Thanks for sharing, I agree. Perhaps another point to consider is that in the absence of cars we are presented other sounds that were often hidden behind the noise. Similar to the experience of one hard of seeing, putting on glasses for the first time. There were shades of colors not fully seen. Perhaps there is a similar effect, other sounds emerge. I remember decided not to put on headphones to listen to music while walking, and noticed that there was already music booming from earth: the sound of rivers, birds, and trees.
One of the first things I look for when vacationing to a new country is the walkability. I enjoy older places that were built with walking and bikes in mind rather than cars. I see certain towns in NJ that have closed down their main streets on weekends to allow people a bit more space to roam, one of these places being Ridgewood NJ. Even though the roads were blocked off, it was interesting to see that most people stuck to the sidewalks anyway, as if it was a habit so engrained in them, they had trouble breaking it. Needless to say, I very much enjoyed walking on the double yellow lines.
It is amazing how silent modern cars are internally compared to how much noise they make externally.
A simple law requiring cars to reproduce their external volume internally would make a massive difference.
Think how much effort car companies would put into reducing the noise of their cars for others...
Funny to think of cars as little “externality machines,” just chugging along producing noise and pollution that each driver is happily insulated from.
Exactly.
If only economics had invented some clever way to price in negative externalities....
Thanks for sharing, I agree. Perhaps another point to consider is that in the absence of cars we are presented other sounds that were often hidden behind the noise. Similar to the experience of one hard of seeing, putting on glasses for the first time. There were shades of colors not fully seen. Perhaps there is a similar effect, other sounds emerge. I remember decided not to put on headphones to listen to music while walking, and noticed that there was already music booming from earth: the sound of rivers, birds, and trees.
Let's add anything gas-powered to the list like gas-powered leaf blowers or lawnmowers. The pollution is terrible yes, but also the NOISE!
One of the first things I look for when vacationing to a new country is the walkability. I enjoy older places that were built with walking and bikes in mind rather than cars. I see certain towns in NJ that have closed down their main streets on weekends to allow people a bit more space to roam, one of these places being Ridgewood NJ. Even though the roads were blocked off, it was interesting to see that most people stuck to the sidewalks anyway, as if it was a habit so engrained in them, they had trouble breaking it. Needless to say, I very much enjoyed walking on the double yellow lines.
You really make me want to go to Croatia!