Francisco SantosAug 24, 2023
David Zipper

Something I love about Oslo: This city is incredibly quiet.

Lots of people are walking/biking/scooting. And most vehicles are electric, while speed limits are typically 30 km/hr (19 mph), so engine/tire noise is negligible.

A reminder that cities aren't loud; *cars* are loud.

Aug 23, 2023 at 7:54pmWeb
Show threadcyberop5Aug 23, 2023
@davidzipper What sounds do you hear instead?
Show threadLeszek KarlikAug 23, 2023

@davidzipper

I've read the same about Tokyo:

https://heatmap.news/economy/tokyo-anti-car-pedestrian-paradise

How Tokyo Became an Anti-Car Paradise

The world’s biggest, most functional city might also be the most pedestrian-friendly. That’s not a coincidence.

Heatmap News
Show threadTane Piper ⁂Aug 23, 2023
@davidzipper @isotopp yea was in Oslo a few months back and really enjoyed it.
Show threadVictor OsórioAug 23, 2023
@davidzipper Brazil is a loud place because of cars. But most of the people want cars, they love cars even if they are stuck in traffic. This is sad.
Show threadcchisholmAug 23, 2023
@davidzipper Since buying an electric vehicle last month, I've frequently wondered how long it would take for major cities (like Chicago where I live) to have a different sound signature and background noise.
Show threadMark T. TomczakAug 23, 2023

@davidzipper Oslo is strange and magical.

I fell pretty much in love with the city, and if I can tolerate the cold I may find myself living there some day.

The block upon block of wide walking avenue is just unheard of in so many American cities.

Show threadMortenAug 23, 2023
@mark @davidzipper Oslo cold isn't that bad. It's not terribly windy and when the temperature is freezing the cold feels like it has a harder time getting in your bones. Contrast Denmark with 1 C, humidity, and wind in winter.
Show threadAuðrAug 23, 2023
@drgroftehauge @mark @davidzipper ....too bad emigrating is now more difficult :(
Show threadDee ToherAug 23, 2023
@davidzipper Given the majority of vehicles are electric, this would be an interesting opportunity to examine the impact of brake dust and other emissions on overall Air Quality Indexes (generally currently really hard to disentangle as they are considered relatively negligible in comparison to internal combustion engine emissions)
Show threadLizAug 23, 2023
@DToher @davidzipper Interestingly air quality is Oslo in winter is often terrible, especially when lower temps. Wood burning and the city sits in a basin.
Show threadMidwest BobAug 23, 2023
@davidzipper Cafés, pastries, and chocolate. Great city!
Show threadmjc0961Aug 23, 2023
@davidzipper https://youtu.be/CTV-wwszGw8?si=fjZP1AYw1gCfJko4
Show thread🇨🇦 D'Arcy NormanAug 23, 2023
@davidzipper @tjkendon living within earshot of my city’s ring road, I feel this deeply.
Show threadBc Clarity Carlton-MartinAug 23, 2023
@davidzipper Men here get erections over their exhaust noise amplitude. It is obscene, yet a cultural icon of rural America.
Show threadBobbyAug 23, 2023
@davidzipper I was also told that Americans use their horn all the time, which is illegal where I live. How can anyone live like that? It must be so deafening.
Show threadBlake Leonard Aug 24, 2023
@Semilocon @davidzipper It's illegal to use your horn?!

I mean using it in tight spaces sounds like an awful idea (unless it's a short, relatively empty tunnel, in which case it's fun). Outright illegal is overkill though!

also, as a bike person who gets honked at sometimes: it's pretty deafening, and super startling, yes. I can't say how it is in the city, but out here in suburban hell, car horns are used only rarely.
Show threadBobbyAug 24, 2023
@BlakeL @davidzipper You can use it if you are in actual danger. But apparently they honk for just signs on the side of the street? Or because someone on the street bothered them? That is weird. I hear horns like once a month.
Show threadBlake Leonard Aug 24, 2023
@Semilocon @davidzipper Honking for signs? That's new to me. But road rage is a thing, and people do use them out of anger or frustration, like if you're behind someone who doesn't go at a green light, or who slams on their brakes in front of you and almost kills you. And rarely, it's used to get the attention of someone outside of the car, although (mostly when they're in front of you) quickly flashing high beams is the preferred mechanism for that.
Show threadClickyMcTickerAug 24, 2023
@BlakeL @davidzipper @Semilocon It’s probably illegal in your jurisdiction, too. The horn is there for signaling an emergency (or to prevent a collision).
Show threadJasmine LiskaAug 24, 2023
@Semilocon @davidzipper They say they get used to it, but their bodies clearly don't: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41569-021-00532-5
Transportation noise pollution and cardiovascular disease - Nature Reviews Cardiology

