A community in Freiburg, Germany has turned an eco-fantasy into a living, working model of sustainability from which we can all take a lesson. The Vauban, a 94-acre, car-free community on a former military base, was built to counter urban sprawl and offer families the same quality of life they’d get in the suburbs. (We’d argue that the quality of life at the Vauban sounds superior to that in a sleepy ‘burb. It’s big city living, but with abundant greenery and bikes-only traffic. Does it get much better?)
There are numerous incentives for Vauban’s 4,700 residents to live car-free: Carpoolers get free yearly tramway passes, while parking spots – available only in a garage at the neighborhood’s edge – go for €17,500 (US$23,000). Forty percent of residents have bought spaces, many just for the benefit of their visiting guests…
…[The] car-ownership rate in Vauban is only 150 per 1,000 inhabitants, compared with 430 per 1,000 inhabitants in Freiburg proper. In contrast, the US average is 640 household vehicles per 1,000 residents. But some cities – such as Davis, Calif., where 17 percent of residents commute by bike – have pioneered a car-free lifestyle that is similar to Vauban’s model.
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Check out this interactive US Carbon Footprint Map, an interactive United States Carbon Footprint Map, illustrating Greenest States to Cities. This site has all sorts of stats on individual State & City energy consumptions, demographics and much more down to your local US City level…
http://www.eredux.com/states/
thanks, fred – that is really cool. I wonder how Arizona manages to kick both NM’s and TX’s butt per capita, with basically the same climate… and less than progressive politics!?
Maybe it’s that the retirees aren’t driving as much…