Big Protests in Zagreb / other
Jason Meggs <[email protected]> Thu, 20 May 2010 11:02:02 -0700
| Newsgroups | gmane.politics.activism.carfree-network |
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| Message-ID | <AANLkTikcF7v9k6cM27G2tzulDppWo7Ahh4RAI5p3-VI8__24143.921925179$1274378546$gmane$org@mail.gmail.com> |
Zagreb, Croatia: In protest of a proposed underground garage with a ramp on the main pedestrian mall, and claims of corruption, large groups of people have occupied the area and torn down fences. This news thanks to a bicyclist friend from Croatia who walked the street as a child. Some of the many news items: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lTvORBc8W0&translated=1 http://www.jutarnji.hr/varsavska---tisuce-gradana-u-policijskom-obrucu/777389/?secId=79&foto=1 === As long as I'm writing: In local news here in the San Francisco Bay Area, a new phenomenon known as "Bike Party" has begun, as an alternative to Critical Mass. Claiming to be *not* a Critical Mass; stopping at stop lights and regrouping periodically in parking lots; the ride on the Peninsula is very successful with thousands of people every month. The first copycat Bike Party begins this Friday in Oakland (concurrent with a Bike-In Movie in Berkeley). Critical Mass continues as well. For official CiclovĂa style happenings: San Francisco now has "Sunday Streets" and Oakland is organizing its first "Oaklavia" for June 27 (also a good time to be at the Carfree Cities Conference in York). The Bike Party phenomenon is valuable in bringing a taste of a better world without being at all expressly political. It is interesting in the highly racially segregated United States that there is a large Latino contingent; bicycle activists have long grappled with how to bridge the racial divides here. http://www.sjbikeparty.org/ http://eastbaybikeparty.wordpress.com/ There's lots more news to be shared. If you aren't yet aware, a great source for alternative transportation news in the USA is the (also fairly new) StreetsBlog: http://sf.streetsblog.org/ (That's San Francisco, click for other cities such as New York.) Petroleum provocation: what if there were a network of trucks powered by electricity (via overhead wires) rather than diesel trucks? Cheaper, quicker and more versatile than rail; able to serve decentralized land use found today; taking advantage of existing road/bridge/distribution center infrastructure, as well as existing electricity infrasstructure; and able to re-use existing truck fleets. Powered by electricity, which can come from renewable sources, there is no other mass transport solution with a better sustainability profile. Cost effective, energy efficient, and a huge improvement for public health (reducing noise and air pollution). Why is this not more discussed more and actively pursued? ~Jason Berkeley +1 510-725-9991 skype jasonmeggs -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World Carfree Network" group. To post to this group, send email to carfree_network-/[email protected] Replies are sent to the author of the message. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to carfree_network-unsubscribe-/[email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/carfree_network?hl=en?hl=en