In this Review, Münzel and colleagues summarize the epidemiological evidence on transportation noise pollution as a cardiovascular risk factor, discussing mechanistic insights for the adverse cardiovascular effects of noise pollution and highlighting new risk markers of noise-induced cardiovascular effects as well as promising noise-mitigation strategies.

Nature
Show threadpang pang trululu trululuAug 24, 2023

@davidzipper I loved the YouTube creator who introduced that notion.

I wish there was more serious demonstration on how wheels are so loud.

If vehicles were lighter, with more narrow wheels, maybe that would improve things?

Anyway, I always wanted to live in a remote place without cars.

Show threadTom AndraszekAug 24, 2023

@davidzipper - already in 2015: "The city centre is surprisingly quiet. There are very few cars. Buses use tram lanes when needed"... from when I was still flying for pleasure, today I would try to get there by train:

https://tandrasz.blogspot.com/2015/11/trip-to-europe-september-2015-oslo.html

Trip to Europe, September 2015, Oslo

Oslo. We got to Oslo by a short and very inexpensive Ryanair flight from Warsaw's Modlin airport. The bus from the Rygge airport to t...

Show threadWannaBePoetAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper can you find me a platonic spouse? I would love to live there and have decent healthcare and human rights.
Show threadulrich aꜩAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper So jealous
Show threadNick AndersonAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper love Oslo.
Show threadSigo cansado Aug 24, 2023
@davidzipper sonho
Show threadRD1054Aug 24, 2023
@davidzipper Absolutely agree!
Show threadJasmine LiskaAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper They're also leading in decarbonizing construction, which not only is quieter for the people who live and work around the construction sites, but is also considerably safer for the workers (who can more easily communicate with each other): https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210622-the-scandinavian-way-to-zero-carbon-construction There are huge benefits in having quieter cities.
The Scandinavian way to zero-carbon construction

Cities like Oslo, Helsinki and Copenhagen are working to clean up one of the world's most high-emission industries.

BBC
Show threadRpsu (326 ppm)Aug 24, 2023

@davidzipper Related to this our previous car has low profile tires (21”) and new car - pretty much identical to the old one - one has tires with higher profile (19”) and the noise from the tires is a LOT lower now. With #EV you really can tell the difference.

While I initially did like to look of the old tires yet the noise and fact that those old tires make energy consumption slightly higher there is no way I’ll ever wanna have low profile tires again.

Show threadChipAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper It's pretty crazy actually, Oslo is a much quieter and pleasant city to live in than the tiny city/town I'm in called Harstad in northern Norway, where the speed limit is much higher everywhere (and there's no public transport, so everyone has to have a car)
Show threadzbrandoAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper Motorbikes and scooters are even louder than cars.
Show threadMistherFrenchFriesAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper peasants who fancy themselves as kings are REALLY loud about whether the help can send their pups to compete for white collar work with THEIR mini me’s. Do we still need those surplus pups for cannon fodder or are we ready for more quiet wars?
Show threadkomakinoAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper I know exactly what you mean. We lived at the top of the highest building in Oslo for one week in may this year and I could not stand aside from the windows. If I could move whereever I want, the decision is easy.
Show threadmurksAug 24, 2023

@davidzipper @notjustbikes also says that in several of his videos (I binged them recently).

I have been critical of cars for a while, but his videos really gave me a new perspective.

