Monday, February 27, 2006
Hans Noeldner from Oregon, Wisconsin, submitted the following:"When we drive and park virtually everywhere we go in our community, we demand and perpetuate automobile-dominated uses of municipal space that all but force everyone else to drive and park too.
And when municipal planners approve additions and alterations to our community that ensure a parking spot for every inhabitant everywhere he goes, they all but foreclose walking, bicycling, and use of public transit for day-to-day errands and activities.
This strikes me as the toughest nut to crack. For the most part we-the-people reject the idea that driving itself - driving to the extent that now prevails in the United States - is fundamentally destructive to natural ecosystems and even more so to our manmade environments. Not only is it wildly improbable that an equal or larger worldwide fleet of cars could be manufactured, fueled, and recycled in sustainable ways, our planet simply cannot afford the further loss of biologically productive land which would be destroyed to accommodate the movement and storage of a billion or more automobiles being driven at current US levels. Indeed, given the rapid accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere, it is obvious that far too much productive land has already been paved and otherwise rendered lifeless."
And here is one for people who think big SUVs are the problem:
"The difference between arriving in a Prius versus arriving in a Hummer is almost irrelevant to the layout and function of community space - the roads and parking stalls needed for one are not much smaller than those needed for the other. What really matters is whether we arrive with our own vehicle to park at all."
Hans Noeldner
133 West Lincoln Street
Oregon, WI 53575
hans_noeldner@charter.net
608-444-6190
DISCLAIMER: Hans Noeldner is a Trustee in the Village of Oregon, Wisconsin. The views herein do not necessarily represent those of the Oregon Village Board.
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