Vauban not autobahn

new urbanism outside Freiburg

USA Today ran an article Tuesday on a new neighborhood district that is a green, bike-friendly co-operative. To promote the privileges of car-free living, local authorities and urban planners have banned cars within Vauban.

Instead, there is a good public transport and a convenient car sharing system. About 40% of the households have agreed to live without a car altogether. This has also greatly reduced the number of cars parked on the periphery of the neighborhood.

Here is an excerpt.

Welcome to Germany's best-known environmentally friendly neighborhood and a successful experiment in green urban living. The Vauban development — 2,000 new homes on a former military base 10 minutes by bike from the heart of Freiburg — has put into practice many ideas that were once dismissed as eco-fantasy but which are now moving to the center of public policy.

With gas prices well above $6 per gallon across much of the continent, Vauban is striking a chord in Western Europe as communities encourage people to be less car-dependent. Just this week, Paris unveiled a new electric tram in a bid to reduce urban pollution and traffic congestion.

If you want more info, I highly recommend you check out the URLs embedded in the both the text and photos of this post.