“Krone” reporter Robert Fröwein walks through the city and talks to people in Vienna about their experiences, their thoughts, their worries, their fears. Everyday stories straight from the heart of Vienna.
As someone who grew up in the Styrian diaspora, I have a broader relationship with cars than seems to be the case in Vienna. In the early nineties, choosing your first car was just as important as the right paint, the short sports antenna (much cooler!) and the right CD changer. Even the infamous “Jausenbrett” (technically called the rear spoiler) decided whether or not to get into different circles of friends. Now more than twenty years have passed and I live in the west of Vienna. I still have a car, but not for daily use to get from A to B. That would be pointless because it would be a waste of time. Vienna is the city where the subject of cars is most heatedly discussed. Recently in my immediate area.
When the SUV-driving resident of the adjacent building stops his engine for a few minutes, the lady on the sidewalk is obviously not very enthusiastic. “Can you take out the Kraxn for once? Does he have to run all the time?” An expected heated discussion is prevented by the element of surprise. The SUV driver seems disapproved, but does what is rustically requested. When it comes to the car, opinions differ. Small wars break out and good friendships are severely tested. It’s about the following: Do you even need a car in the city? How do you solve the parking permit issue? Aren’t pedestrian and meeting areas more useful than traffic arteries? And why do people have to drive so irresponsibly all the time at the city’s entrance gate?
Granted, there isn’t much to be said for owning a set of wheels in the federal capital, but the collective demonization of the car is too short-sighted. For example, I think of the cheerful senior citizen around the corner from my apartment who, with great physical effort, squeezes into the car to get her groceries and make her daily commute alone. If the Wiener Linien cuts numerous connections during its summer renovation offensive and starts operating the familiar doctor’s offices at the foot of the Vienna Forest, things quickly become difficult for people with mobility impairments. In times of Austrian turbo-inflation, taxi fares are not a permanent solution to the problem in a normal earning household. Sometimes it’s just about transporting heavy purchases from A to B or driving into the countryside from Auer-Welsbach-Park at the weekend.
“If I want to visit a friend in Floridsdorf, I need the car,” a close acquaintance told me recently when we roughly discussed the subject, “where he lives there is no metro and if it gets later and it’s cold, then forever waiting for the bus. That is simply not an option for me.” For a good friend of mine, her needs for a car are very different. “I hate it when people sweat or cough on me on public transport. It is stuffy and unpleasant and when the heating is on high at the beginning of spring, I have had enough.” Not all reasons may be conclusive, social or future-oriented, but when it comes to cars, you also notice that paternalism. is also not a problem solver.
Source: Krone
I am George Kunkel, an author working for Today Times Live. I specialize in opinion pieces and cover stories that are both informative and thought-provoking – helping to shape public discourse on key issues. My work is regularly featured across the network’s many platforms, including print media and social media.
