Cars are a convience to people worldwide. We use them to go to work, school and many more places on a daily basis. Even within walking distance, many still choose to take their car out of laziness. Is this how we should really live?

In an upscale community in Germany called Vauban, the streets are completely "car-free". Street parking, driveways and home garages are generally forbidden in this new district. Though car ownership is still legal, places to park are very limited. Only 70% of Vauban's families don't own cars. 57% sold a car to move there. "When I had a car  I was always tense. I'm much happier this way," said Heidrun Walter. (3) Vauban, home to 5,500 residents withtin a rectangular square milem may be the most advanced experiment in low-car suburban life.

Paris has also done something similar to better the lives of their citizens. Paris, France's capital city has banned driving due to smog. After days of near-record pollution, Paris enforced a partial driving ban to clear the air. Paris has a strict schedule on when you can drive if you really have to. On Monday, motorists with even-numbered license plates were ordered to leave their cars at home or suffer a 22-Euro. 22 Euros is equivilant to $31 in U.S currency. This ban has led to almost 4,000 drivers being fined. (12) And 27 people had their cars impounded due to their reaction to the fine. The amount of smog before this ban was applied was 147 micrograms of particulate matter (PM) per cubic meter. This is a significantly high difference in the amount of smog compared to Brussels with 114 micrograms and only 79.7 in London. Although, the ban has helped clear this smog, enough on Mondays to rescind the ban for odd-numbered plates on Tuesday.

Vauban and Paris both have very excellent results in their experiments due to the changes in their environment with cars. Maybe more cities in the near future will join in on this ban against cars. Instead of driving your car to the nearest pharmacy to pick up some things, take a walk to save gas and to get some fresh air. Maybe this ban isn't for everyone, but even trying to limit car usage to minimal can help the environment. Instead of driving your car to the nearest pharmacy to pick up a few things, try walking there. You'll get some well needed excercise and fresh air.