# How car friendly is your city?



## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

Is your city a good place to drive for those who want it? I would define car friendly cities as those with plenty of multi-lane roads, close distance to expressways/motorways(or similar types of roads), lots of parking space, traffic calming use is minimal etc.


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## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

Pretty friendly in the Stockholm suburbs. Not friendly in the city centre (as there is congestion charging, smaller roads and a lack of parking). The suburbs, however, have a lot of grade-separated roads and parking available. Side streets in the suburbs, however, are mostly 30km/h.

Very friendly in Auckland suburbs. Auckland is clearly a car city. Even in the city centre parking is very widespread, though it can be expensive at times. There are ways around this, though (some places offer you free parking for a couple of hours if you purchase something in the mall).


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## diyjateng (Apr 9, 2014)

In my city (Semarang, Indonesia): rather car friendly, minor traffic jams occasionally
In the capital (Jakarta): very car unfriendly in all areas including the suburbs; many ultra-wide boulevards and tollways, but traffic is the worst *in the world*


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## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

^^ Having bad traffic doesn't necessarily mean unfriendly to me. Auckland has bad traffic, but it has extensive infrastructure for cars at the expense of other modes (walking, cycling or public transport).


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## Mr_Dru (Dec 15, 2008)

Amsterdam is car-unfriendly. At least in the citycenter. To park a car for €5 per hour is quite normal. Even in the outskirts a parkinglot per hour cost between €1.80-3.00. So a familyvisit with a car could be very expensive.


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

Fairly friendly in suburban areas, not much traffic congestion generally, plenty of free parking opportunities, access to multi lane roads heading out of the town.

In the town centre not very friendly, narrow streets, one way system, congestion at peak times, parking can be difficult sometimes. Parking is reasonably cheap though even if local people complain about it all the time, I sometimes think they must have never visited other bigger towns and cities to compare prices!


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## 009 (Nov 28, 2007)

The city where I am at the moment is much too car friendly, everyone drives everywhere


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## Eric Offereins (Jan 1, 2004)

Rotterdam is relatively car friendly as it has a good high capacity road network. But parking costs are quite high and the traffic lights here suck.


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

What's wrong with traffic lights?


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## Chrissib (Feb 9, 2008)

I'd say my city (Rostock) is pretty much average. You'll find rather cheap parking in the inner city. The least car friendly areas are those built around 1900, with very high population density but only roadside parking which of course is not enough space.
The outer districts, be they commieblocks or suburban areas are very car friendly again.


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## poshbakerloo (Jan 16, 2007)

My nearest city is Manchester.

The suburbs and outer suburban area are very car friendly. In south manchester we have the A34 bypass and the M60 plus the A555 extension is currently under construction which will help things a lot!


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## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

Luckily Vienna is relatively poor in inner city highways. If you drive by car anywhere near the inner districts, its your own fault and why would you unless you really have to? Still some people seem to be fond of driving around Vienna by car and you can. Just evade rush hour. Parking in all inner districts and increasingly also other parts of Vienna is being made harder and more expensive with more time limited parking areas and also reserving parking lots for local residents etc. 









https://www.google.com/maps/vt/data...hh1DdZ9erDFk0vqnkxEzaEJ9uMg5WSj2YYxGlavYfqCS8


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## Alix_D (Apr 7, 2008)

Manchester is really car friendly as far as English cities go. I can't get over a motorway through a city centre, without turning it into a mess for everyone else but cars, like in Birmingham for example.


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## newtothis (Aug 1, 2015)

LtBk said:


> What's wrong with traffic lights?


Some cities just lack the ability to get a good traffic flow going.


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## FREKI (Sep 27, 2005)

Copenhagen is very car friendly and mostly suburban..

Only place that isn't car friendly is the old town..


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## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

FREKI said:


> Copenhagen is very car friendly and mostly suburban..
> 
> Only place that isn't car friendly is the old town..


Yeah, I noticed it was considerably more "friendly" than Stockholm actually. It is one aspect of Copenhagen I was not a massive fan of to be honest. I felt pedestrians were quite marginalised in many places (short cross times, poor traffic light wait times, small pavements to walk on), unlike cyclists (which were exceptionally well catered for). Cars, too, seemed to be very free flowing and have very wide roads relative to traffic.

That said, Denmark had some of the most considerate drivers I've seen outside of smaller cities in the UK. Overall they were very patient and nice to people crossing the road, even when the lights were nowhere near as kind to pedestrians (seriously, why are the crossing times so short - one has to jog at some intersections to make it across before the red man comes up).


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## 020 (Sep 15, 2011)

Amsterdam is pretty car-friendly outside the ring-highway. Most employment is concentrated in large office-blocks around this 'ring' which also contains a ring railroad and ring metro. 

Within the ring the city is dense (500,000 people on 40 sq kms) and car-use is discouraged. Cycling, tram and metro are the preferred options here.


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## FREKI (Sep 27, 2005)

Svartmetall said:


> (seriously, why are the crossing times so short - one has to jog at some intersections to make it across before the red man comes up).


The light is, like with cars and bikes, to tell you if you can enter the intersection or not - if it turns red while crossing there is still time for you to get across before the others get green - no need to jog


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## Rob73 (Jun 18, 2014)

I was in Göteborg this summer, that's a pretty shitty city to use a car in, especially anywhere near the central areas. 

Central Oslo is also getting worse, it would not surprise me if cars were banned within the central city area within the next decade.


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## tomPunk (Nov 3, 2014)

Rob73 said:


> I was in Göteborg this summer, that's a pretty shitty city to use a car in, especially anywhere near the central areas.
> 
> Central Oslo is also getting worse, it would not surprise me if cars were banned within the central city area within the next decade.


