To all Radl-Munich residents: Let us commute in peace - or give us your apartment

Cars parked everywhere on Munich sidewalks. How terrible. Maybe, but also inevitable. A commentary on the daily park madness in Munich.

• The daily car flood that squeezes into Munich's residential districts is neither surprising nor avoidable.
• Naming the driver as a villain per se borders on populism.
• The sidewalk parking lot is currently simply no alternative. A commentary on the Munich park chaos.

It is not surprising that commuters use sidewalks as parking spaces. And you can't blame them either. There is no alternative to the sidewalk parking lot. Even if Munich local politicians like to assert something different and just happily draw a line of conflict in the local election campaign, between the bad car commuters and the good Radl-Munich, while their authorities and the police - despite statements to the contrary - tacitly tolerate the sidewalk parking lot.

Park madness in Munich's residential quarters: criticism is easy on the bicycle saddle

Radl-Munich, of course, likes the simple reasoning. From the bike saddle it is easy to criticize the car anyway: they are not allowed to park there. Why do they come by car at all? Why do they have one at all? Cheap criticism that comes from the proud Radl-Munich. Sure, he can afford the luxury of not having a car.

Park madness in Munich: Not everyone can afford the luxury bike

And yes - it is a luxury not to have to rely on your own car. The Radl-Munich is still sleeping happily, while the old commuter polo rattles from some far, far away Kaff in the direction of the Munich motorway - knowing that it is already hopelessly overloaded. The Radl-Münchner is then drinking his first espresso macchiato, while the commuter polo rolls towards Munich in ever-increasing traffic.

The Radl-Münchner throws himself relaxed into his sport-shoemaker-outdoor-clothes, while the commuter-polo doesn't roll anymore, because it is in the everyday, inevitable city traffic jam.

Then the commuter polo also meets the Radl-Munich, who has meanwhile swung onto his e-mountain bike (worth several commuter polos) and is shaking his head shaking his head through the tin columns on his way from his Schwabingen city apartment to his workplace. A path that is so short that it can easily be reached by bike. And you have to be able to afford the rent for this luxury.

Polemically? Maybe. Overdrawn? Most certainly. But it hits the heart of the matter. Back to the initial questions:

You can't park on sidewalks in Munich? Where else?

Yes, you cannot park on sidewalks. Honestly, where else? Park & ​​Ride spaces are all hopelessly crowded. Companies that lure their employees to Munich from all over Upper Bavaria usually don't have their own parking spaces. So where else? The commuters are very happy to receive constructive tips.

Public transport is more expensive, slower and less flexible than the car - despite traffic jams and a lack of parking spaces

And no, the polo commuter does not rattle across dark streets every morning because it is so cool, but because it has no other option. Happy those who have a regional train connection. If she drives. Which she often doesn't. See BOB. * For most car commuters, the public transport connection is usually simply less attractive than the car. Public transport is more expensive, takes longer and less flexible.

And until that changes, nobody will change.

If one were now to punish the sidewalk parking lot severely, many would only have to move. It would be exciting to see how Radl-Munich would like the prospect of half a million commuters * throwing themselves into their rental market. Of all places in Munich.

Also read the counter comment on the subject: Dear ruthless drivers, the sidewalk is not a legal space

* Merkur.de and tz.de part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.

List of rubric lists: © tp / Stefan Stukenbrok