Once seniors are too old to drive, our transportation system fails them

Post by ACow_Adonis » Tue, Jan 23, 2018, 8:36 AM UTC

Cd00d wrote: post #172

blondie9x wrote: post #147

Cars are exploitation. Driving isn't freedom it's the most dangerous and isolating way to move people that exists. The automobile companies have trapped us into debt and traffic laden commutes that waste hours of our short lives on this planet and cause roughly 30% of climate change. Do something. Get rid of your car and push for better mass transportation and development near train stations and major urban areas. Ca…

That's extreme. I have a car in NYC. The subway system here is amazing, while also being an embarrassment. But, the car provides the freedom to visit friends and family for a day or weekend. The cost is $200 per month parking and $150 per month insurance, plus the cost of the car, which is relatively low as we drive less than 500 miles per month. We can visit family in 45 minutes or 2 hours (depending on destination)…

Post by Symbiote » Tue, Jan 23, 2018, 8:47 AM UTC

austinjp wrote: post #191

souprock wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I'm an American. I might feel differently if I were Japanese. Here, children are driven to school by their parents. When school ends, the parents are there waiting in their cars. Kids mostly don't even play outside anymore. Those of you thinking public transport is fine are likely at least a little bit physically imposing and/or you are in relatively fancy locations.

What a strange land. In the UK, I was using public transport and cycling to school by myself from the age of 16. I'm curious, are there large cities in the USA where this can happen? Are there any significant moves by politicians to wean North Americans off cars? Conversely, are there large cities in other countries that are similar to the US, where this does not happen? I'm going to suspect the Middle East, due to u…

Post by cozzyd » Tue, Jan 23, 2018, 9:07 AM UTC

austinjp wrote: post #191

souprock wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I'm an American. I might feel differently if I were Japanese. Here, children are driven to school by their parents. When school ends, the parents are there waiting in their cars. Kids mostly don't even play outside anymore. Those of you thinking public transport is fine are likely at least a little bit physically imposing and/or you are in relatively fancy locations.

What a strange land. In the UK, I was using public transport and cycling to school by myself from the age of 16. I'm curious, are there large cities in the USA where this can happen? Are there any significant moves by politicians to wean North Americans off cars? Conversely, are there large cities in other countries that are similar to the US, where this does not happen? I'm going to suspect the Middle East, due to u…

Post by ptaipale » Tue, Jan 23, 2018, 9:12 AM UTC

avs733 wrote: post #130

virmundi wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, why give up your license? It's a great ID. You don't have to use it. I know plenty of people with licenses to carry concealed, but don't. To you point about car dependence, not using one is humiliating, at least for me. I live about .25 miles from my office. I walk daily to and from (twice). I feel, and have seen, people look at me like I'm poor. It is a foreign concept to many that walking or bikin…

I, and several of my friends when I used to live in Phoenix, were big walkers. Its evening? go for a walk around the neighborhood. Walk to work, even though it was like 1.5 miles...just...walk. Each of us were stopped at least once by police for being suspicious...near as I can tell (we were all >middle class white people) all that was suspicious was us walking on sidewalks. Outside of the biggest cities America is a…

Post by CalRobert » Tue, Jan 23, 2018, 9:20 AM UTC

ars wrote: post #6

xversilov wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard for a non-American to appreciate just how different their urban environments are compared to the US, and vice versa. It was certainly a shock to me when I first arrived to the USA... "Why is everything so far away? Why does every building have a bunch of empty space around it? (i.e. mandated setbacks)" etc. The lack of real cities is probably my least favorite thing about the USA.

And it's one of my favorite things about the USA. I hate dense European style cities. Different people like different things. The nice thing about the USA is you can pick. You can live anywhere from a remote farm to a dense apartment.