Some more reflections on Zagreb.

The last time I was here (July) Zagreb was a city on vacation, now its a city at work. One thing that I didn't notice last time is the traffic. There was more of it, but not that much more. Now, its terrible. This was a city (at least the part that I'm in, Lower Town) that was designed for people to walk around. Now, everyone has a car, and there simply is not enough space on the roads for people to drive or space in the city for people to park. In Germany, they have solved this with big parking garages on the edge of down town, so you drive into town, park at the edge of the old down town and walk in. Zagreb hasn't had the time nor does it have the space to do that right now (the Germans got a lot of help from the USAAC in urban renovation, so they had empty space to build multi level parking in the 60s and 70s).

The space problem is compounded by the issue of automobile ownership. Based on my conversation with my cab driver on the way to the airport in July, cars are the only big purchase people can get easy credit for, so it is the one way that the average Zagrebite can indulge in conspicuous consumption. So, people buy cars and drive them even though they don't really need them. Now, if someone lives in Novi Zagreb, there is a need. That part of the city was laid out with cars in mind. But Lower Town, and especially Upper Town was never intended to support traffic like they have now.

Bottom line, I don't intend to get in a car, let alone drive one while I'm here. Its faster and safer to walk, and I don't really need to impress anyone by driving 6 blocks to where I need to go.