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I'm an American. My parents are 1st generation immigrants. I spent a lot of time in Europe visiting grandparents growing up. I don't think one way of living i

I'm an American. My parents are 1st generation immigrants. I spent a lot of time in Europe visiting grandparents growing up. I don't think one way of living is better than another, just personal preferences. I enjoyed my visits to Europe, but for my own life I prefer living in the US. Public transport in the US just isn't a priority and never will be outside of large cities. Scooters and eBikes are great in cities, but awful for suburbs. I wouldn't risk riding one outside my neighborhood on the larger/faster roads.

edhelas 3y ago
That was the goal indeed. It's by design.
drewcoo 3y ago
> US. Public transport in the US just isn't a priority and never will be outside of large cities Actually, about a century ago there was better public transportation, both municipal and long-distance, serving even small-ish towns. Yes, most people then lived on farms, but farms were usually close to a small town. Since then the auto industry has managed to change laws to make it more or less illegal to be killed by a car and get funding for things like paved roads. Same country, but it looks very different today. If it seems like it was always that way, it's because the auto industry's marketers were so good at their jobs.
- sershe 3y ago
  Auto industry? People on HN really like to blame industry for everything. While I fully 100% support car-centric development and I think we just need to fix emissions like we fixed pollution, technologically - via massive renewables/nuclear build-out and electric cars - and really dislike governments, I have to give credit where it's due. The car-centric development was all its fault (or was all to its credit). Businesses were building rail lines between cities, and tram lines in the cities around which the new neighborhoods developed (even in smaller cities, like Seattle). Then, the government built the highway system (and instituted zoning laws, for less-palatable reasons). Railroads are now marginal for passenger transport and tram lines have gone out of business. Woops!

edhelas 3y ago

That was the goal indeed. It's by design.

drewcoo 3y ago

> US. Public transport in the US just isn't a priority and never will be outside of large cities Actually, about a century ago there was better public transportation, both municipal and long-distance, serving even small-ish towns. Yes, most people then lived on farms, but farms were usually close to a small town. Since then the auto industry has managed to change laws to make it more or less illegal to be killed by a car and get funding for things like paved roads. Same country, but it looks very different today. If it seems like it was always that way, it's because the auto industry's marketers were so good at their jobs.

sershe 3y ago
Auto industry? People on HN really like to blame industry for everything. While I fully 100% support car-centric development and I think we just need to fix emissions like we fixed pollution, technologically - via massive renewables/nuclear build-out and electric cars - and really dislike governments, I have to give credit where it's due. The car-centric development was all its fault (or was all to its credit). Businesses were building rail lines between cities, and tram lines in the cities around which the new neighborhoods developed (even in smaller cities, like Seattle). Then, the government built the highway system (and instituted zoning laws, for less-palatable reasons). Railroads are now marginal for passenger transport and tram lines have gone out of business. Woops!