3 ms·

A car a luxury item? In suburban America? Wish it were so, so I could get rid of the polluting money-sink! Near where I live, the advertisements on the bus s

A car a luxury item? In suburban America? Wish it were so, so I could get rid of the polluting money-sink! Near where I live, the advertisements on the bus stops say "USD 500 and you ride!" because a functional car means access to work opportunities, i.e. money.

jacquesm 12y ago
Let me tell you a little story: One fine winter in the late 90's I got a job for a company in Minot, North Dakota. I flew there by way of a bunch of flights from Amsterdam, checked in to the hotel and reported to the front desk of the company that hired me the next morning at 8:30 am. Huge flap, they'd apparently called the police to do a manhunt because I had started walking to work and everybody knows that you can't possibly walk to work in weather like that (at the time: about 15 celsius below zero). I really didn't get what the big deal was until I realized that absolutely nobody walked, and that this was why the sidewalks were just about non-existent. Suburban America is a design error with grave repercussions down the line, but since it was designed by and for the affluent assuming multiple vehicles per family and things like bicycle paths and public transport are either not present or just about un-usable you're going to have a problem if you don't have access to a vehicle. But quite a few people do not have access to vehicles today (for instance: children, quite a few elderly people, everybody too poor to own cars) so maybe it's time to start fixing this problem? Two cars for every family is long term un-sustainable, and two cars for a family without income to me sounds like it is an impossibility. Even so, there are ways to use only one vehicle, even in a family where two people are working, figure out who keeps the car with them during the day, either drop off the other at work or at the nearest public transport hub (assuming that one exists). That should take care of the bigger problem. Having two cars when you can't afford your food is really not good.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- DiabloD3 12y ago
  For those that don't want to do the math, -15c is 5f. I grew up in Maine (moved here when I was 6), I've walked to school in the morning in that, while it was snowing, I consider 40f warm enough to walk a mile without a jacket and maybe just a tshirt if its sunny out, long sleeve shirt if not. I find their reaction a bit strange without further context.

jacquesm 12y ago

Let me tell you a little story: One fine winter in the late 90's I got a job for a company in Minot, North Dakota. I flew there by way of a bunch of flights from Amsterdam, checked in to the hotel and reported to the front desk of the company that hired me the next morning at 8:30 am. Huge flap, they'd apparently called the police to do a manhunt because I had started walking to work and everybody knows that you can't possibly walk to work in weather like that (at the time: about 15 celsius below zero). I really didn't get what the big deal was until I realized that absolutely nobody walked, and that this was why the sidewalks were just about non-existent. Suburban America is a design error with grave repercussions down the line, but since it was designed by and for the affluent assuming multiple vehicles per family and things like bicycle paths and public transport are either not present or just about un-usable you're going to have a problem if you don't have access to a vehicle. But quite a few people do not have access to vehicles today (for instance: children, quite a few elderly people, everybody too poor to own cars) so maybe it's time to start fixing this problem? Two cars for every family is long term un-sustainable, and two cars for a family without income to me sounds like it is an impossibility. Even so, there are ways to use only one vehicle, even in a family where two people are working, figure out who keeps the car with them during the day, either drop off the other at work or at the nearest public transport hub (assuming that one exists). That should take care of the bigger problem. Having two cars when you can't afford your food is really not good.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
DiabloD3 12y ago
For those that don't want to do the math, -15c is 5f. I grew up in Maine (moved here when I was 6), I've walked to school in the morning in that, while it was snowing, I consider 40f warm enough to walk a mile without a jacket and maybe just a tshirt if its sunny out, long sleeve shirt if not. I find their reaction a bit strange without further context.