Rowan

Some of the other European cities we have visited have car-less city centres, with access only to certain vehicles that service the area.

In one case, we watched as a woman driver tried to follow a service van into an area that excluded cars, and the front of her car was wiped out by the retractable bollard that suddenly went up after the van passed through. IIRC, it was in Metz, right near the big cathedral.

Then there was Bordeaux. And of course, Zermatt, which is almost entirely car free as a town.

It will probaby come in Seville, too. The issue always seems to be a fear by traders that they will lose business if "easy" access by vehicle to parking outside their shop disappears. It's happened here even when simple bike lanes have been planned.

Roody

Like many US cities, my town had a carfree center throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The merchants blamed it for their poor business and demanded that it be removed. I don't believe business has actually picked up much as a result, although it's hard to tell.

Ekdog

Well, a car-free center--extremely car-light, really--almost became a reality here. Rather than bollards, the plan was to control access with a number of closed-circuit television cameras. These had actually been purchased and were placed at points of entry to the old city, but then, just as the plan was about to go into effect, a new mayor was sworn in and the first thing he did, on his first day in office, was strike it down.

You're right, shopkeepers are against limiting car traffic, even though their dire predictions about losing business have been proven to be wrong again and again. To the contrary, whenever streets have been pedestrianized, their business has actually boomed, but they continue to oppose such bans.

mconlonx

Happy Solstice, everyone! From here on out, more daylight -- yay!

Rowan

Except for those in the Southern Hemisphere. Just sayin'.

AdvXtrm

As far as where I live, I'm not that plugged into the society or the gov, and don't really care to be, but as for me, what I'd really like to do is set out on my bike one evening and just ride around checking out some of the lights and decorations. I think that would really be nice, while at the same time avoiding the higher traffic areas.

Roody

That was my tradition for years--a slow Midnight ride on Christmas Eve to admire the lights and decorations. Unfortunately, I work midnight shift now, so I can't do it most years.

heywood

Got Amazon prime this year just for that very thing..'click'..'click'..'click' done! I then had time to browse some favorite bookstores for occasional cards and gifts but was much less stressful.. Screw the malls.

Walter S

Cards are the biggest ripoff ever. $5 for a piece of paper with a cute phrase? Draw a card yourself with paper and pencil and it will be more appreciated and cost next to nothing.

Machka 

Christmas Day -- we did a great 44.6 km bicycle ride exploring the area we were visiting and of course checking out the beach. Then we did a 2 km walk to help burn off Christmas dinner.

heywood

Dollar store for my cards.. i give very few but won't pay more than a $1 for one..

cooker

I had a fairly car-light Christmas. My wife and I had to buy for 7 family members, and for one of them we drove to a suburban store to get one of his gifts and to a downtown store to get the other. However for that second trip I wanted to buy something for myself at a different store so we parked between the two stores and walked about 2 km to get to them both. I shopped for 5 other people either by walking from my office to a store, or stopping off on my bus or subway ride home to get what I needed, and my wife bought the last person's gift by car.

Two of the kids were out of town visiting their in-laws over Christmas so we didn't get together locally to exchange gifts until Dec 29. Six people came to the house and 3 of them came by car - the others by public transit. I was coming from the office and running late so I got someone to pick me up from the subway (probably the only time this year I have asked for that).

Today 7 of us got together at a restaurant for brunch, and 3 came by car, two on foot, and two by subway.

So all in all a fairly car-light holiday.