So Oslo is going to be all about biking?

Humans are really just small walking animals. That’s how the architect Jan Gehl describes the way city planners ought to think about public spaces.

“Knowing about Homo sapiens—and the kind of creature he is—has been a very important key to understanding why some places work and some places don’t,” Gehl said in the 2011 documentary, Urbanized. “We are really talking about the urban habitat of Homo sapiens. It’s the same Homo sapiens all over the world. Cultural circumstances differ, economic circumstances differ, climactic circumstances differ, but basically, we are the same little walking animal.”

In Oslo, where the walking animal is also a driving animal, a bicycling animal, and a bus-taking animal, officials are pushing to ban cars from the main downtown area altogether. The idea is to add nearly 40 miles of bike lanes and make the city center car-free, which would in turn make Oslo the first major European city to place a “comprehensive and permanent ban” on cars, Reuters reported.

Biking and public transport.

And in Oslo, some 83 percent of residents already have “very good” access to public transportation. Oslo is also home to the largest percentages of the population who report walking and taking public transportation.

This feels like the future. Could you ever see Jacksonville doing something like this?

I would love perimeter parking and ANY alternative to driving, but we no longer have an urban core so there is no single destination ... except on Jaguar home game days.  :)

Interesting. Do you have a good train, subway, or bus system?

Biking might be too hot during the summer half of your year. 

No good mass transit.

It's not just the heat, it's the danger of distracted drivers.  Our city does not have dedicated bike lanes that take cyclists from one part of town to the other.

Most maddening:  the bridge that takes me from my neighborhood to downtown doesn't even allow pedestrian access!  

So self driving cars will help?

No pedestrian access to the bridge really sucks. 

Self driving cars would make the streets safer, yesh.  

Wanna run for mayor?

Do they require the mayor to live in Jacksonville? If so, that dream may have to wait. 

Ah, well.  I think this guy is our unofficial mayor now.

I don't know who that is but I like his tie!

That's Shahid (Shad) Khan, owner of the Jaguars!  He's known for his mustache.

Here's a pic of his yacht, The Kismet:

http://jacksonville.com/sports/football/jaguars/2014-11-07/story/virtual-tour-see-inside-yacht-shad-khan-using-london

Wow he looks like he does all right!

Jaguars look good this year despite their 1-5 record. 

Self-made billionaire!

The Jags are popular in London:  http://m.jaguars.com/news/article-JaguarsNews/Jaguars-officially-extend-London-agreement/31dabefc-4754-4491-9508-d0bc61694eca

Cool! I wonder how he made his billion?

http://pandawhale.com/post/51329/jacksonville-jaguars-wtf-guy-gif

Do you think the Jaguars might move to London?

Or just play there a lot like they're going to do on Sunday?

Just play there a lot.  :) 

It's like a second home. :)