German town of Vauban basically bans all cars
Like the idea of car-free streets? Bicycle riders the world over can probably see the appeal, but in the town of Vauban, German, the car-free lifestyle is being taken up by pretty much everyone. Since the early 1990s, residents have been moving away from cars and into alternatives like public transportation and bikes. As we wrote in 2006, the shift has been incremental and with the strong support of the people living in town. Heck, about 57 percent of the residents sold their cars in order to "enjoy the privilege of living here," project founder Andreas Delleske recently told The Independent.
One way Vauban emptied the streets was to raise the associated costs of owning a car in town. For example, it costs about €20,000 ($28,153 U.S.) for a parking space in a garage on the outskirts of town. To make up for the convenience of personal vehicles, Vauban operates with an "ultra-efficient tram service" and also offers car-sharing for people who want to go on trips. The green efforts are attracting attention, and busloads of tourists show up every day to see how things are going down. Of course, they need to park outside of town and walk in. It's all part of the experience. Thanks for the tip, FaLeX!
[Source: The Independent]
Photo by lrargerich. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
snark mcgee 8:10PM (6/26/2009)
Vauban is just a neighborhood of the town of Freiburg. It is not a town itself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vauban,_Freiburg
Reply
Christopera 8:28PM (6/26/2009)
Sounds like my kind of places.
Reply
Matt 8:28PM (6/26/2009)
That's kinda cool... super inconvenient, but cool.
Reply
jpm 12:07AM (6/27/2009)
Good timing on this article... my girlfriend and i were just walking home from dinner and were talking about how sad it is that nearby highways ruin everyone's peacefulness in surrounding neighborhoods.
Reply
Nick 12:54AM (6/27/2009)
A mountain city in Switzerland (called Saas Fee) is 100% car free. Only allowed are small NEVs, bicycles and pedestrians.
Reply
BlackbirdHighway 11:49AM (6/27/2009)
Zermatt has been the same way for many years.
Alina 3:42AM (6/27/2009)
real exam
Reply
Tim 8:19AM (6/27/2009)
German town of Moron basically bans all fire. Vegans approve and overwhelmingly support the measure. Heck, 75% of the residents love living in the Stone Age...
Progressives?
Reply
Mark 10:20AM (6/27/2009)
I shouldn't feed the troll, but being able to live without technology or being able to live when there is a blackout is actually a good thing. What do you do when you cellphone dies, panic?
Tim 11:58AM (6/27/2009)
Mark,
I know I shouldn't feed the liberal-fascist, but there is a difference between being able to live without technology and actually doing so.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Fascism
"... liberals today have doctrinal and emotional roots in twentieth-century European fascism."
Today's "progressives" are like the Environmental Taliban only with LESS tolerance.
Hint: Read more and watch less network TV "programming".
Matt Welke 1:08PM (6/27/2009)
Tim, there's a difference between living completely without technology and simply choosing not to use the technology which still needs a LOT of improvement, ie vehicles. Nobody in this town is telling people to give up running water, electricity, or the wonders of modern medicine. No, speaking of giving up medicine, that would be the crazy right wing lunatics who decide prayers will do better.
leo 5:00PM (6/27/2009)
tim,
you seem to be missing the dichotomy here.... you see, it's exactly the technology/progression that goes into the infrastructure which allows the people of this suburb to live as they do, sustainably and in comfort to the high building standards and regulations in place in germany. This dosen't happen by accident. I lot of thought goes into designing these houses -it's all of the highest standard from the insulating foam between the bricks to the solar panels and energy management systems. I should know, I live in Stuttgart, i have friends in their mid-thirties who are building their own energy efficient homes (as many people in south germany traditionally do) so that they qualify for special low-internet goverment-backed bank loans. to be honest, it's a f....ing nightmare making sure you tick all the boxes to get considered for it. but, germans are used to bureaucracy ;)
but still, if that's 'liberal fascism', then i'm all for it.
leo 12:12PM (6/29/2009)
oh tim, btw..
i'm neither gay nor vegetarian...LOL!!!
mel 5:38PM (6/27/2009)
@Tim
Certainly more progressive than posting stupid comments on a topic beyond ones intellectual capabilities!
Tim 7:15PM (6/27/2009)
I'm sure that the brown shirts were happy with the nazi youth movement too.
mel 8:51PM (6/27/2009)
I apologize for my comment before, I didn't realize that somebody got their medication all wrong today. But now I get it, some people living in a neighborhood without car noises and pollution in cutting edge technology buildings = Moron , Vegans, Stone Age and nazi youth movement. How could I not get the connection, tss....tss...tss....
Matt Welke 1:07PM (6/28/2009)
At this point I think we need to stop feeding the troll. We gave him a bit of a chance here but he really can't make his case at all.
Tim 1:11PM (6/28/2009)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecofascism
Clark 8:32AM (6/27/2009)
I lived on an island (in Germany actually) in 1999. Heavy rains flooded the access road for about 6 weeks and all cars were trucked off by the German army. For this time this island of 2000 people was car free. It was quiet, enjoyable, and life went on without a hitch - and yes I love cars.
Reply
matthijs 8:56AM (6/27/2009)
Here is a very nice video on the Vauban neighborhood. It is visited by people around the world because of the Energy Plus Houses. This kind of building should be mandatory for all buildings today. The car free zone is just an edition, and it works!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMnB6V5yG1I
Reply