Actually, I live less than half a mile from the post office. I used to work next to it, doing deliveries myself. The carrier brings mail and packages in a van, and parks it at the end of the block, and walks around the neighborhood. For big packages, he may pull up in front of a house. And to do that, all that he needs is a lane maybe 12 feet wide.

Yet, the street in front of my house has a standard 64-foot wide right-of-way. The pavement is nearly 40 feet wide, so that two cars can pass in opposite directions, with cars parked on either side. It's stupidly big for a residential street, and of course leads to people speeding like mad while using it as a commuter rat-run. It's noisy and dangerous, and polluting.

I never said anything about abolishing all vehicles. But between the postal carrier, the buses, the garbage, and recycling trucks, about 50 vehicles a day through here would be reasonable. Instead, it's closer to 2,500. There's no reason all those people need a 4,500lb. vehicle just because the postal carrier needs a van.

Oh, the really funny part is that the street is also a bicycle boulevard; somebody's idea of a sick joke, I think, but still better than the arterial streets. Anyway, there's a local roaster, Cargo Coffee, that delivers their product by cargo bike. I see the delivery guy pedal by here all the time. As well as at least one CSA that delivers by cargo bike.

The coffee shops don't even need cars to get their beans.