3 ms·

Cars are just too expensive

People don’t talk enough about how most Americans are forced to own cars (due to how we design our cities) and have to spend over $12,000* a year (!) as a result *hard to find exact numbers, but many sources wind up around the $12,000 average for all cars (new and used)

bigyabai 1y ago
It's not the 1960s anymore, most people's work transit is not a bus ride to the factory complex. I'd ride a bike to work and be all Eco Andy if my job wasn't 30 miles away in a town smaller than mine. America isn't built for the sort of utopian public transit Europe enjoys and I hope most Americans are capable of making their peace with it. Were it that it was, but alas.
- al_borland 1y ago
  The US wasn’t always built around the car. Various decisions transformed it, such as the highway act in 1956. Different decisions can be just as transformative. Amsterdam was crowded with cars in the 1970s. Several decades later, it’s a model many look to for how to design cities that aren’t centered around cars. It won’t happen overnight, nor will it happen by accident, but it cities can and do change.
  - b3ing 1y ago
    This country won’t change, everything is about making money, healthcare, etc
  - bigyabai 1y ago
    Before the motor vehicle, this country was designed for horses and carriages. I don't know what you're getting at here, shared public transport and bicycling has always been a second-class citizen in America. I don't see how that can change.
    - al_borland 1y ago
      It just requires the political will to make it happen. Sadly, politics in the US is currently more about fighting against each other than finding common ground to move things in a positive direction. Until that changes, you’re right, it won’t change. On a local level, I have seen some attempts. I have some protected bike lanes around me, and the nearest big city is putting in a 20+ mile greenway around the city for bikes and pedestrians. These things were unheard of 20 years ago. However, all of this stuff has to reach a certain tipping point before the average person will use it. It’s a very much “build it and they will come” situation… and until that tipping point, everyone will simply be upset by the road diets, because the incomplete vision isn’t offsetting any traffic yet.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
allears 1y ago
We have built a society that is unmaintainable, and we're watching it break down
- 6510 1y ago
  Building something awesome is fun but keeping it is an entirely different challenge. One can always leave and help build something new some place else. If the stuff no longer belongs to those who build it it is the right thing to do imho
k310 1y ago
If cities are the answer to sprawl and excessive commuting (give or take WFH) they are mighty expensive places to live. In CA, I estimate 4X, 5X or more than the valley. How many cars that amounts to depends on the differential, and of course, CA invites travel, being so wildly diverse. Rent homes? Rent cars? Build urban housing when tech companies bid up property values "to Mars?"
- Urbanisttidbits 1y ago
  Hi there, OP here. I'm not advocating for "make every place a city." What I'd like is more options, especially in the space between cities and suburbia where there's so much missing middle housing. Due to zoning laws (and other incentives and quirks in the system), it's rarely logical to build townhomes or medium apartment buildings in the US when there's a HUGE demand for affordable options like those. I believe that increasing our cities' housing supplies will help housing become more affordable for all. And when densify-ing, having alternatives to cars for transportation is vital to making these areas function well!
GianFabien 1y ago
We recently replaced our 23 year old car with a new one. Seems to me that modern cars are overladen with gratuitous tech. Not only does it make them more expensive to buy, but then to maintain and service. I used to service my cars as a teen, but now I just marvel the engine bay and give up at the thought of even changing the engine oil. I fear that with the millions of lines of code lurking in dozens of ECUs it might end up being more like a cheap smartphone.

bigyabai 1y ago

It's not the 1960s anymore, most people's work transit is not a bus ride to the factory complex. I'd ride a bike to work and be all Eco Andy if my job wasn't 30 miles away in a town smaller than mine. America isn't built for the sort of utopian public transit Europe enjoys and I hope most Americans are capable of making their peace with it. Were it that it was, but alas.

al_borland 1y ago
The US wasn’t always built around the car. Various decisions transformed it, such as the highway act in 1956. Different decisions can be just as transformative. Amsterdam was crowded with cars in the 1970s. Several decades later, it’s a model many look to for how to design cities that aren’t centered around cars. It won’t happen overnight, nor will it happen by accident, but it cities can and do change.
- b3ing 1y ago
  This country won’t change, everything is about making money, healthcare, etc
- bigyabai 1y ago
  Before the motor vehicle, this country was designed for horses and carriages. I don't know what you're getting at here, shared public transport and bicycling has always been a second-class citizen in America. I don't see how that can change.
  - al_borland 1y ago
    It just requires the political will to make it happen. Sadly, politics in the US is currently more about fighting against each other than finding common ground to move things in a positive direction. Until that changes, you’re right, it won’t change. On a local level, I have seen some attempts. I have some protected bike lanes around me, and the nearest big city is putting in a 20+ mile greenway around the city for bikes and pedestrians. These things were unheard of 20 years ago. However, all of this stuff has to reach a certain tipping point before the average person will use it. It’s a very much “build it and they will come” situation… and until that tipping point, everyone will simply be upset by the road diets, because the incomplete vision isn’t offsetting any traffic yet.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

allears 1y ago

We have built a society that is unmaintainable, and we're watching it break down

6510 1y ago
Building something awesome is fun but keeping it is an entirely different challenge. One can always leave and help build something new some place else. If the stuff no longer belongs to those who build it it is the right thing to do imho

k310 1y ago

If cities are the answer to sprawl and excessive commuting (give or take WFH) they are mighty expensive places to live. In CA, I estimate 4X, 5X or more than the valley. How many cars that amounts to depends on the differential, and of course, CA invites travel, being so wildly diverse. Rent homes? Rent cars? Build urban housing when tech companies bid up property values "to Mars?"

Urbanisttidbits 1y ago
Hi there, OP here. I'm not advocating for "make every place a city." What I'd like is more options, especially in the space between cities and suburbia where there's so much missing middle housing. Due to zoning laws (and other incentives and quirks in the system), it's rarely logical to build townhomes or medium apartment buildings in the US when there's a HUGE demand for affordable options like those. I believe that increasing our cities' housing supplies will help housing become more affordable for all. And when densify-ing, having alternatives to cars for transportation is vital to making these areas function well!

GianFabien 1y ago

We recently replaced our 23 year old car with a new one. Seems to me that modern cars are overladen with gratuitous tech. Not only does it make them more expensive to buy, but then to maintain and service. I used to service my cars as a teen, but now I just marvel the engine bay and give up at the thought of even changing the engine oil. I fear that with the millions of lines of code lurking in dozens of ECUs it might end up being more like a cheap smartphone.