I did a post about the car free shopping days in London. I have been thinking about what areas might good candidates for the idea here. As much as might like it, I think doing it on Fifth Ave around Rockefeller Center or in Times Square would likely cause more trouble than it’s worth. One area that I think would be a good candidate would be Soho. The pedestrian crush there is solid, the area is very well served by transit lines and the narrow streets there are hardly usefull for anything beyond local traffic. It’s an area in which cars can truly be considered a nuisance. There is a critical need for delivery vehicles but I think that the idea of having a few special shopping days without cars would be something a lot of people would like. I’m not proposing this as some government mandated thing but just an idea for the local business owners and residents to consider. The idea for car free days has also been kicked around for Bedford Ave in Williamsburg and I think that’s a great idea. Something like this could also be a plan for the midtown shopping areas on the weekend but this runs into the simple fact that off hour subway service is pretty poor.