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I love my car, but building cities around cars was an epic mistake, and making those cars electric will not change that.


One way I try to explain it: https://bendyimby.com/2022/05/11/cities-are-for-people/ - put people first, then the other things.

Happily, we eliminated parking minimums here in Bend, Oregon and civilization has not collapsed. Leaving things to the market is actually a pretty incrementalist reform. Plenty of developers continue to provide parking because they figure their customers want it. But not all of them... And that means we can gradually adapt to different needs over time.


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I mean yes, it's unironically better if something that ruins things for everyone is restricted to be a luxury good, because less of a bad thing (congestion, pollution, space, death etc) is a good thing even if some lucky fuckers (not enough to meaningfully impact the larger effect) manage to skirt the spirit of the law.

Private cars will eventually be banned from cities, though, I'm sure of that. But it will take a long time. Congestion pricing and such are baby steps and is just you finally paying for your previously free externalities, and yes the market (in this case society/dominant politics) gets to set the price. Tough luck, welcome to proper capitalism.


If rich people want to fund public transit infrastructure then let them.




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