Living in a car-free locality
In a world of car-dominating towns and cities, what happens if people, plants and animals are put first?
I park up at the edge of town, lock the car and take in a big breath of pine-scented air. It's good to be back!
My house is a ten minute stroll from this parking area. Walking on a shady path amongst the trees; I pass many other homes on the way. Once there, I'm relieved my husband has kept the fridge stocked. I grab a handful of cherry tomatoes from a bowl on the kitchen worktop and go out onto our patio with some iced water and soak in the forest. Everyone has a little patio area like this. Enough space for a table and chairs, a barbeque and, in our case, those tomato plants in terracotta pots producing the sweet fruit I just enjoyed. Some people, like those with small children, have fenced in their area but we prefer to look straight out into the forest, a communal space for all residents both human and non-human. Sitting here it feels like I'm the only person in the forest but actually there are thousands of people here. Homes have been cleverly built so no one is looking in on anyone else plus there's lots of screening by trees and wild vegetation such as the fronds of fern next to our patio.
I wonder how long before I see a deer? I don't have to wait long as one strolls past majestically while I'm still sitting here. It looks straight at me then takes a few steps, reaches up and eats some low-hanging leaves. Deer are so used to seeing people and know there are few threats here so their fear of humans has all but diminished. Now I know I'm home, where humans can coexist with the rest of the natural world in harmony. My heart expands just a little.
My partner comes home and it's great to see him! We decide to leave the contents of the fridge and walk the ten minutes back to the central area and grab a woodfired pizza instead. We're pretty ravenous and wolf it down! The light is fading once we're home but it's warm enough for a coffee on the patio whilst we watch the squirrels scurry around.
Tomorrow is a day off. We sleep soundly in the dark, peace of the forest and wake to the same quietness. It's hard to believe that we used to hear almost constant traffic noise. Even though we lived in a fairly quiet suburban street, cars went past day and night. Real silence and true darkness were hard to experience. Now, the only traffic we hear, if the wind is blowing in a specific direction, is the bus that travels regularly around in a circuit, taking those who live in a different area, say Maple or Oak area, back home or perhaps for leisure or shopping purposes because cars stay in the carpark and can only be driven to the accommodation for specific purposes such as moving in and moving out.
We have a quick breakfast on the patio. We're lucky to be enjoying this weather right now, it's not always like this in an English forest! The butterflies dancing past in ones or twos seem to agree! Then we unlock our bikes and cycle about ten minutes to the lake where we have hired a couple of kayaks to make the most of this time of year. We float around on the water with ducks for company. Paddle a bit but, to be honest, mostly relax and take it all in. It's hot on the lake, despite us splashing quite a lot of water with our, not very perfected, paddling technique! We're having a rare week of hot weather with temperatures rising to 30C throughout the country. Heading home, we really feel the heat on the small section of cycle-way that isn't in the shade due to the mid-day sun. However, back home, it feels like entering an air-conditioned building, it's not we are just benefiting from the cooling effect of trees.
This place is probably quite different to where you live but, maybe, it could be how we all lived. Would you like that?
I've based my descriptions on a real place and what I saw and did and felt with a little artistic license thrown in! It's not actually a town but a holiday village, Center Parcs. I'm wondering if this could actually be a model for town planning or even possible within our existing settlements? With a bit of imagination, we could live in harmony with nature and with amenities within easy reach by walking, cycling or public transport. We could live in towns or cities not dominated by cars but, instead, safe for deer to wander without worry, children to play, build dens and engage with nature in the forest. A town where the air is fresh, the exhaust fumes a distant memory and the sounds are ones of nature not machine. A city where health is enhanced by walking, wellbeing increase by connection to nature and people sleep soundly in the dark.
A whole city couldn't just have one carpark, as it is at Longleat Center Parcs, but a city could have several and be split into zones/boroughs/suburbs/areas as they are often geographically named right now. Where would these parking areas emerge from I wonder? I'm not entirely sure but they could actually be quite small. We could shift from every household having one or more cars to having a range of vehicles that could be hired when needed. A company could easily set that up (maybe on a site of car showrooms or petrol stations we no longer need) or it could be a shared, community owned, car co-operative. It's not beyond the scope of the imagination, technology or reality. I know this as I sit in Center Parcs Longleat Forest with the rustling of leaves in the trees and a silent prayer for a better way for us all to live.
