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For startup on home remodeling, if you don't have access to a shop then yeah you are going to want to have a flat bed truck and/or trailer. Car just doesn't cut

For startup on home remodeling, if you don't have access to a shop then yeah you are going to want to have a flat bed truck and/or trailer. Car just doesn't cut it, if it does you are mostly buying small tools or the like. Everything else can be shipped, albeit for higher fees. For groceries, you do need to have one within a reasonable distance, but a daily trip to the store more than suffices. You waste less, too. Since such a thing became locally available to us I have made almost no trips to the grocery store by car - those I have have been for specialty shops at longer distance, or the rare case of being tired/lazy/already out. Transportation of large heavy packages and inclement weather are two areas there are no standard solutions, however there are enclosed designs, tricycles, and e-bikes - a small heating apparatus is all that's necessary to hold back e.g. the cold. I think the point does stand, in that no its not "needed". It's mainly just a giant PITA when a bunch of unsafe half ton steel death traps are the "norm". The long distances between shops are also a function of the car. On the flip side, no I don't think ride-share should be the only option, but a lot of people would fare much better without a car payment they don't really want or need.

josephcsible 3y ago
> > When I buy groceries for the family for the week, I cannot bike those home. > a daily trip to the store more than suffices. You want people to go to the grocery store every day instead of every week?
- nerdbert 3y ago
  I buy fresh food daily. Fruits and veggies from whichever stall in the local street market has the best options, bread from the baker, meat from the butcher. Packaged goods from one of the many supermarkets within easy walking distance. It takes me a few minutes on the way home from whatever I'm doing. Less work than getting into a car and driving 15 minutes somewhere once a week. Plus everything is fresh, we only buy what we need and basically throw away zero food. Cities can be organised differently, including in ways that facilitate more responsible life choices.
- oblio 3y ago
  People living in cities absolutely should. People living in US cities? They can't because American cities are designed explicitly to be hostile to humans.
  - rendang 3y ago
    It would be pretty expensive in terms of time if I had to go grocery shopping every couple of days rather than every couple of weeks.
    - nerdbert 3y ago
      Takes me 5-10 minutes max to get from my kitchen to the supermarket and back home, on foot. The streets are safe due to low car usage so if I needed something else while cooking, I could send my kids on their own from when they were about seven (prior to that I wouldn't worry about their safety but I would worry about them bringing the right thing back and not deciding to stop off in a playground).
      - dcow 3y ago
        Here it would take 35+ minutes.
    - oblio 3y ago
      Because you see no other way to grocery shop than what you're doing right now. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KPUlgSRn6e0 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KPUlgSRn6e0 In my case I didn't go by bike, I walked to the local grocery store 500m or so from home. You'd just pop in on your way home from work or from whatever you'd be doing in town. 5 minutes in a small grocery store, back home with a bag weighting max 10kg, usually 2-5. This is close to impossible in many places. Big business killed small living.
      - dcow 3y ago
        It's not that people can't imagine better ways. I'd love it if there was a grocery store a 5 min walk from where I live. But there isn't. It'd be a 35-minute walk. Some people live further, many miles, from a grocery store.
- danielheath 3y ago
  How stale is the food you usually eat? As a rule, I couldn't say I'm often thrilled to eat fresh produce I bought seven days earlier. Every single day might be a bit much, but if I'm bringing home food for 3 people * 3 days, a bike is absolutely fine.
  - dcow 3y ago
    An apple or onion will last weeks, not days. The only stuff that spoils after 3 days is fresh greens.
    - danielheath 3y ago
      Meat tastes considerably better within 48 hours. Milk considerably better within 3-4 days. Eggwhites become runny consistency about 10 days after lay, but the ones you get from the shop are already several days old at best.
- estebank 3y ago
  In dense cities, there are multiple grocery stores withing walking distance. What people do is come back from the office (or anywhere else), get off the subway or bus, and on the 2 block walk home pop into the shop for fresh produce. Yes people absolutely get things like fresh bread on the daily.

josephcsible 3y ago

> > When I buy groceries for the family for the week, I cannot bike those home. > a daily trip to the store more than suffices. You want people to go to the grocery store every day instead of every week?

nerdbert 3y ago
I buy fresh food daily. Fruits and veggies from whichever stall in the local street market has the best options, bread from the baker, meat from the butcher. Packaged goods from one of the many supermarkets within easy walking distance. It takes me a few minutes on the way home from whatever I'm doing. Less work than getting into a car and driving 15 minutes somewhere once a week. Plus everything is fresh, we only buy what we need and basically throw away zero food. Cities can be organised differently, including in ways that facilitate more responsible life choices.
oblio 3y ago
People living in cities absolutely should. People living in US cities? They can't because American cities are designed explicitly to be hostile to humans.
- rendang 3y ago
  It would be pretty expensive in terms of time if I had to go grocery shopping every couple of days rather than every couple of weeks.
  - nerdbert 3y ago
    Takes me 5-10 minutes max to get from my kitchen to the supermarket and back home, on foot. The streets are safe due to low car usage so if I needed something else while cooking, I could send my kids on their own from when they were about seven (prior to that I wouldn't worry about their safety but I would worry about them bringing the right thing back and not deciding to stop off in a playground).
    - dcow 3y ago
      Here it would take 35+ minutes.
  - oblio 3y ago
    Because you see no other way to grocery shop than what you're doing right now. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KPUlgSRn6e0 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KPUlgSRn6e0 In my case I didn't go by bike, I walked to the local grocery store 500m or so from home. You'd just pop in on your way home from work or from whatever you'd be doing in town. 5 minutes in a small grocery store, back home with a bag weighting max 10kg, usually 2-5. This is close to impossible in many places. Big business killed small living.
    - dcow 3y ago
      It's not that people can't imagine better ways. I'd love it if there was a grocery store a 5 min walk from where I live. But there isn't. It'd be a 35-minute walk. Some people live further, many miles, from a grocery store.
danielheath 3y ago
How stale is the food you usually eat? As a rule, I couldn't say I'm often thrilled to eat fresh produce I bought seven days earlier. Every single day might be a bit much, but if I'm bringing home food for 3 people * 3 days, a bike is absolutely fine.
- dcow 3y ago
  An apple or onion will last weeks, not days. The only stuff that spoils after 3 days is fresh greens.
  - danielheath 3y ago
    Meat tastes considerably better within 48 hours. Milk considerably better within 3-4 days. Eggwhites become runny consistency about 10 days after lay, but the ones you get from the shop are already several days old at best.
estebank 3y ago
In dense cities, there are multiple grocery stores withing walking distance. What people do is come back from the office (or anywhere else), get off the subway or bus, and on the 2 block walk home pop into the shop for fresh produce. Yes people absolutely get things like fresh bread on the daily.