tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7803191245171285795.post3694473079125143921..comments2024-02-24T18:05:37.846+00:00Comments on Bristol Traffic: It isn't enough -the freedom of freewaysUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7803191245171285795.post-3403167987491545552011-05-20T10:16:01.835+01:002011-05-20T10:16:01.835+01:00In Groningen as well, in the 1960s and early 1970s...In Groningen as well, in the 1960s and early 1970s, the light was once seen. Huge freeways, giving freedom for all those important enough to own a car, <a href="http://www.google.nl/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=53.202686,6.562299&spn=0.001652,0.003406&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=53.202686,6.562299&panoid=7Ru7Zqeiq3h7DnSQp9BKkg&cbp=12,66.44,,0,0" rel="nofollow">were built</a>, freeways which to this day take drivers <a href="http://www.google.nl/maps?ie=UTF8&t=h&layer=c&cbll=53.201762,6.559871&panoid=D8P7CqhCviK15cAkh5wfVg&cbp=12,337.02,,0,0&ll=53.201778,6.559675&spn=0.001652,0.003406&z=18" rel="nofollow">over paths for tax-dodgers</a>.<br /><br />But then the local politics took a terrible turn. "Noise barriers" were erected, meaning that the motorists right to view the city above which he moves was obscured. The city even <a href="http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-groningen-grew-to-be-worlds-number.html" rel="nofollow">reversed its policy</a> on development of further urban motorways.<br /><br />These days, visiting Americans are <a href="http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2009/05/american-visits-groningen.html" rel="nofollow">shocked to the point of confusing their words</a> by what they see.<br /><br />Don't follow this example. Actually, there's no need to worry about that. Britain is <i>not</i> following the Netherlands. British people <a href="http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2011/04/truth-about-new-york-and-other-unlikely.html" rel="nofollow">know exactly where to look</a> for inspiration.<br /><br />It's not only in encouraging people to drive no matter how <a href="http://hembrow.blogspot.com/search/label/population%20density" rel="nofollow">densely packed their cities are</a> and <a href="http://hembrow.blogspot.com/search/label/journeydistances" rel="nofollow">how short their journeys are</a>, but also in achieving world-leadership in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_rate" rel="nofollow">incarceration rates</a>, <a href="http://www.cedro-uva.org/lib/reinarman.why.html" rel="nofollow">drugs policy</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_pregnancy#United_States" rel="nofollow">teenage pregnancy</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures" rel="nofollow">good, old-fashioned war-mongering</a> that the US comes out on top.David Hembrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14543024940730663645noreply@blogger.com