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Happy Car Free Day!

Summer landscapePhoto:
Future highways?
Image: Sergei Chubarov

In honour of Car Free Day 2009 today, we’ve taken a look at what the world could be like without cars. We’ve noticed there would be a lot more bikes. Also, invention and creativity would know no bounds when moving, taking a family trip, trying to impress one’s date and making good use of one’s old car. See for yourself!

Parking directly in front of one’s house wouldn’t be a problem at all any more:
Bicycle alleyPhoto:
Image via Pixdaus http://www.pixdaus.com/single.php?id=102695

A family outing would look like this:
Family outingPhoto:
Image via Pixdaus

And parking lots like this:
Parking lotPhoto:
Image via Pixdaus

We’d go to car cemeteries to visit our old friends…
Car cemetaryPhoto:
Image via Pixdaus

... or find new uses for them:
Plant potPhoto:
Image: meaduva

Winter outings would be so much more romantic:
Winter outingPhoto:
Image: Gaetan Chevalier

And we could still invent steel dragons:
Steel dragonPhoto:
Image via zogdo

Moving would look something like this...
MovingPhoto:
Image: Todd Fahrner

... and showrooms like this:
ShowroomPhoto:
Image: Peter Blanchard

The bonnet babes of yonder would be newly empowered:
Bonnet babesPhoto:
Image: meaduva

Yet whoever wanted to could pimp their ride:
Fancy bikePhoto:
Image via Pixdaus

Even sharing a bike could be quite satisfying:
Bike lovePhoto:
Image: meaduva

Oh, those inspiring pics make us think of Louis Armstrong’s “Wonderful World”:

I see trees of green........ red roses too
I see ‘em bloom..... for me and you
And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world.

And everybody:

I see skies of blue..... clouds of white
Bright blessed days....dark sacred nights
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world.

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Mike Licht (not verified) says:

Driving today? Watch out for the Car-Free Enforcer.

See:

http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/dc-car-free-day-22-september-2009/

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Boyd (not verified) says:

I can't help but think of a world without cars, without planes or trains. But what I think of is how do we respond to natural disasters around the world? If we reject cars and trucks than the logistics stream for all products becomes more expensive, less flexible and less capable of providing above the needs of a local community. Without intra local trade the specialization of manufacturing that allows a company to produce millions of blankets, first aid supplies etc. above what local needs demand. Gone is our ability to air drop basic life sustaining supplies to areas hit by tsunamis, earthquakes, fires or famine.

Do we reject the diesel tractors that till our farms? Do we reject the railcars that transport the rich bounty of California agriculture or Mid-West grains to a grateful nation? How do we transport the millions of tons of rice, wheat, beans, and even soy to the hungry around the world? How do we develop life saving medications and distribute them around the country and around the world.

How do scientists travel to around the globe to make reading on ice fields or mountain tops or travel to the bottom of the sea? Do we eliminate the rockets belching toxic gas into our world even if they are carrying satellites which give us the scientific data to tell us if our no car world is healing or not?

This is the no car world I think of, one with more hunger, more disease and more death. Working for a world with no cars is like working for a world without war. This is not to be a total buzz kill. There is not a person alive who wants the world to spiral into disaster, no evil monster who gets a thrill out of seeing the world choked with pollution. The world is filled with people who want to live their lives, feel good about themselves and make next year better than this year. The goal of zero cars is not as helpful as a realistic vision of how we take the natural inclination of consumers and channel it.