That's interesting... I was born in Germany and live here in an extremely densely populated, but quite affluent neighbourhood. Imagine 6-story houses, each maybe 60ft long each, standing directly next to each other. Each house has about 20 apartments. Because the city has not been designed for cars, there are far too few parking spaces for all the cars. Many of the houses have an underground garage, but not nearly enough for all the residents. So we have relatively narrow streets with very wide side-walks that are completely filled with cars, usually parking in two rows, sometimes three. When you come home at night (BTW, I don't own a car, but I frequently rent one), it's not uncommon for people to spend 15 minutes looking for a parking spot, driving through narrow streets and in slalom around cars parked on street in the second or third row. And when you eventually find a parking spot, it's quite possible that it's a 10 minute walk home.
Whenever I am in the US, especially in the suburbs, I am amazed how easy life can be. I just get into my car, without the usual 10 minute walk, and immediately drive whereever I want on a nice, wide street. Admittedly, I understand that for kids too young to drive this can be a problem, but for me US suburbs are always a welcome change.
I agree with this. I live in the UK, and work in the centre of a major city - and it's nothing other than a pain.
Driving is hard. You are always starting and stopping for endless traffic lights, and when it's not the lights, you're stopping because you've got to weave around clumps of parked cars at the side of the road.
Everything takes so long! I have a parking space where I live, but not everyone is so lucky.
When I was living in the US (northern Indiana suburbs), I was so surprised at how easy everything was - you just get in the car, drive where you need to go on a street that's wide enough for two cars and not plagued with endless parked cars and clutter, park right outside your destination and you're done.
Well, I live and work in the centre of a UK city (Edinburgh) and I love it. However, the key part is working somewhere where I can walk to work - compared to driving to work which I have done for years before and hated.
I didn't own a car for the first nine months living here. I live opposite a railway station, and work opposite another. Why have a car?
What followed was a period, after about six months of this, of abject depression. I turned up at the station in the morning, went to work, went to the station to come home, and messed around on the internet all night. Going anywhere other than work was not possible, especially in the evenings when the last train is at 9.30pm or so. The railway line I live on just runs into the city where I work, nowhere else, it's a minor branch, so going anywhere else was a lengthy and expensive undertaking.
It was starting to make me ill - I never did anything, saw anyone, just work-home-work. I had to buy a car to enable me to carry on living here, otherwise I would have quit. Now, I have a fairly active life, I have the opportunity to do all kinds of things, and my quality of life is vastly improved.
Not having a car is OK if all you want to do is go to work!
Most cities that have little parking space have got very good public transport (in comparison to American standards). Getting around in Berlin without a car is much easier that with one.
Yes, but as I get older my tolerance for public transport is diminishing. It's ok for commuting to work, but at night I don't really feel really comfortable in public transport with all the drunks and sometimes worse. Also, albeit possible, I wouldn't want to use public transport with a stroller or more than one small kid.
Whenever I am in the US, especially in the suburbs, I am amazed how easy life can be. I just get into my car, without the usual 10 minute walk, and immediately drive whereever I want on a nice, wide street. Admittedly, I understand that for kids too young to drive this can be a problem, but for me US suburbs are always a welcome change.