To think cars and wheelie bins are big factors in why a lot of areas look terrible?

[Netamount]

Cars are everywhere - households with two or three. Front gardens concreted over, walls demolished to create parking. Streets double parked. New build estates (that should know better) with inadequate parking, so cars are everywhere. Narrow streets and attractive buildings demolished for relief roads and widening.

Most UK houses weren’t built with four massive bins in mind. Many don’t have easy access to the street from the back, so they have to be kept at the front, and look awful.

I’ve no solutions really (I have a car and four bins too), just wondering what other people thought?

Yanbu

We only have 2 bins and I can’t remember the last time I have seen off street parking! But, we are in central London, so it’s very rare to have a driveway.

We have great transport infrastructure and cycle lanes, so that helps. Is that something you can campaign for in your local area? You could get a bin store to hide the bins if you don’t like them, or try and reduce them.

Yep. A 3 bed house is designed for 1 car only.

In Brighton they have giant shared bins on the road to reduce this

Bins don't bother me.

Huge gardens concreted over does make me sad but it's not terrible

My partner is in a 19th century two up/two down and has a small paved outside space. Even those who've bought wheelie bin storage, don't look any better. The cobbled alleyway isn't in a good enough state to have the bins outback.
There's new builds around the old housing. On recycle day, they have to pull their bins onto the pavements, even though the estate is open plan. On windy days (we are NW) the bins blow over, contents everywhere, people having to stop in cars to move empty bins. If they didn't have to pull the bins down, they'd be sheltered from the wind. We need to rethink the bins tbh.

New builds are not future proof. Not taking into consideration that children live with parents longer. So more cars.

I think a minimum should be 3 car spaces for 4 plus bedrooms.

Also most new build estates around here, you need a car to drive anywhere. As no buses, shops etc for at least 3/4 mile. One new build estate in the village I used to live at had no pavement between the estate (85-100 properties) and the main road that goes through the village for 5-6 years. After primary school, children go to school on bus either 3 or 10 miles away. Both schools have buses which board in the centre of the village.

I agree. And the noise from constant traffic is depressing.

Until public transport becomes affordable and more accessible, people are going to use their cars.

Where I live, use one recycling bin for everything. Glass, paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, aerosol cans, cans etc. Yet some councils use 3 bins for the same items!

I don’t understand why some families need so many cars if they live in an area easily accessible for public transport. In my former London suburb, 3 minute walk to the bus stop and 10 to a well connected train station, many of my neighbours had a car for each adult in the household, even when they weren’t driving to work daily.

My immediate neighbours were retired and had an adult daughter living at home who worked locally and yet they still had 3 cars. WHY?! We have always shared a car even when I was using mine for work every day. If my husband needed to go somewhere while I had the car he got public transport, walked or taxi.

And reliable. It’s dreadful here. You can’t count on the buses to turn up on time (or at all) anymore.

Most people don’t “need” to drive 3/4 of a mile to shops etc, they could walk or cycle instead. Of course, they generally prefer not to.

Because cars are convenient.

Yes absolutely, it's a shame we're not bought up on bilkes. I've got a real issue with those estates where you have to get in your car to drive to a shop. It's awful planning.

Maybe their workplace wasn't easily accessible by public transport. Maybe whatever leisure activities they undertook weren't.

For many, it would be an incredibly limited, sub/urban lifestyle to only experience what public transport can take them to.

We have four wheelies here and talk of a fifth bin of some kind. I honestly think if councils want to keep adding to them like this then there needs to be mandatory consideration in building regulations to enforce provision of dedicated (ideally discreet) space for them in new houses.

Yes, and also a lack of trees. "Leafy" has become shorthand for a nice area, yet planting street trees is hardly difficult.

I think it’s also the absolute laziness regarding walking. I live exactly 1.2 miles from my local town centre. My next door neighbour used to literally laugh about how I walked in to town and back. They were so lazy they used to drive to the local co op, it is a 10 minute walk.

I live in a London suburb. Our local station has one train an hour to the local main station which you generally have to change at to get another train or two.
Our local bus doesn't serve the main station, and was again not even serving our area last week because of road works meaning a massive diversion so wasn't even serving the local station. We frequently don't have a bus.

Do people only travel to the v local small shop? I walk to the local shop but it is tiny, we do need to travel to other places also though.

I mean, I drive the half a mile journey to Tesco because while walking there is fine, I can’t physically carry everything back home again afterwards 🤷‍♀️

It's a 10 minute walk to my local Co op. I have to drive there. I can't walk more than a few yards due to severe pain but it's not something you'd know by looking at me.

Of course not, but most people won’t even do that. In my suburb, the local shop/chippy/chemist/butcher/doctor & dentist surgery/vet/hairdresser are within 0.7 mile (I’m furthest out) of the housing. Some folk walk, but the majority drive.

For many, it would be an incredibly limited, sub/urban lifestyle to only experience what public transport can take them to.

Exactly. On paper, our little town has good public transport - except it doesn’t run on Sundays. Or bank holidays. And is frequently cancelled or delayed.

To get from my house to my parents house is 40 minutes by car. It uses a quarter tank of fuel there and back and there are no parking costs. It’s over four hours by public transport and costs about £60 per person.

Why would anyone take the train?