That's simply no longer true with EV.
> And yet, families with small children and businesses have been doing just fine in more traditional and not car-oriented cities.
In those fabulous city centers? Sure! Full of families with small children they are... ;-)
Also, EVs are still noisy because a significant part of the noise of a driving car is produced by the tires, unless driving very slowly.
EDIT: Also, judging from the tone of your last statement, I'm going to guess that you've never been in Europe.
Perhaps you live in a different Europe then, I've lived in Vienna for the past 27 years.
Which all of 5% of the population or less have.
>In those fabulous city centers? Sure! Full of families with small children they are... ;-)
Ever been to Europe?
Yes, pretty much all my life.
Check out who actually lives in city centers here. Elderly people, rich businesspeople without families etc. ...
In Vienna, where I live, the city center has the following demographics:
- 104m² average flat size, housing 1,89 people.
- 32% population over 60 (highest in Vienna's districts), average age 46,3 (vs. 40,5 for all of Vienna)
- 2,3% of the city's population live there, but only 0,7% of its children (and 2,5% of its cars)
Downtown can also be more expensive than peripheral districts, so older people are more likely to afford housing there. That's not because of less cars though.
But for our purposes, Vienna with all its districts, not just the center, is still far less car oriented than the traditional US city and its suburbs.
>2,3% of the city's population live there, but only 0,7% of its children
Just considering all as single-kid families would account for 2.3% "of the city's population" living there but only 1.5% of its children. And tons of families have only one kid (but of course 2 parents, divorced or not), lots have no kids, and tons of adults are not married yet. Add immigrants (who are more often than not male who come to seek work and don't bring children), and one would expect adult populations to be larger than children population in the same area.
Downtown? It's easy: they're noisy, annoying, polluting, take up space, and designing a city for them results in urban and suburban wastelands as opposed to vibrant, walkable city centers.
>This is a massive reduction of comfort
Well, comfort is not everything. And for obese car-obsessed sedentary people "a massive reduction of comfort" might just what the doctor ordered!
>a burden for families with small children and people with disabilities, as well as businesses and logistics.
And yet, families with small children and businesses have been doing just fine in more traditional and not car-oriented cities.
As for people with disabilities, they can always use mechanized wheelchairs and disability friendly public transport (something car and private-transport obsessed cities usually lack, only allowing the richer disabled people those "comforts").