No-Car Suburb in Germany May Prove Tough to Translate

Americans 'suspicious' of green model

By Gabriel Winant, Newser User

Posted May 12, 2009 11:00 AM CDT

(Newser) – Will Europe’s assault on the American way of life stop at nothing? Vauban, a town in the southwest corner of Germany, is a working model of a leafy-green suburb without cars. People walk or bike, and a tram runs through the middle of town. “When I had a car I was always tense,” one resident tells the New York Times. “I’m much happier this way.”

Some worry a similar development—with no street parking or driveways—will get lost in translation. “People in the US are incredibly suspicious of any idea where people are not going to own cars,” says the co-founder of CarFree City USA. There’s a plan for a Vauban-style suburb outside Oakland, Calif. And if that falls through? A cars-welcome backup called Village D’Italia is planned.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

Laura Gernell displays a bicycle she received from the Freecycle Network, a Web-based community swap program, at her home in Marmet, W.Va., Dec. 21, 2007. (AP Photo)

A Vauban scene. (©rightee)

The Vauban tram. (©kaffeeeinstein)

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All of our development since World War II has been centered on the car, and that will have to change. - David Goldberg, official at Transportation for America

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 3 comments

RobN

May 13, 2009 4:07 AM CDT

It's a gread idea. For those who are interested and want to live that way. I just don't want to be told I have to live that way.

NewserHound

May 12, 2009 6:48 AM CDT

Agreed Proxieme... I live 4.3 miles from work, a commute that only takes 55 minutes to an hour and 5 minutes via Chicago's pathetic excuse for public transportation that we call the CTA. Life without cars would be terrible. I couldn t imagine spending the weekends going only where buses, trains, and planes went. That would be a boring and sad life for me.

mockingbird

May 12, 2009 6:24 AM CDT

I would be all up for this model given sufficient/dense enough public transport. As it is, where I live (a close-in suburb of DC), it would take me over an hour and a half of public transport to get from my house to my work - a distance of a bit under 15 miles.

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No-Car Suburb in Germany May Prove Tough to Translate