Trying to move to escape America’s car-centric hell. The Netherlands is pretty high on the list but I wanted to explore other options. How do the following countries and their cities fair in terms of urbanism:
-Ireland
-Spain
-Belgium
-France
-Denmark
-Portugal
-Sweden
I could list more but I’ll be here all night.
Barcelona is the most famous planned city that is not car centric. You can simply exist in Barcelona and never hop on a car indefinitely.
Sweden is overall fine, we’re generally depresingly car-friendly but you’re never really car-dependent as such, even in the most turbo-rural areas you’ll have access to a service that is basically taxis operated by the provincial public transport org and runs on the same tickets (though you won’t want to rely on this), and in urban areas you can generally get around perfectly fine with both bike and walking (although walking will take a looooong time).
Stockholm obviously has the very competent subway (which is currently being extended by quite a lot!) and has a bunch of other local railways and an extensive bus system.
Gothenburg has the largest tram network in the nordics and is refreshingly human-centric and it’s only getting better.
Malmö is eeeeeeeeeh, it’s got a weird quasi-subway with the commuter trains running through it to the rest of the region, but otherwise refuses to stop trying to solve all their problems with buses.
One interesting thing in sweden is that basically any vaguely sizable town will have one or several “suburbs” that are basically a bunch of commie blocks and amenities organized into a tiny town of its own, which will have reliable public transport connection to the public transport hub. This means that you can almost always find some vaguely affordable housing where you can live without ever needing a car.
How come no one mentioned Switzerland. It is expensive to live there sure, however Taxes are quite low and the wages are higher, the Trains are pretty much the best (at least in Europe) with about 98% of all connections reached. NJB made a video about some parts of Switzerland. Even the roads are insanely good and most of the Highways look like they were build two years ago (who wonders), still of course you will get stuck in traffic.
I specifically didn’t mention it because it’s the singular country in Europe that doesn’t really have work permits for non EEA nationals. As you’ve said, wages are high and the government is great, so it’s naturally a desirable place to live. I’ve got a PhD in AI from a respected European university and I straight up do not qualify for a Swiss work visa, but OP might have better luck if they work in healthcare or attend school there.
-Ireland: Trash. Worst urban planning I’ve come across in the entirety of Europe.
-Spain: pretty decent though they love just painting a bike on a slab of concrete and calling it a day
-Belgium: Flanders is generally quite good, Wallonia a bit less so
-France: at least for the southern cities I’ve been to I’d say it was pretty good
-Denmark: only been to Copenhagen but i’d say it was really good, really liveable and safe
-Portugal: don’t remember
-Sweden: Really good. Stockholm’s bike lanes can be a bit of a confusing mess at times but all 3 cities I’ve been to seemed to be really well organised and safe for cyclists and pedestrians.
-Denmark: only been to Copenhagen but i’d say it was really good, really liveable and safe
Denmark is basically less dense Netherlands. Those two are really similar, but there’s greater regional variability in Denmark when it comes to infrastructure.
Denmark also has a land value tax for anyone who’s interested in Georgism.
In CZ there is this weird mix of people who really want to change it for better, bureaucracy red tape, NIMBY’s and people who don’t care. So the projects move slowly and sometimes even planners are pissed that they are changed in process.
The public transport is generally good, sometimes even in rural areas. Cycling infrastructure is sometimes hit or miss and isn’t considered much.
