Thanks for a great summary! I wonder if they’d be better starting with a number of small pockets of ‘Autofrei’ areas (like Friedrichstraße that you mentioned) and slowly expand them, so people can get used to the idea. Feels too much too soon for some. I was shocked last week to see our main road lined with AfD posters saying Autofrei Berlin? Nicht mit Uns! And I wondered about getting a paint gun.. two days later they were all gone! Midnight marauders perhaps.
Yes. I tend to agree. If they start with certain areas and then expand on them a little at a time, it might be successful.
And, I have mixed feelings about eliminating cars in total. I really like what Amsterdam has done, and it isn't car-free in its central city. They have modal filters that encourage car traffic on certain main arteries, and those also have separate bike lanes, but other nearby streets are exclusively for cyclists and pedestrians. But it is unrealistic to expect that to work here, or anywhere else, I think.
As for the campaign posters from the AFD and BSW, I think it is interesting that I have seen the most of them in areas far outside the Ring. It has become this kind of political signifier, when it really should not be.
Yes. But I can't really blame people when you can get a resident parking permit good for two years for 20 euros versus renting a storage unit for like 60 euros *a month.*
The post I linked from Jon Worth's blog, about the cars, also highlights the lack of enforcement of even the current parking regs, since cars that obviously don't run aren't often towed or even ticketed.
Thanks for a great summary! I wonder if they’d be better starting with a number of small pockets of ‘Autofrei’ areas (like Friedrichstraße that you mentioned) and slowly expand them, so people can get used to the idea. Feels too much too soon for some. I was shocked last week to see our main road lined with AfD posters saying Autofrei Berlin? Nicht mit Uns! And I wondered about getting a paint gun.. two days later they were all gone! Midnight marauders perhaps.
Yes. I tend to agree. If they start with certain areas and then expand on them a little at a time, it might be successful.
And, I have mixed feelings about eliminating cars in total. I really like what Amsterdam has done, and it isn't car-free in its central city. They have modal filters that encourage car traffic on certain main arteries, and those also have separate bike lanes, but other nearby streets are exclusively for cyclists and pedestrians. But it is unrealistic to expect that to work here, or anywhere else, I think.
As for the campaign posters from the AFD and BSW, I think it is interesting that I have seen the most of them in areas far outside the Ring. It has become this kind of political signifier, when it really should not be.
The worst offense in my opinion is using junk cars for storage purposes.
Yes. But I can't really blame people when you can get a resident parking permit good for two years for 20 euros versus renting a storage unit for like 60 euros *a month.*
The post I linked from Jon Worth's blog, about the cars, also highlights the lack of enforcement of even the current parking regs, since cars that obviously don't run aren't often towed or even ticketed.