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You are talking over the parent poster, not trying to understand the situation. Your rosy picture is not in line with my life experience. I lived in Tokyo whe

by jbm 4y ago

You are talking over the parent poster, not trying to understand the situation. Your rosy picture is not in line with my life experience. I lived in Tokyo where I took the train and walked everywhere. I also lived in Quebec, which is cold and inhospitable during parts of winter. If you have a car, it's possible to do far more in Quebec than Tokyo. I had a car rental service in tokyo that I used (Times Rentalcar) and often when I needed a car, it was not available — even reserving a week in advance. Moreover how, exactly, do you intend on restructuring the life of people in cold areas? Are you going to show them Strongtown and Notjustbikes videos and shame them into moving into high density areas? Speaking of authoritarianism, I even had police in Tokyo ask me for my papers in my house in front of my young children. You may not like it, but "safe" high density living also has a strong police aspect to it with less privacy. I hope you aren't part of an unappreciated minority group in your high density walkable community.

matsemann 4y ago
No, the other poster is taking my original post and twisting it. I haven't said people shouldn't be allowed to have cars. I've said we should strive for a society where you don't need to have a car. Of course that won't be possible everywhere or for everyone. But it should be possible for many more than it currently is. Your example of the car rental service is kinda my point. It's not good enough now, but if it were always available, that would make it possible for many more to ditch owning a car themselves and only rent as needed. We shouldn't look at status quo and use that to decide, we should look at bigger structural changes. FWIW I currently live in a small mountain town with 2500 people at 1000 meters above sea level, with -18 C yesterday and ~30 cms of snow today. So I know a lot about living in remote and cold areas. And please don't accuse me of "shaming" people, that's wrong of you. I want to give people more opportunities, not less. For many cars is the only choice, and an expensive one. Walking, biking, public transit as additional choices would make lives better for many.

by jbm 4y ago

matsemann 4y ago

No, the other poster is taking my original post and twisting it. I haven't said people shouldn't be allowed to have cars. I've said we should strive for a society where you don't need to have a car. Of course that won't be possible everywhere or for everyone. But it should be possible for many more than it currently is. Your example of the car rental service is kinda my point. It's not good enough now, but if it were always available, that would make it possible for many more to ditch owning a car themselves and only rent as needed. We shouldn't look at status quo and use that to decide, we should look at bigger structural changes. FWIW I currently live in a small mountain town with 2500 people at 1000 meters above sea level, with -18 C yesterday and ~30 cms of snow today. So I know a lot about living in remote and cold areas. And please don't accuse me of "shaming" people, that's wrong of you. I want to give people more opportunities, not less. For many cars is the only choice, and an expensive one. Walking, biking, public transit as additional choices would make lives better for many.