[Bent] Car Free centers

[Clay Mikolasy]

Apology accepted! As far as car-free areas, I'll let others address it. I am 
fortunate to live in a relatively rural area, so I co-exist nicely with cars 
on most public streets, but that may be difficult in some places.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tapio Antero Osala" <tapio.antero.osala at gmail.com>
To: "NY/NJ/CT/PA Metro Area Recumbent Society (MARS)" 
<bent at list.marsride.org>
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 12:54 PM
Subject: Re: [Bent] Car Free centers


>I am not an cultural anthropologist but I am curious and willing to
> make observations about people behavior.
> It is a bad habit to make generalizations after a few observations and
> can't hold them in my self...
>
> You have right.
>
> This forum is not the right one to comment your domestic characters. I
> should only compare my feelings with my countrymen who have
> visited/lived over there.
>
> I apologize.
>
>
> -----
>
> But  what about this issue;
>
> "helping solve the car free areas was the bicycle."
>
> Unfortunately I have not yet managed to test your bicycling routes.
> How are they? Totally car free? Are there coming more in the future?
>
> What about countyside? Do you have separate lanes along the high-ways
> for bicycles?
> In any state?
> Are people commuting in NYC-area with bicycle?
> Is it possible to take a bicycle in a metro?
> Is it possible to use bicycle from New Jersey to Manhattan without toll?
>
> ----
> In Finland people have generally accepted the idea of car free city
> centres just a couple of decades ago.
> The process has just started in major cities.
> In Sweden/Denmark this progress is about 40-50 years old.
>
> All business people were against it strongly at first but times are
> changing and business wants to have their stores along
> car-free-streets.
>
> I think it is freedom not to be obliged to use a car every day. (I am
> such a lucky guy).
>
> You have a wonderful public transportation system. That is functioning
> only in Helsinki in Finland.
> In small cities like Vaasa people mostly use cars but more and more
> use bicycles.
>
>
> Tapio, from Finland
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 2010/1/11 Clay Mikolasy <clay at njsouth.com>
>>
>> Tapio's factual comments comparing car-free areas in different places may 
>> have been right on. However, comments he made such as the following are 
>> feelings that perhaps were best kept to himself:
>>
>> "I have got the influence that Manhattanties would perhaps be more
>> tolerant, anti-rasist, "free-minded", perhaps not so fundamentally
>> religious, than people on most other places (e.g in Hershey).
>>
>> (Of course all North-America are friendly. "May I buy you a drink,
>> what do you like about America". The interest / knoledge about
>> Europe/rest of world is generally not very strong.)"
>> ________________________________
>> I, personally, would not go to someone else's country, or even an 
>> unfamiliar part of my own country, and make public comments such as 
>> those. Nor do I think would most people. I am sure that if any one of us 
>> went to various parts of Europe, we would have, along with the mostly 
>> positive impressions we had, perhaps also some negative ones that we 
>> might not necessarily want to point out on a website frequented mostly by 
>> people of that particular country. IMO, Mr. Rothberg was correct in his 
>> reaction and in what he said.
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: JOHN TETZ
>> To: NY/NJ/CT/PA Metro Area Recumbent Society (MARS)
>> Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2010 10:42 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Bent] Car Free centers
>> Hello Tapio;
>>
>> I feel your comets were right on particularly about the lack of car free 
>> areas in US cities.
>>
>> Back in 1996 I went to the week long Car Free Cities Conference held in 
>> Copenhagen. I gave a talk on my Up Hill assist for the simultaneously 
>> held Bike Culture week.
>>
>> There were as I remember 35 or so cities from many European countries 
>> were present. No US cities were there. High on the list of helping solve 
>> the car free areas was the bicycle.
>>
>> That was back in 1996. Since then more and more European cities have 
>> adopted car free city centers. So naturally you would be very sensitive 
>> to the lack of this here in the US.
>>
>> John Tetz
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Tapio Osala
> tapio.antero.osala at gmail.com
> Vaasa gsm +358400761185
>
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