Monthly Archives: October 2011

Blog

Global Renaissance

When modern humans began creating settlements that could flourish because their people were farming the land, a remarkable growth of culture began to occur.  Before the development of farming, modern humans were hunter/gathers that spent much of their time looking for food.  Agriculture made it possible to provide so much [...]

Carfree Arts

Motor Car Madness

“The city multiplies man’s power to think, to educate, to communicate.”
Lewis Mumford 1895-1990
But most modern cities have surrendered to the car so it’s worth
remembering that he also said: “Forget the damned motor car
and build cities for lovers and friends.”

Motor Car Madness
This 8-minute film about the destructive effect of cars on cities was devised, written and [...]

Blog

Towards Carfree Cities X: What happened in Guadalajara from 3 to 10 September 2011?

This year’s World Carfree Network Conference was organized by the dynamic and fast growing city of Guadalajara, under the title Towards Carfree Cities (Hacia ciudades libres de autos), and with the support and management of two local activist groups, Ciudad Para Todos and GDL en Bici. I was invited to provide the [...]

Car Cult Review

GM Blunders onto Campus

If you are a student looking to add tens of thousands of dollars of long term debt, care little about the environment, and want to lump two tons of steel around campus while paying through the nose for insurance, gas, and parking…General Motors has got a perfect deal for [...]

Book Review

On Bicycles: 50 Ways the New Bike Culture Can Change Your Life

Book Review by Kelly Nelson

There is always room for a book about bicycles as transportation in North America so kudos to editor Amy Walker and publisher New World Library for putting out this book where the words lycra, competition, racing and Lance Armstrong do not appear in the index. The contributors [...]

Cartoons

No Exit: Bone Bike

Blog

PARK(ing) Day

One day a year, in cities throughout the country, parking spots take on a whole new meaning. Simply by paying the parking meter and rolling out some grass, residents claim these spaces as public parks—and have their say about how small but precious pieces of urban real estate are used.
Source: [...]

Action Report

A Transport of Delight

I’ve spent much of my life trying to cajole politicians into common sense policies on cars in cities and, with a London mayoral election due in 2012, have recently distilled five decades of reflections on this topic into 2 sheets of A4 and sent them to my MP, my MEP and both declared mayoral candidates. [...]

Blog

Carless Single Mother

Going carless for me was not so much a socio-political decision as it was happenstance. The transmission in my beloved 1996 Toyota Camry couldn’t take it anymore and keeled over. I had very recently become a single mother; my son at the time was just a little over a year old. [...]