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.

Would be asking...but mainly local planning...lazy people (unless really needed ) and government earning far too much from vehicles in general fuel .tax .etc.. mainly planning though and locals against anyone so much as hinting at a garden shed anywhere near to their houses.. would be pretty wonderful and to some extend albeit on a much smaller scale, I'd sketched out a plan for some flats and bungalows with ebikes and alike thrown in

We can keep them crossed though 🤞🤞

I do like what they have done in some areas although not the right roads, where they basically make them a no through road to stop the rat run traffic

My first house was on an ex council estate e.g. built as a council estate but now almost all privately owned. Very sought after area. Some of the streets had a road frontage, others were on walkways with a small parking area as at each end. Maybe about 15 houses long, so not that far. The walkways were.lovely for children to play out on and children from the road front houses would come to play there, but the walkway houses were much harder to sell. When we sold, almost every viewer said they liked the house but the parking put them off.

I liked it there. It was a pain when you had a sleeping toddler and a baby to get from the car to the house, but the community feel of the children playjng out the front was lovely. OTOH I can see that would annoy some people and despite apparently being built as a safe place to play there were "no ball games" signs everywhere.

Do cyclists and pedestrians mix? A couple of times I've come into much too close contact with an entitled cyclist, going the wrong way through a pedestrian area.

I've always thought underground parking would be a good idea. impossible to create on already existing housing estates but if future estates could be built where cars could drive in on the outskirts and homeowners/tenants could park directly underneath there own property then using a lift straight up to their home. very futuristic but would be good as there would be no cars at ground level. would also be good if the wheelie bins were all down there too as they are a bloody eyesore outside everyone's houses out on the streets on most estates these days.

Totally agree, OP. Cars have become a menace. We manage without one. As you said, our grandparents did too. And we enjoy walking everywhere and using public transport. And we have a toddler. It’s good for the child to see more of life at a slower pace. Slow down and stop rushing everyone. Do less, and enjoy it more.

@Dawbie Its pretty obvious from this thread that people don’t want it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea. We’re used to the way things are now, but if you actually think about it, the ways things are now doesn’t really work. Pollution kills. Those who can’t drive for financial or health reasons are seriously disadvantaged by poor public transport provision. Our cities aren’t safe for children and as a result they have lost their freedom and become sedentary and unhealthy.

The market exists to sell people what they think they want but there has to be a better way.

Local planning people - lazy people?! Worked in private and public planning sectors. Public in under resourced (as is NHS and other public bodies). Is your comment as naive as your master planning skills?

Reply above

Who is playing for this housing? The government relies on the private sector to build the vast majority of new social and affordable housing stock. Private sectors are already forced to pay huge contributions (CIL, S106, Affordable Housing provisions ect). Agree thinks need to change - the government needs to build its own affordable and social housing (which would allow for a type CP schemes as above). And NOT allow it to be sold off.

I agree with this (I don’t have a car).

At CP I believe blue badge holders can still drive around so if this were the case in these housing estates then that would help those with disabilities.

I find it shocking how reliant many people are on cars for every single journey, no matter how short. Cars are terrible for the environment and for health, we should all be looking to cut down on using them. Many people manage without.

We have very different attitudes to 'the greater good' than countries like Sweden. If there's a way round a rule in England we'll find it. This would never work here. People in our council estate drive at 40mph and throw their Mcdonalds wrappers out their car windows. Do you think they'd care about creating a car free space ?

I've seen ideas for the future of electric and driverless cars where it won't park on your drive but take itself off somewhere to charge after dropping you off and then you'd call it when you want to go somewhere. A bit like a driverless Uber.

Doesn't this double the number of car journeys in the residential area?

Disability. Not all disabilities qualify for a blue badge. There is the grey zone between being fully functioning and disabled enough for a blue badge. Some days I can't walk round my flat without being in pain. Other days can manage to shop in Aldi and carry stuff up lots of stairs. (But then suffer for it the next day)

Agree OP. Couldn’t drive until my dcs were over 4 and was never fitter. Here we are now like the Americans: drive everywhere including the gym instead of building in exercise yo daily life.

the disability thing is the usual red herring. Blue badges would make it an exception plus advantages for disabled people if not being hurried across roads by cars.

bit depressing really that parents would put the instant gratification convenience of car next to house over advantage to childhood of safe playing out,

Most Londoners and many city dwellers aren’t able to park outside their houses. Their communal parking = the tube.

agree with others that this could be a greater good mindset change like plastic bags, smoking and now disposable plastic cutlery. I remember tutting the first time I realised I had to buy a carrier bag in Aldi, now I reuse my plastic bags like everybody else and think that’s right and proper and not inconvenient at all. Could be the same. Also think recycling centres at the end of every road would be better and more attractive than bins outside houses.

Some people have never lived without a car, and it shows 😆

Snap, and I have a 30min school commute, don't want to add another 15mins to it.

What about emergency vehicles?

Ridiculous idea.

Centre Parcs is wanky anyway (and I enjoy going for 4 days)

🥱 Reported

Disability. Not all disabilities qualify for a blue badge.

which disability doesn’t qualify for a blue badge?

To all those who say it's impractical to have the parking away from where you are - I happen to live on an estate that's kind of like what the OP is wishing for, although it's crescent-shaped so the parking is at most 1mn walk away.

Is it less practical than opening your front door and having your car right there? Sure. Our house is pretty much in the middle so we know know the problem, including when you have 2 very young kids and lots of shopping in the car. But that's nothing compared to being able to let the kids go out and play with their friends all around the houses, especially in London where we are. In a normal terraced house, they would be confined to a garden and not all gardens are equally sized.

"But that's nothing compared to being able to let the kids go out and play with their friends all around the houses"

Having parking close to my house is more important to me than my son who will never be able to play out, being able to play out.

@ivykaty44 where I live I can only get a blue badge if I'm in receipt of PIP for mobility.

I was just as disabled before I got my blue badge - it took months to get pip I had to go to tribunal.

I can't walk without crutches. I will soon need a wheelchair. I am in constant pain. I'm worried because I'm due to reapply for pip soon and if it's taken off me I'll be housebound. Or I'll be parking in parent and chose spaces and getting told off by parents (I can't get in or out of the car without having the door fully open)

So, that sort of disability doesn't always have a blue badge.

I can see how this would work in places like London with good infrastructure and lots of public transportation.

But...
I am in a small town. The nearest grocery store is a 45 minute walk and there is no bus. I have a toddler and a baby. If I couldn't use my car, I would never have chosen to live where I do. In fact, I bought a car when I moved here because I couldn't function without one. The last place I lived, DH and I didn't have a car and used public transportation.

Lots of blue badges are discretionary which means that if you don't write or say the right things you won't get one. This will include my severely disabled son when he moves to PIP.

Bicycles go right up to your front door