Careful what you wish for. Make it hard for people to have families and society will collapse.

yes, famously no society has ever managed to have children without widespread private car ownership.

The Nordics aren’t struggling at all in this area, they also have incredibly generous parental leave and subsidised child care systems.

All Nordic countries are well below replacement rates. They are definitely struggling.

So is the States with its car culture. Silly point to spiral around I'd say.

> Make it hard for people to have families and society will collapse

I used to live in Amsterdam which has a great public transport, great cycling paths, and limits of 30km/h. People are going cycling to school, on dates, and picnic with their families. Associating having a 3 ton gas guzzler as a prerequisite of having a family and a roadblock of "society" is only a question of poor imagination.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/six-health-lessons-learn-net...

There are multiple reasons Americans are obese as hell and living shorter than us Europeans, and driving everywhere is one of it.

Some areas such as Amsterdam though are just naturally more ammenable to walking, cycling, and transit. Cycling in 90+ (F) temperatures with high humidity (very common in the summer in the US midwest or south), or even just walking very far or waiting very long for a bus is pretty miserable. I'd arrive at my destination literally dripping with sweat and really unpresentable.

I sure that Amsterdam has plenty of Dutch hills.

My wife used to live in Bristol, which has plenty of hills, and she was biking everywhere. That's why she has a nice butt.

If one needs excuses to justify having a car and being stuck in traffic, hills ain't a valid one. 30km/h is great, makes for less noise, less air pollution, and now we see, it makes it for 0 traffic deaths. Much better to have the option to reach a grocery store on foot, by bike, by public transport and car than have no options but a car. That makes for less cars on the road, and, funnily enough, 30km/h on a non-busy road will often get you faster to where you want to go than 50 on a busy one.

Again, that's why we Europeans are both happier and fitter than our American counterparts.

I'm not sure how common the term is (I heard it in a YT video), but a "Dutch hill" is wind, because the Netherlands is very windy, and anyone who's ridden a bike in heavy wind knows that it can be just as much an obstacle as a moderate hill.

Somehow Singapore being 1 degree from the Equator manages to have a bus network, a metro and practically caps the amount of cars on the roads.

Also, you seems to underestimate how bad the weather in Amsterdam is. Cycling on a bridge through rain against the wind at 5 degrees (C) isn't very fun either.

When I lived in a more hotter climate, 30ish (C) was a-okay for some people to cycle to work and then get a shower at work. It's all about infrastructure really --- be it showers, speed limits or bike paths.

That’s ok if you have showers at work. I’ve never worked anywhere that had that. And now you’re taking multiple showers a day, and washing sweat-soaked clothes more often, using more water. If you are a person who doesn’t tend to sweat a lot it might work out. For me, I sweat profusely and would literally be dripping on the floor and my saturated clothing clinging to me after a bike ride on a hot day.

Can I interest you in AC cooled public transport then? That is another option that will make it easier and faster for you to reach your destination than a car.

Besides I am not sure if you are willing to drop 7.50 EUR per hour for parking in the center. Most companies in Amsterdam have none or only limited spots for parking anyway.

I lived in Chicago, took public transport to work. Still a 15 minute walk from train to office and I’d be sweaty by then on a hot day.

My solution was move to a small town where it’s easy to drive to work. Getting around in large dense cities sucks no matter how you do it.

This has to be the most American comment ever.

Society will collapse no less due to minor inconveniences!!

Ah yes, because mowing down kids is somehow pro family?

I live car free in a Dutch suburb with two small kids and do so specifically so our kids could have a better life than crappy American suburbia.

Yes. There were no families before carriages… /s

A carless society/city is way more family-oriented.

Great, now I'll have the 0.02% chance of surviving a collision with a scooter that slaloms on any possible walkable terrain, instead of a 0.01% chance of surviving a collision with a car that won't hit me because they don't drive on sidewalks.

Scooters shouldn't feel the need to drive on sidewalks when the speed limit is 30km/h

They do it for the same reason cyclists do it. They value their safety and comfort over the pedestrians'. Riding in the road means cars, riding on the sidewalk means people who will jump out of your way.