RECIPE FOR (ALMOST) CAR-FREE NEIGHBOURHOODS

BY NATHALIE VALLERAND, JOURNALIST JBC MÉDIA BY ÉRIC CARRIÈRE

In the face of the climate emergency, it is crucial to rethink city planning and promote sustainable transportation. Car-free neighbourhoods can be part of the solution. But what are the winning conditions? The Québec Institute for Urban Development recently unveiled a study of the issue, and invited the mayors of Laval and Québec City to discuss their urban vision.

Milton Park and Little Portugal, in the Plateau district of Montréal, as well as the city's Latin Quarter in Ville Marie, have the lowest car commuting rates in Québec. They are also among the top 10 neighbourhoods in the country in terms of commuting. That is because their built environment combines a high population density with a wide variety of services and jobs, noted Gabriel DamantSirois, co-founder of the geographic intelligence platform Local Logic, during the Myth or Reality, Car-free Neighbourhoods conference organized by the Québec Institute for Urban Development (IDU) on November 25, 2022.

"The greater the proportion of those three variables in a neighbourhood, the less likely residents are to use cars to get to work," said the entrepreneur when presenting a report on reducing car commuting rates, a study undertaken by IDU.

The study shows just how dependent we are on the automobile. In Québec and all across Canada, 80% of people travel to work by car. In smaller census metropolitan areas (CMAs) like Sherbrooke, it is almost 90%. And in major centres with transit systems like Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver, the rate remains high, at 70%.