Göteborg may have some issues in the very center, but it has relatively extensive m-ways/4-laners around and even going into the city. IMO it's relatively car friendly by Scandinavian standards, even if not globally.

Oslo IMO is quite a bit worse, actually (if you really want car friendliness that is). A little bigger and denser but smaller motorways, and in some places poorer/more messy solutions. Parking in large parts of the (more central) city can also be a nightmare. But in compensation, a better and bigger public transport system. Still, definitely not very car-friendly.


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## 7rani (Mar 3, 2012)

My city, Toulouse, is all you want but certainly not car friendly.


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## Sentyme (Aug 25, 2015)

The tendency nowadays is completely opposite to car friendly anything.. Instead there is a big pressure on convenience for cyclists, passengers in PT.. Well, at least in Europe.
My city is still very friendly for cars although situation is changing.. Cars are being ejected from some areas in city center, lanes replaced into bikepaths etc. I believe this is good direction


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## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

^^ Maybe that has to do with "car friendliness" being an epic failure. Stuttgart, a city that was basically redesigned based on this principle is nowadays one of the most gridlocked cities of Germany if not Europe, especially if you consider its not so huge size.


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

Does it really have the worst traffic in Europe? I was also surprised at how auto-centric French cities are outside of Paris.


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## alexandru.mircea (May 18, 2011)

^ not all French cities are the same, Marseille and Lyon are fairly car dependant but Strasbourg and Bordeaux have been two of the pioneers of the movement for car free city centres in Europe. 

Saying that Marseille and Lyon are fairly car depedant by French standards also requires me to say that they both have very decent PT systems that helped me get around anywhere I wanted in good conditions.


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## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

LtBk said:


> Does it really have the worst traffic in Europe? I was also surprised at how auto-centric French cities are outside of Paris.


Oh, seems I overestimated it a bit. There are indeed several places in Europe which are worse according to the TomTom Ranking. (The worst is actually Lodz, beating even Moscow or London. Wow)

In Germany however Stuttgart is the most gridlocked city according to TomTom. 

https://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/trafficindex/#/list


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## 7rani (Mar 3, 2012)

LtBk said:


> Does it really have the worst traffic in Europe? I was also surprised at how auto-centric French cities are outside of Paris.


Well, cities like Toulouse or Lyon are not more auto-centric than Paris. ^^


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## Chrissib (Feb 9, 2008)

Slartibartfas said:


> ^^ Maybe that has to do with "car friendliness" being an epic failure. Stuttgart, a city that was basically redesigned based on this principle is nowadays one of the most gridlocked cities of Germany if not Europe, especially if you consider its not so huge size.


Well Stuttgart is pretty much the birthplace of the car, so they cannot really be that car unfriendly. :lol:


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## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

^^I thought that was in Mannheim ...

Anyway. I challenge the notion that "car friendly" city design is actually a pleasure for car drivers if it leads to souch a clogged city.


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## Edinburgh Photos (Sep 5, 2015)

I wouldn't say Edinburgh, Scotland is very car friendly! Road layout doesn't make much sense in a lot of the town as the roads are very old. There's not many places to park in the centre either. Plus if you have a resident's permit you can only park in a very specific area.


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## link_road_17/7 (Aug 16, 2007)

Milton Keynes was 'built for the car'.

We have a system of grid roads, known as 'H' and 'V''s, mostly single/dual carriageway roads with the National Speed Limit. There are few traffic lights, some of which are peak-time only. Cyclists and pedestrians are catered for on a separate 'Redway' system, similar (but far inferior) to Dutch cyclepaths.

Residential and industrial areas are contained completely within the grids, enabling residents and workers to enjoy their environment without through traffic causing pollution and noise.

There are 21,000 car parking spaces in the city centre, with public demand for more to be built. Compare that to only 2,000 residential dwellings. You can normally park right outside your destination, or within a few metres of it.

From where I live into the city centre (2.5 miles) there is not one traffic light, and only one set on the 3.5 miles to the M1 Motorway.

The great thing about it is not that cars, it is the large tipper trucks and HGVs which cause problems that we don't have to suffer. They are the true problem in urban areas.








(c)As Easy As Riding a Bike
Witan Gate









(c)As Easy As Riding a Bike
Avebury Boulevard









(c)As Easy As Riding a Bike
V6 Grafton Street


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## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

Yeah, Milton Keynes is an odd place. Very dull to walk around, no street life, loads of pedestrian tunnels, loads of fast roads and roundabouts. It's not really my cup of tea as far as the UK goes.


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## Bob the Labourer (Sep 30, 2015)

Not very.

Congestion Charge in central vs. your car being on fire in Brixton or Croydon - I jest, but Croydon is pedestrian friendly..


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## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

Good news for Vienna. Car ownership has been in decline over the last 10 years, not only in the centre but even in the more suburban peripheral districts the tencency points downwards:

Cars per 1000 people in the different districts of Vienna:









http://www.meinbezirk.at/land-wien/lokales/nur-noch-jeder-dritte-wiener-hat-ein-auto-d1669085.html


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## weava (Sep 8, 2007)

Kansas City: Car friendly? more like car only.


car oriented suburbs









KC is also home to the world's first car oriented shopping district: The Country Club Plaza (1922)










downtown is completely surrounded by freeways, can't walk for more than 10 minutes before getting to a freeway. Also you can see all the surface parking lots and parking garages


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

Metro Manila has lots of them, the only thing is that, traffic is one of the worst in the world!


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## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

To KC's defense I have to say however that those highways aren't an obstacle on 3 to 4 sides with the local road grid mostly continuing across the highway (above or some also below). 

While this traffic hell creates a terrible ambience it could be much worse. That said, I totally believe you when you are saying it is not car-friendly but rather car-only.


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