Also cool to see that he's on Mastodon :]

Show threadBenAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper I still remember mentioning this surprise after my visit to Oslo 7 years ago. It's not only the silence. It feels like the personal spheres of people are smaller (in a pleasant, non-self-aggrandizing, humble way). As if there is more unoccupied space between you and them. Feels much different from e.g., Berlin. (And I guess even more so NY and the like. US Americans seem to act from a much wider presence.)
Show threadchef 😎Aug 24, 2023

@davidzipper
Sounds fantastic. 👍

Always wanted to go there and to Norway in general. Maybe I can make it happen next year.

Show threadOskar MurandAug 24, 2023
. @davidzipper take note #tallinn, it _can_ and _should_ be done. I live out of the city myself and need to drive due to this. I prefer more limitations to my driving ability and comfort in the car _for the safety_ of less protected commuters as well as increased satisfaction in the urban space.
Show threadMoAug 24, 2023
@oskar the speed limit is here but nobody follows it. At least where I live. And cars are horribly loud because of extra sound modules. I would love to ban those @davidzipper
Show threadKai ErspamerAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper Come by Majorstuen and Ring 2. There are parts of Oslo still in desparate need of cycling/pedestrian infrastructure with absurdly high speed limits. Even Oslo can get better!
Show threadTessa GarnetAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper this is one of the most important lessons #Vancouver can learn from Europe.
Show threadagile_otterAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper especially in the US where loud mufflers (fart cans) and extra loud sound systems with huge “kicker” subwoofers are common, and people love to honk their horns at traffic, especially the millisecond a traffic light turns green ( honking car being 5 or 6 cars back).
Show threadVégarðrAug 24, 2023

@davidzipper While I appreciate the compliment, we are still working to make it more quiet. The biggest obstacle currently are the large highways running through the city which are owned by the state. They are noise polluting large areas of residential space.

In the city, almost all parties agree that 30 is where it's at, and we even want to have 20 km/h around schools.

The state is denying us that last one for now.

#stemgrønt

Show threadIIVQAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper I noticed that as well in Bergen. I'm from 🇳🇱, last year I went on a congress+holiday in 🇺🇲 and an American coworker warned me the USA is loud, and boy was he right. Off course all the cars (love the trucks with jay brakes descending into town 3am, even though forbidden), you can hear trains from 5mi away, but even without traffic it's loud. People, aircon & vents, construction sites, insects, everything seems to be louder in the US.
Show threadJohn V WillshireAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper “Cities aren’t loud; cars are loud” is great.
Show threadhiphiAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper curious if NOx/PM2.5 levels are lower due to all the EVs and bikes too
Show threaddhutchAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper #YQG #WindsorON #Detroit
Show threadSajiAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper I love these cities! Munich is also bike-friendly city
Show threadartfart33Aug 24, 2023
@davidzipper almost ‘Hopper-esque’
Show threadlippyduckAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper Perhaps we will have lived in the noisiest period of human history, both past and future.
Show threadMelroy van den BergAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper electric*cars are not loud.
Show threadk cavaliereAug 24, 2023

@davidzipper Not sure what cars you're referring to, but cars creeping along at 19mph are far from loud.

Q: where are the trees?

Show threadHm… I’m skepticalAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper i felt the same way about Tokyo. Huge, urban metropolis but not a car culture. No explosive exhaust pipes. And there’s a sense of politeness and respect for others — just a general vibe of “don’t be obnoxious”
Show threadTHIS ACCOUNT HAS MOVEDAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper all true. But population is a factor as well. Oslo only has one million people in it. And all of them are silent Norwegian types.
Show threadAshishAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper that description sound calming.
Show threadKayla “Iacovino with an i”Aug 24, 2023
@davidzipper @JetForMe this is too perfect. I honestly thought it was a video game still at first.
Show threadRickAug 24, 2023
@Kayla @davidzipper it’s a nice place!
Show threadOne Meat Ball ✔️Aug 24, 2023
@davidzipper When I visited Oslo in 1996 I was most impressed that the street artists told me they were paid stipends by the government for their performance art!
Show thread𝓒𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓼Aug 24, 2023
Oslo 👍
Show threadMarkus TackerAug 24, 2023
@davidzipper Can fully confirm, we're in Hamburg now and it's such a Noisy City compared to Oslo...