Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
Can you provide an objective source for this observation that Amsterdam was ever a "car sewer"? The city has taken some actions to improve cycling conditions since but my understanding is that in the early 70's Amsterdam had a far greater percentage of bicycle riders for daily transportation than any city in the U.S. had then or does now, and that no city in the U.S. (that is not dominated by a college campus) is even close to the 1970's Amsterdam "car sewer" for bicycle use in daily transportation.
How do you not know this? Sorry, I thought everyone who likes bikes but lives in terrible American cities was familiar with their story. From what I understand, before WWII Amsterdam was a cycling city, but after it was flattened during the war they built back in the American style. They even paved over their canals to build freeways and arterials throughout the city. When the citizens rioted over the increasing number of children dying in the streets, the government, under pressure, agreed and began reversing course.
Here's
an article with lots of apparently low res photos.
EDIT: I'm a bit slow today; were you trolling me?