As a car enthusiast/mechanic/nerd I say “excellent!”
When I was younger, the city centre (ciry of Tampere) was a loud and messy place and I didnt like to go there. Now they’ve banned cars from the main street (Hämeenkatu), lowered the speeds to 30km/h, built some bicycle lanes etc. Its sooo much nicer now. I take random walks trough the centre just because I like looking at the buildings and people going about their business. I have surprised many of my old friends, because they lived with the idea that I hate the centre for 15 years.
And when it comes to bus/bicycle lanes… I have never understood the people whining about them. They are not removing your ability to drive, they are giving others safer amd better options to not drive. And from what I’ve observed, big portion of bicyclists are people who are unsure drivers. Isnt it better that those people have a good alternative to driving? That way they wont be slowing Mr. Wannabe Verstappen on his wild drive to the groecery shop.
I think I lost my train of thought and dont remember what else I was supposed to write. Oh well, back to banging a alfa romeo with a big hammer
Haha, are you me? I moved away from Tampere a bit over 10 years ago before all the development projects started in the city centre. I lived in a couple different cities with the latest being Helsinki for many years, and oh my how much has Tampere changed for the better during that time. A bit over a year ago we made a decision to move back to Tampere with my girlfriend (who also is from here) and I absolutely love it. Hämeenkatu has an awesome atmosphere now that it’s not full of speeding cars and buses. Now, I do still drive all around the city but I don’t feel like it’s any worse than it used to be; quite the opposite actually thanks to the underground parking below Hämeenkatu.
And it’s not even just the city center that’s great, but there are absolutely lovely pedestrian paths all around the city so you don’t even need to take the bus or tram for moving about but instead you’re able to walk or take the bicycle should you feel like it. Helsinki feels like going back in time nowadays when I visit there even though they are claiming to be building the “best functioning city in the world” according to the millions of construction work signs all around the city.
Also while traveling around Europe I have loved walking around thanks to good planning they’ve done in multiple places. And still it’s not hard to take the car should you need to. It’s just that it’s more attracting to walk or take the bicycle instead of car when you don’t need to carry heavy stuff or something :)
And I’m also a car enthusiast so it’s not that I wouldn’t like driving or own a car. I’ve actually driven to central Europe multiple times for vacation because it’s a nice experience and you see a ton of places compared to flying. It’s just that I also like walking and looking around quite a bit 😀
As a car enthusiast/mechanic/nerd I say “excellent!”
When I was younger, the city centre (ciry of Tampere) was a loud and messy place and I didnt like to go there. Now they’ve banned cars from the main street (Hämeenkatu), lowered the speeds to 30km/h, built some bicycle lanes etc. Its sooo much nicer now. I take random walks trough the centre just because I like looking at the buildings and people going about their business. I have surprised many of my old friends, because they lived with the idea that I hate the centre for 15 years.
And when it comes to bus/bicycle lanes… I have never understood the people whining about them. They are not removing your ability to drive, they are giving others safer amd better options to not drive. And from what I’ve observed, big portion of bicyclists are people who are unsure drivers. Isnt it better that those people have a good alternative to driving? That way they wont be slowing Mr. Wannabe Verstappen on his wild drive to the groecery shop.
I think I lost my train of thought and dont remember what else I was supposed to write. Oh well, back to banging a alfa romeo with a big hammer
Haha, are you me? I moved away from Tampere a bit over 10 years ago before all the development projects started in the city centre. I lived in a couple different cities with the latest being Helsinki for many years, and oh my how much has Tampere changed for the better during that time. A bit over a year ago we made a decision to move back to Tampere with my girlfriend (who also is from here) and I absolutely love it. Hämeenkatu has an awesome atmosphere now that it’s not full of speeding cars and buses. Now, I do still drive all around the city but I don’t feel like it’s any worse than it used to be; quite the opposite actually thanks to the underground parking below Hämeenkatu.
And it’s not even just the city center that’s great, but there are absolutely lovely pedestrian paths all around the city so you don’t even need to take the bus or tram for moving about but instead you’re able to walk or take the bicycle should you feel like it. Helsinki feels like going back in time nowadays when I visit there even though they are claiming to be building the “best functioning city in the world” according to the millions of construction work signs all around the city.
Also while traveling around Europe I have loved walking around thanks to good planning they’ve done in multiple places. And still it’s not hard to take the car should you need to. It’s just that it’s more attracting to walk or take the bicycle instead of car when you don’t need to carry heavy stuff or something :)
And I’m also a car enthusiast so it’s not that I wouldn’t like driving or own a car. I’ve actually driven to central Europe multiple times for vacation because it’s a nice experience and you see a ton of places compared to flying. It’s just that I also like walking and looking around quite a bit 😀