To think we could make housing estates like Center Parcs re cars

[QuertyGirl]

The USP of Centre Parcs is for many, the fact that they are mostly car free. Kids can play out and ride their bikes like I did when I was kid.

Can't do that now due to the amount of cars, speed and size of cars and, attitude of some car drivers.

People (including myself) pay a small fortune to holiday at CP.

Why can't we make housing estates more like that?

Communal car parks in walking distance, deliveries by small electric vehicles from a hub (like old fashioned milk floats), exemptions for blue badge holders and funding for electric mobility scooters for those that need them.

Yet, if the council suggests a couple of cycle lane and all hell breaks loose.

Sorry that was addressed to @Ayhbar

What about tradesmen? Are you expecting them to lug all their equipment to/from a communal car park so it can be stored securely at home overnight? A trades van parked in a communal car park isn't going to be left alone and theft will sky rocket. So you'd need an exemption for them too.

By the time you've issued all the exemptions, the estate won't be car free anymore, what with vans, blue badge holders, etc etc.

I grew up in a London overspill town and they tried to achieve this on one of the estates they built. I do remember that as a child it was nice to go there and play with a bit more freedom, but as an adult it was a pain getting things to and from the car and it could be daunting parking at night with the parking being set a little way away. Some areas did get quite neglected as well, as no-one seemed to take ownership of them.

I would get the fear if I had to walk to and from my car at night or worse in the middle of the night if there was an emergency. It’s a nice idea but not practical and how would you get your shopping in. I do think the speed limit needs to be lowered to 5 or 10 miles an hour in residential streets though,

So I get home after a long day at work. Park up then have a 15 min walk in the rain to get in my house and find I left my phone in the car, I now face a 30 min round trip to pick up my phone 😂

Mental! It's bad enough that our garage is a short walk across our parking area out the back.

I’ve got two young kids and don’t drive (just rely on cycling and public transport). I do live in a population dense area with plenty of buses. Although I like to cycle with my kids on the bike as much as possible, I have to adjust where/when I go all the time due to car drivers. There are routes I won’t do on my bike with my kids as it’s too dangerous due to speeding and reckless driving, and so I send up sitting in the bus in traffic instead. What a lot do drivers seem to forget is that their behaviour affects the freedom and health of other people.

Get a folding scooter! You’ll be there and back in 5 mins.

Because of so many exemptions it wouldn't be car free and so we might as well have our cars by our houses like now. Not workable.

„Why not exactly?

A ten or 15 min walk to a communal car park would probably do most of us some good.“

My DD lives in a place such as you describe. 5 minute walk to the communal parking area. It is impossible for a vehicle to get any closer. Although it is quiet and safe, it has distinct disadvantages.
Shopping has to be carried/pushed. Ok but harder as she now has a baby to carry as well.
Deliveries only go to the parking area. Building materials for a huge renovation project (oil tank removal, new heating system, rewiring, replacement water pipes, kitchen, doors etc) all had to be carried from the parking area. Consumer goods contracts here usually specify delivery to pavement-again this is taken to mean the parking area so someone has to be available to take delivery and move things to the house.
Also the paths to the houses are collectively owned so a residents committee has to plan repairs and collect money to pay for them.

Very similar to my life.

All of those car journeys are so much more important that our journeys though😁

One think I've learned, people are totally terrified of the rain! It's like vampires and sunlight! 😂

As a nurse I leave for work in the dark at 6.15 am and don't get home until 9.30 pm. I for one wouldn't want a further 15 minute walk in the dark to get to my car especially after a 13 hour day and almost an hour journey. Nice idea though but not practical

Um, this is how it is where I live. Car park is a few minutes walk away, steps the quicker way or flat to walk around.

I think what op is talking about is ‘15 minutes neighbourhoods’ often talked about in city planning, and a goal for many.

I have an electric car, it runs from a different account, it’s fine. Yes, you have to make a couple of trips with shopping, also fine. I don’t think there is a problem, I think the benefits are great.

i believe people with flats or on street parking deal with these problems all the time? The hardest part was when the kids were smaller, walking them out in the carry seat or v slow toddling, but you account for this.

We also pay a maintenance charge as carpark a communal area, but it’s a nice place with trees and where people wash their cars at the weekend etc.

I also have this thing called a ‘torch’.
Delivery bods and work people deal with it, it’s rural Devon 🤷‍♀️

Huge car parks with no security where thieves can pick and choose which parts to remove or vehicles to steal - no thanks! At least parking outside my house I would hear the alarm go off and we have a video doorbell. The problem with ideas like this and why they wouldn’t succeed in this country is precisely because they’d be in this country. I would love to live somewhere our kids could safely go out and play but that wouldn’t stop gangs of feral youths from travelling to other areas to ruin that anyway. It’s a nice dream but sadly just that, a dream.

I had to drop off a heavy box in an estate that reminded me of CP. Even the road you were allowed to drive down was one way, blocked by a utility van and still a fair walk to her house. It was also impossible to leave or visit when it snowed badly. It's a nice idea but it really doesn't work in practice.

Some people have no choice but to use car to travel to work. After a 12hr shift and 1 and a half hour commute in traffic I don't want to walk 15 minutes to my house every day. In an ideal world it would be great, but with the everyday working person, juggling childminders, shopping and young children it would be difficult and impractical.

Absolutely works in practice. Many countries have this already, many aspire to it. I’m astonished at all the negative comments, easily solved with a raincoat, a torch, a folding cart. Yes, you can have security if necessary, yes we have insurance. We don’t need to cling onto our cars like Americans to handguns 🥴

It's easy to be "astonished" until you have a disability/chronic illness. As a young and very fit person in my twenties I would probably have felt the same. But then I developed a fluctuating but debilitating neurological condition. I would be housebound without my car- and it took 5 years to get a diagnosis.
So "astonishment" comes from a position of privilege.

I don't like cars. My first boyfriend was killed by one. But those who aren't dependent on them should appreciate how lucky they are.

Well if you have kids / baby twins and school /shopping bags it’s unrealistic

I think a far more realistic solution is to substantially reduce speed limits on most residential roads. That way the roads are safer and people are deterred from using their cars for short journeys.

People are completely addicted to their cars and it's getting worse. I have a car but only use it for work. I walk, cycle or bus, very rarely when I am not working. 71% of car journeys are less than 2 miles yet people believe they are essential. PS yes I know some people are disabled and need to drive but that's a tiny percentage of the population. People need to break this trend for their good and the good of their children, health and environmental issues.

It’s an absolute privilege, fantastic for kids. As a privilege it’s aspirational - I’m advocating it for everyone to enjoy, and it’s possible for the vast majority of people. There’s always whataboutary and there’s alway a solution, it exists and does work. A hub-based neighbourhood has edges, that are closest to the parking!

It's quite disgusting to refer to a story about being housebound with disability as "whataboutary"

“Well if you have kids / baby twins and school /shopping bags it’s unrealistic”

It honestly isn’t. Lots of people with young kids manage without cars. I’d take mine out in the buggy and pile all the shopping on it. I realise there are examples where people need to use cars, but not every journey with kids requires one.

Planning professional here.

if this was a genuine need that people would buy into in the housing market the big building companies would already be building it. The schemes that others are mentioned are city centre master plan schemes. If anyone has any specific planning / master plan questions ask away.