idea what a huge boost it is to me, being semi house bound, if I get to go to a shop or an event. My town took away most of the disability parking around its main street when it made it pedestrian friendly, which is why I said it matters how it is done.
Before I got sick I was never a “car person”, I didn’t even own one - just used public transport and walked to work every day. From an environmental perspective it’s quite mortifying that I am all “but muh car park” and need a car. My only consolation is that being this disabled, my carbon footprint is pretty small by western standards.😔
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Wellington had a plan to kick cars off Lambton Quay during the day, as part of a project partly funded by the government and one of the first things to be axed by the new government. I think it’s still going ahead but it’s hard finding info on whether it’s got the same plan or a different plan with the same name.
The Golden Mile, it’s “started” at the courtenay place end but it’s finally coming at the end of one mayorality, and will probably be a contentious issue in the up coming election.
Yeah, when writing this comment I looked back at articles and there were articles about the government pulling funding, about WCC voting on whether they would continue anyway, and articles about it being a joint project with NZTA (from after the announcement that the government had pulled out). I could see early articles saying the plan was to kick out cars during the day, but the later articles didn’t mention it. It was all a bit confusing, and often contradictory.
After PIC looks nicer but before picture looks more useful and practical. If theyre just going to replace the road with grass like that I’d rather they didnt. Put a bike path and a ton more seating.
This picture is dystopian asf and i dont get the point of this AT ALL except for Auckland, where it sounds like a solution to ban all cars in cbd since it’s a choke point already But I’m 99.9% sure this post is done by someone who lives in Auckland CBD and is a uni student: first of all besides Auckland’s CBD which is filled with delusional uni students literally no one in other cities in NZ will ever think about the concept of banning cars, imagine Hamilton, Whanganui or even Christchurch CBD carry on a car ban it’s ridiculous as people there are extremely car dependent, speak for yaself; second even if you live in some shoeboxes in Auckland CBD and you hate cars, you’re being extremely selfish to advocate car bans because there’s around 30k people live in CBD but 300k daily commute there, and 90% of Aucklanders who commute requires a private vehicle, it’s beyond selfish even you live there because the majority of people NEED a car to get around yet they don’t shout online everyday about “we ban bikes and buses and pedestrians”. Rant over - from someone who lives 50km from CBD and daily spend 2hr+ in traffic, the commute is already an absolute mess we dont need you to fuck around even harder
If we had decent public transportation we wouldn’t need the cars in the CBD.
Lmao. NEED cars.
https://at.govt.nz/about-us/reports-publications/2018-census#%3A~%3Atext=Overall+mode+share+for+journeys%2C9.2%25+-+walked+or+jogged. Yes NEED cars. 90% is wrong but it’s still 75%, 75% of all the people who commute (aka dont WFH) needs a private/company car. Have you ever lived anywhere in the suburbs without a bus station? Delusional
Ye I have and I did just fine. That many people “need” cars because all other options are ignored because of people like you. Who don’t care about alternatives because “car”. You think those 10% of people who cycle / walk do it to “fuck the system” and only do it to hurt themselves, or is it because cars aren’t really needed and their existence proves it?
