"This evening we realized that the whole week of our visit we never got into a car, not even a cab."

"Comparing this to a trip to Houston a month ago: we were on highways the whole time."

At the end of a rather long reply to throw0101a's comment on my original post, in passing I mentioned that things were somewhat different in Europe. (My reply to throw0101a was principally in reference to his link to the book High Cost of Free Parking by UCLA professor Donald Shoup who has an underlying Georgist philosophy in connection with these matters.)

My original post wasn't well accepted by about half the voters (upvotes and downvotes in about equal numbers) and I expected that when I posted it. I mention this specifically as my original comment was made from my perspective here in Australia; here the 'average' shopping conditions are very different to both the US and to much of Europe (I've lived in Europe and I'm also very familiar with US roads, shops and shopping conditions).

In essence, I've little doubt that the original story is correct when it comes to US conditions, and I've no doubt that your experience (and the article) are correct when it comes to your experience in Barcelona. Here where I am it's a mixed bag but the vehicle/parking/shopping problem is nothing like as bad as it is in the US (in that shops are far more accessible from roadside parking (despite my earlier cynical assertions seemingly to the contrary).

I'll avoid a lengthy discussion involving examples so I'll just say this. The issue that cars detract from spending in the US and the Barcelona setting is, I reckon, pretty clear-cut. It's not so clear-cut here and in some other European cities. For example, in a German-speaking city (which I won't name out of deference) where I was living for quite some while has shops with easy walking access à la Barcelona and people actually shop by walking around—and public transport is as good as it gets (I've seen no better anywhere). That said, the number of cars parked in the side streets (and anywhere else their owners can find to park them) is quite unbelievable—it's nothing to see cars parked at 45 degrees across the 90 degree junction of two sidewalks if that's the only space available—moreover, it happens all the time. Most people who live there DO NOT need a vehicle and yet they have an obsession to own one (seems as if their psyche remains unfulfilled unless they own a car even if they rarely use it). So much for eliminating cars by providing easy walking access to shops! Despite this and excellent public transport—which they all use with gusto—it still hasn't eliminated the vehicle problem.

It seems to me that we need to be very careful how we measure the benefits of planning our cities to be more human-friendly. There seems to be no one-plan-fits-all, generalizing seems a risky business. If there's an underlying car culture as there is there (and here where I am now) then the benefits of good planning and having ready access to shops by foot may be much harder to realize than it first seems.

Unfortunately, it seems to me the same problem arises when it comes to invoking Donald Shoup's underlying Georgist philosophy which underpins many of these new ideas about planning our cities. (I know, this is somewhat esoteric matter but unless we can genuinely equate it out of the discussion then it might come back to bite us).