4 ms·

That's called "being wealthy." Being wealthy enables you to escape a lot of the problems that not having a car involves, because you can just throw money at the

by Noos 9y ago

That's called "being wealthy." Being wealthy enables you to escape a lot of the problems that not having a car involves, because you can just throw money at the problem to overcome it. A lot of people are not wealthy and cannot do this. There's also a bit of good fortune involved. I was young, single, and healthy. But I'm older now, and there are times when I simply cannot afford to use public transit or walk. If you get the flu, you don't even have the choice; walking fifteen minutes to get medicine or food is agony. And you always have to walk fifteen minutes, just to get to the transit spot. You feel the weather a lot more as you age; a brisk rain shower is rougher on you at 40 than at 20. And come on, what can be more totalitarian than restricting the ability of people to move beyond a tiny radius apart from communal vehicles that can be shut down on a whim?

contingencies 9y ago
I think you are evaluating many things from an American context and you reveal that you are older. IMHO the problem with American environments are that they're often semi-explicitly designed around the car. If you are used to a car, not having one is probably a horrible prospect. However, as you explicitly discussed aging, you can't put your head in the sand - obviously eventually you won't be able to drive a car, so you'd better get ready for it. Most of the US likely won't change quickly enough to lessen that challenge for you, but perhaps with younger generations behind change one day that issue won't be faced by others.
- Noos 9y ago
  You can drive a car a lot longer than you can walk. I could do a 30 minute walk as a younger person, but now it's something I could only do as a special thing, not every day to a job. Society will not be able to redesign for this; if anything it's other people who own cars that act as caregivers for housebound seniors as their work.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    Oh, wow, that's not my experience at all. Most of my older relatives and their friends walked 30m/day into their 80s, long after they no longer had the reflexes or eyesight to be safe drivers. The thing with walking is that it's very much a "use it or lose it" thing; people who never owned cars are much more likely to keep walking.
  - ck425 9y ago
    Can I ask what age you? You should easily be able to walk 30 min at any age short of 60, unless you have relates health issues. If you can't then you need to seriously consider improving your health.
    - tasuki 9y ago
      My dad is 66 and can easily walk for hours. I think the problem here is strictly health issues, not age. (Obviously, health issues often come with age... but age itself is not the limiting factor at all!)
Cryptid 9y ago
> And you always have to walk fifteen minutes, just to get to the transit spot. I know a lot of broke people who live within less than a two minute walk of a bus stop and could not possibly afford a car. You might want to consider how the built environment has dictated your choices.
ck425 9y ago
You've clearly never lived in pedestrian friendly environment. The nearest transit spot in areas with good public transport is a 5 min walk max. The nearest shop or doctors/dentist or bar/restaurant is 10-15min max and as another poster said you can easily use a taxi in cases of illness. Also on the point of cost, cars are incredibly expensive, especially in the US where everyone seems to have massive vehicles. If you live without one, in a pedestrian friendly area you'd find the costs of using a bus or subway would be a small fraction of your car costs.
- dagw 9y ago
  cars are incredibly expensive, especially in the US where everyone seems to have massive vehicles. Actually cars are dirt cheap in the US compared to Europe. Taxes are low, second hand cars can be had for basically nothing, and gas is cheap.

by Noos 9y ago

contingencies 9y ago

I think you are evaluating many things from an American context and you reveal that you are older. IMHO the problem with American environments are that they're often semi-explicitly designed around the car. If you are used to a car, not having one is probably a horrible prospect. However, as you explicitly discussed aging, you can't put your head in the sand - obviously eventually you won't be able to drive a car, so you'd better get ready for it. Most of the US likely won't change quickly enough to lessen that challenge for you, but perhaps with younger generations behind change one day that issue won't be faced by others.

Noos 9y ago
You can drive a car a lot longer than you can walk. I could do a 30 minute walk as a younger person, but now it's something I could only do as a special thing, not every day to a job. Society will not be able to redesign for this; if anything it's other people who own cars that act as caregivers for housebound seniors as their work.
- icebraining 9y ago
  Oh, wow, that's not my experience at all. Most of my older relatives and their friends walked 30m/day into their 80s, long after they no longer had the reflexes or eyesight to be safe drivers. The thing with walking is that it's very much a "use it or lose it" thing; people who never owned cars are much more likely to keep walking.
- ck425 9y ago
  Can I ask what age you? You should easily be able to walk 30 min at any age short of 60, unless you have relates health issues. If you can't then you need to seriously consider improving your health.
  - tasuki 9y ago
    My dad is 66 and can easily walk for hours. I think the problem here is strictly health issues, not age. (Obviously, health issues often come with age... but age itself is not the limiting factor at all!)

Cryptid 9y ago

> And you always have to walk fifteen minutes, just to get to the transit spot. I know a lot of broke people who live within less than a two minute walk of a bus stop and could not possibly afford a car. You might want to consider how the built environment has dictated your choices.

ck425 9y ago

You've clearly never lived in pedestrian friendly environment. The nearest transit spot in areas with good public transport is a 5 min walk max. The nearest shop or doctors/dentist or bar/restaurant is 10-15min max and as another poster said you can easily use a taxi in cases of illness. Also on the point of cost, cars are incredibly expensive, especially in the US where everyone seems to have massive vehicles. If you live without one, in a pedestrian friendly area you'd find the costs of using a bus or subway would be a small fraction of your car costs.

dagw 9y ago
cars are incredibly expensive, especially in the US where everyone seems to have massive vehicles. Actually cars are dirt cheap in the US compared to Europe. Taxes are low, second hand cars can be had for basically nothing, and gas is cheap.