海角社区官网

Though I鈥檇 grown up in the GTA, and knew quite well that real life started with a driver鈥檚 licence, I didn鈥檛 see very much wrong with that until I moved to Europe. For the last five years, I鈥檝e lived with my family in Vienna, and now Paris, where bodies are essential for daily living. Part of the reason Vienna is routinely ranked the most livable city in the world is because of its accessible bike lanes and reliable public transit service. In four years there, I never waited for more than a few minutes for a bus, the metro or a streetcar 鈥� even on weekends. The experience of taking transit was, believe it or not, as enjoyable as it was seamless 鈥� a first resort.聽

In Paris, the metro system has been harder to navigate with small children and strollers 鈥� most stations are accessible only by stairs 鈥� but it鈥檚 also among the聽, with more than 300 stations in the greater Paris area (and聽聽proper, an area with a radius of roughly five kilometres). On most days, though, I don鈥檛 even think about public transit. The dense commercial infrastructure here makes urban family life easy and walkable.聽聽to be a聽聽鈥� all of life鈥檚 necessities reachable on a quick trip by foot, bike or transit. I鈥檓 doing even better in our聽arrondissement. Within 10 minutes on foot, I can get to my son鈥檚 school, two parks, the pediatrician鈥檚 office, multiple pharmacies, grocery stores, bakeries, patisseries, even one meringue shop. And I鈥檓 in good company. Only four per cent of Parisians have to walk more than five minutes to reach a bakery, news agent, or pharmacy.

Moving around with your body, instead of numbing it in a car, means you see people on your commute around town, and have the chance to interact with them. On the way to school, my son jokes with the vegetable and fruit sellers, and waves to the local florist. The owners of the bistro we frequent sometimes pop out when we鈥檙e walking by to ask what鈥檚 new. Parisians have a reputation for being snobby, but I鈥檝e found they鈥檙e great small talkers. They鈥檝e adapted to a sardine-can existence 鈥� Paris has a density that鈥檚 closer to Mumbai than Toronto聽鈥� and that means getting used to making eye contact and saying聽bonjour.

Of course, Paris and Vienna were built before the advent of the car, and the remnants of medieval life still lurk in every cobblestone street. But it鈥檚 not just a historical accident that explains why the Viennese and Parisians are not car dependent. Both cities have heavily invested 鈥� and continue to 鈥� in聽聽people鈥檚 first choices, while聽聽to actively聽. Paris is currently undertaking聽, a vast effort to weave the suburbs with the city centre by adding new suburban metro stations and lines, as well as聽. It鈥檚 no wonder聽聽that walking, biking, and public transit are the most common methods of getting around in Paris and聽. (And it鈥檚 not just young people moving around without cars. In both cities, I鈥檝e often admired fit elderly people tooling around the busy streets on bicycle.)聽

The benefits of driving down car dependency are likely to be profound. In one聽聽from Beijing, China 鈥� based on a public lottery for new car licence permits 鈥� the winners wound up taking fewer transit rides, and walking and cycling significantly less than those who did not gain access to a car. The areas of Barcelona that have been transformed by the city鈥檚 鈥渟uperblock鈥� initiative to restrict traffic in residential neighbourhoods saw their air pollution聽听蝉颈驳苍颈蹿颈肠补苍迟濒测.

The health reporter in me would like to see evidence on changes in hard end points, like a reduction of disease or premature death after superblock-style interventions are introduced. But Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, a Barcelona-based urban planning and health expert, tells me evidence like that is hard to come by because of the difficulty and expense of running such studies long term. Still, logic would suggest, as聽, that cities designed for people rather than for cars will have more people walking, cycling, and riding public transport, more social contact, and less air pollution and noise.

Having lived in such cities, I would add two other benefits: less corporeal dissociation and more enjoyment.聽

Paris and Vienna are accessible in other ways 海角社区官网is not. They鈥檝e both聽听颈苍听聽to keep people of all incomes living in the city centre. In Vienna that meant our social circle included artists, opera singers and musicians. Instead of being driven out of town by soaring housing costs, they could afford and enjoy living in the city. In Paris, most everybody lives in apartments, even families like mine. After school each day, the square outside our building fills up with kids playing hopscotch, soccer and tag. In the building鈥檚 inner courtyard during the evenings, children practice cycling and rollerblading. Some weekends, like many Parisians, we leave the apartment and head for the countryside. Only when we take that journey do we think about driving.聽

Our life here goes deeply against that old 海角社区官网adage that cities aren’t places to raise families. But the idea that city living can work for people of all ages, and families, could hold in Toronto, too, if the city made it a priority. Instead, 海角社区官网packed the urban core with highrises, each stuffed with small and expensive condos targeted at investors, students and young singles.

Unless you鈥檙e among the lucky few who can access or afford a house downtown, your default option to raise a family is to move to the disembodying suburbs, where it鈥檚 hard to live without a car.聽Over the聽, Greater 海角社区官网has developed almost nothing but single-family homes and highrise shoe boxes, even as the region鈥檚 population grew by more than 60 per cent, according to聽聽from the 海角社区官网Regional Real Estate Board. This sets 海角社区官网apart not only from old world cities like Paris and Vienna, but from other cities in Canada, the report said. Another kind of development is possible. 海角社区官网just has to decide to be a real contender in the cutthroat race among the world鈥檚 best cities to reclaim urban spaces for humans.聽聽

When I arrived in Paris after my 海角社区官网sojourn, I went cold turkey following months of car dependency. I felt the relief of kicking a bad habit, except I had no withdrawal symptoms. I was moving my body more, getting out of the house more and socializing more. I had extra time each day to spend with my family or read because I was no longer tethered to a glass, rubber and steel pollution machine for minutes or hours at a time.聽I haven鈥檛 driven a car in Paris since. I can continue to report no signs or symptoms of withdrawal. It’s almost as if I need my body again.