Paris’s mayor has a dream of ‘the 15-minute city’

Mayor Anne Hidalgo is running for reelection with the idea of making the city a place where everyone can reach their work, home, and any amenity within a 15-minute bike ride.

FastCompany - continues

 

Perhaps the mayor is not aware how large Paris is ...

 

You're misunderstanding.

I forget what the concept is called, but essentially if something is within like 1/4 of a mile people will walk to it. If every person in Paris is within fifteen minutes' bike ride from a store, theatre, etc., that cuts dependency on cars/transit (potentially), etc. It is a huge reason I moved to my neighborhood, I can get almost anywhere quickly.

 

Hello,

I'm not sure what happened to my link above, but it's not going to the story posted. Let me try this again.......
https://www.fastcompany.com/90456312...15-minute-city

@fujisawa, this is rather easy to achieve today, imho. With pretty much the absence of cars, bicycles can get around pretty dang fast. With the advent of e-bikes everyone is a slim trim road warrior. Being able to travel at ~20 mph and ALOT of the city opens up to getting there in 15 min or less. Look at the image above, the density makes it where much of what's needed is within walking and biking distance. Getting the car out will make things a hassle.

 

Think how much quieter it'd be with many less cars too!

 

The lack of noise would be the biggest benefit imo.

I’m not yet convinced. The idea that people will bike if everything they need is within fifteen minutes. That’s not the same as being able to get everywhere in Paris in fifteen minutes. That’s like saying “we‘ll go back to living in villages, except our villages will be really close together, and there won't be anywhere to plant vegetables."

I live within fifteen minutes bike of everything I need to go to. (Not work, but I take the train ; that's actually the thing I least need a car for.) Do I bike? No! Why? Well let’s leave aside the danger of being hit by a car, which literally every biking friend I have has been. Let’s talk about weather. 15f and rain/snow? Dark at 5pm when I have to pick up the kid? Normal here. And let's talk about that kid. She's too big for a kids bike seat. Is SHE going to bike back from school with me, in the dark, when its snowing?

 

It doesn't rain and snow every day. No one is saying you have to bike every single day.

Don't want to get hit by a car? Ride safe, encourage your city/state to develop more 'complete streets' with pedestrians and cyclists in mind. The more people ride, the more drivers become accustomed and pay attention.

It isn't dark every day of the year. Teaching your daughter the rules of the road by biking with her is healthy for you both and will make her safer on her own as she ages.

That and the climate change benefits that will be huge for her future.

Also, the "we'll go back to villages"....my guy have you heard of neighborhoods? In my neighborhood I have a movie theater, a book store, grocery store, restaurants, a school, dentist, etc. If I want something my neighborhood doesn't offer I can go to the next neighborhood over or further across the city.

More pedestrian/cyclist friendly cities lower barriers for poorer people, they keep us healthier and are better for small businesses because pedestrians and cyclists are more likely to engage with them than motorists.

Oh and it is way cheaper to build and maintain pedestrian/cyclist infrastructure than automotive.
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Lot of good points here! There was a time that I lived just by bike and the subway system in LA County. I did this for over 9 yrs. By having public transportation available, I would argue that it's possible to get around with two-wheeled transport (bikes, scooters, etc), either owning or sharing, plus ride share with Uber and Lyft (which I never used), and just about every scenario can be conquered. I'd argue that owners could use their 4-wheeled contraptions too, if that's what they wanted, but you make it where it REALLY cost them and make it where it's far more advantageous to go car-less.

You get people out of cars and all the sudden you get to know a little about the world. Either on the roads or on public transport.

I would love to see a subway system that has major destinations at the stops. Be it something like a shopping mall, a school, 1-12 and universities too, work spaces, living spaces. All can be gone to without a car. I have yet to research where there are cities with major stops like this, I've yet to find them. LA never really had them. I guess the center of the city would do it. Really just about every stops would be great to see density.

In this Utopian dream there's still 4-wheeled travel, just not in the dense part of town.