rileyuk.co.uk

I saw some examples in the papers yesterday of the proposed new eco-friendly housing, and my immediate reaction was what a dreadful way to live.

Cars parked 10 minutes away at the edge of the developments, presumably nobody carries anything to and fro any more, min-bus constantly travelling around to be no more than 5 minutes walk from any one house. Electronic panels to monitor bus times (and waste disposal, heat use, no doubt everything else as well).

To travel independently you will need to buy a parking place at the edge, as mentioned, and will have an agreed number of free journeys out of the complex. I see. Permit needed to travel. Fines for exceeding the limit already mentioned.

This is not progress, it is a world full of isolated and subservient humans who dare not do anything or go anywhere. Please resist it.

I personally don't think that we should be aiming to change the way we live in this manner. We should be looking to eliminate the need to pollute as we travel and one car manufacturer has now managed to produce a Fuel Cell car that produces only water as a waste product. The heat recovery etc in buildings is a good idea though. I suppose it is like the post war eara in the UK. We had great innovative ideas on how we should live which were badly executed and poorly designed due to a lack of understanding in the trades and professions as to how the buildings were going to work.

Personally though, I don't use the car that much to get to and from work. I only use it when I have to get somewhere in the evening (and the public transport has all but stopped) or whent the location would require a rediculous travel time because there is no direct route to the place I am going.

I actually do have to park away from the house frequently and carrying stuff even 3-4 minutes to the house is annoying as it always takes a few trips and you need to secure the vehicle and house each time you make the journey. . . .

People certainly don't like limits on their freedom to travel, despite how good the intentions may be. However, I suspect fuel prices are going to impose effective limits on it anyway, sooner or later. I'd love to see the stats on how much energy the fuel cell cars will need to manufacture and maintain... I have my suspicions.

John, the scheme you describe might work, as long as there's some superb public transport close by. If not, then it renders the whole scheme a bit of a non-starter, unless the people there never owned a car in the first place. I've not bought any larger items in ages, but ten minutes walk would be an absolute pain with heavy or bulky products. That said, there's no reason not to carry basic shopping that far, unless you're elderly or can't walk properly.

Isolation is all relative: people may feel isolated in such a scheme because their current social networks require them to travel, but it may encourage shocking things such as speaking to and enjoying the company of their neighbours as well. People as a whole tend to adapt quite well.

US to demolish large tracts of housing in an attempt to survive.

Interesting idea, government buys up empty buildings at a low price then seeks to consolidate population of a declining city in a smaller area and tears down the rest of the decaying city. Its a clever idea, much like pruning a tree to preserve its life.
Could it work here? Giving a clean slate to work with once the financial climate improves and growth is needed again. I could make a few suggestions as to where the bulldozers might start!
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