Ever wondered how the streets of a very popullated city would look like? For example, Miami. At night Miami is full buildings that stand out in color, and on the highways you can see a whole road full of lights, the thing with these lights is that they are cars, even though they are helpful by getting us from point A to point B, they are the second highest source of pollution in the United States, that is after power plants. The only thing a city like Miami is missing at night is a sky full of bright stars, which that can be done by people not driving to everywhere they go, even if it is one or two blocks away. This whole "car-free" thing is become more and more popular all over the world.

In Vauban, Germany a small town, home to 5,500 people have decided to go car-free. "As a result, 70 percent of Vauban's families do not own cars, and 57 percent sold a car to move here" (Source 1). 70 percent of the the people is a lot, these streets are completly car-free except in the main thoroughfare and on the edge of the community, if this were to happen to a larger city the nights would be beatiful, and so will the days because you have all the car noise out and instead you have people talking and kids running all around the streets. "Passanger cars are responsible for 12 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe... and up to 50 percent in some car-intensive areas in the United States" (Souce 1). Miami is a car-intensive area, I know this from personal experince, there is always traffic during the day. I've been to other places in Florida, not that far from Miami, in Palm Beach at night the amount of starts you see at nights is beautiful and it's something new to see other than in Miami you see 2 to 3 stars. My point here isn't stars, it's how much better the world can be if we all do what this small town in Germany is doing.

Paris, France. The city of lights home to millions of residents and a landmark for millions of tourists, one would think this city couldn't run without cars, but they made it happen. Paris wanted to clean all the air polution in their city, "On Monday motorists with even-numbered license plates were ordered to leave their cars at home or suffer a 22-euro fine ($31)" (Source 2). Even though some didn't listen and about 4,000 drivers were fined, that is still very little compared to the entire population of Paris. "Congestion was down 60 percent in the capital of France, after five-days of intensifying smog" (Source 2). Can you believe that? Traffic was down by 60 perfect in the city of lights, if it can happen there it can happen all around the world, little by little bu we'll get it. Public transportation was free of charge in the city while this car-free thing was going on. One week later the smog had cleared out enough for the ruiling French party to rescind the ban.

"BOGOTA, Colombia - In a program that's set to spread to other countries, millions of Colombians hiked, biked, skated or took buses to work during a car-free day yesterday, leaving the streets of this capital city eerily devoid of traffic jams" (Source 3). Yes, the city of Bogota in Colombia had its one car-free day, in Bogota called "Day Without Cars", this was the third year actually, on this "car-free" day cars are banned and only buses and taxis are permitted for the day. Bogota was not the only Colombian city to participate in this event, other Colombian cities like Cali and Valledupr, participated in this event for the first time. I find it funny and ironic because my sister has a friend who is Colombian and she owns a bicycle and she goes everywhere in that bicycle, and she refuses to get a car. Bogota is a very known city and just like I said before, if they can do it then the whole world can it. This day should be world wide and should be done at leats twice a year. Events like this will also get people motivated to start walking morre often. "Parks and sports centers also have bloomed throughout the city; uneven, pitted sidewalks have been replaced by broad, smooth sidewalks; rush-hour restrictions have dramatically cut traffic; and new restuarants and upscale shopping districts have cropped up" (Source 3). If you've ever been to Miami, you know the huge amount of building there are here and I think there are about 3 or 4 being built at I type, how about we stop there and make Miami and healthier and more environmentally friendly place.

In the United States, research shows "A study last year found that driving by young people decreased 23 percent between 2001 and 2009" (Source 4). This meaning that adolescents aren't as intresting and driving as they were before, yeah I see how driving can be better but most kids here take the bus, they aren't even driven by their parents anymore. I find that this is a good thing because, one can ask themselves, I can't make a difference, but if thousands of people ask themselves that, then yes a difference can be made. In 2005 the miles driven by Americans peaked, and then steadily went dropping, in April, 2013 they found out that the miles in car was the same as it was in 1995. Not driving everywhere you go and actually walking there is a good thing because you can make new friends, and health wise it is also good because, instead of walking around your block for an hour, you can walk to someones house or to the store. There are several carpooling apps on the internet nowadays, if your friends can't pick you up, for just a push of a button you can have someone come pick you up to where ever you are and drop you off where you need to go to, for a low price. "Recent studies suggest that Americans are buying fewer cars, driving less and getting fewer licenses as each year goes by" (Source 4). This means that people aren't as interest in driving anymore, which means we are slowly getting near the time where we'll see more stars in the sky in car-intensive areas.