Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

citylab.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 226 posts

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#11

Post by earloflexus »

The author did a great job of arguing the case that transportation preferences map semi-neatly to red tribe / blue tribe distinctions, but it doesn't convince me that cars cause Americans to be apart.

I'm sure Americans would be closer together if more things were walkable for more people and I don't oppose investments in walkability. However, some people don't want that, some people are thrilled to drive a big vehicle and burn a gallon or three of gas to pick up a case of beer and log of chewing tobacco.

What virtue do we need to inoculate into Joe Sixpack to get him to participate in a the vegetarian version of personal transportation?

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#12

Post by roymurdock »

yosito wrote: post #4

Anecdotally, I always loved having a car and the sense of independence and freedom that came with it. Then at the age of 25, I moved out of the country to a small, walkable town in Latin America where I either walked, drove my scooter, or took motorcycle taxis everywhere. After two years of living there, I moved back to the US, bought a Jeep, and was super excited to have the autonomy and ability to travel between ci…

What happens if/when you have kids. I’ve seen many people biking around Amsterdam with their kids in protective bike high seats. But this is unheard of in many US cities. Minivans are the usual solution. Would you teach them to take public transport or try to live within walking distance of everything?

Obvs doesn’t apply if u don’t plan on it, but curious if anyone has found a solution in US cities.

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#13

Post by tdfx »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #3
mariodiana wrote: post #2

I feel bad if my comment ends up being the first one, because I'm coming to suggest a book that I immediately thought of as I got halfway through the article. If you want to read about human society and how much of it we're missing, read The Great Good Place, by Ray Oldenburg. (I believe it came out in the late 1980's.) There is a chapter on suburbia, and what an awful mess that has made of human sociability, particu…

I hope the first HN comment is always a book suggestion. :) I recently got rid of my car after four years of living in a city. I don't know why I held onto it for so long, but my life has improved dramatically. Not only can I go anywhere I want, but I never have to worry about permits, tickets, or parking. This lifestyle can't work for people outside of cities, though. There's no way to get anyplace without a car, an…

There's also Turo, which seems similar to Getaround by your description, as well as hourly rentals through Zipcar. And the established rental players like Hertz and Enterprise have started trying to emulate the smaller startups with flexible locations and hourly billing. And there's always Uber.

My lease is up next year and I can't wait to get rid of my car. I won't be replacing it. My car payment is rather high, but even with just the insurance, city parking/tickets, gas, tolls, and maintenance costs, I'm pretty sure I can Uber/Lyft everywhere I need to go for less money and rent a car on the occasion I really need one.

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#14

Post by claydavisss »

Americans want to be "apart"! Most people in America see high-density living as a negative. Most want a yard and a garage. The country is huge - you can fit three UKs into the state of Texas alone. We have the space, we have the roads, we like our yards.

I have moved our family into progressively rural environments and will continue to do so until the distance to basic necessities is intolerable. In most rural environments there is no meaningful traffic so people aren't that down on being in their vehicles.

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#15

Post by MarkusAllen »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #3
mariodiana wrote: post #2

I feel bad if my comment ends up being the first one, because I'm coming to suggest a book that I immediately thought of as I got halfway through the article. If you want to read about human society and how much of it we're missing, read The Great Good Place, by Ray Oldenburg. (I believe it came out in the late 1980's.) There is a chapter on suburbia, and what an awful mess that has made of human sociability, particu…

I hope the first HN comment is always a book suggestion. :) I recently got rid of my car after four years of living in a city. I don't know why I held onto it for so long, but my life has improved dramatically. Not only can I go anywhere I want, but I never have to worry about permits, tickets, or parking. This lifestyle can't work for people outside of cities, though. There's no way to get anyplace without a car, an…

In a city, how do you handle buying a socket wrench to fix something in your house? (It sounds like a MAJOR hassle.)

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#16

Post by asveikau »

roymurdock wrote: post #12
yosito wrote: post #4

Anecdotally, I always loved having a car and the sense of independence and freedom that came with it. Then at the age of 25, I moved out of the country to a small, walkable town in Latin America where I either walked, drove my scooter, or took motorcycle taxis everywhere. After two years of living there, I moved back to the US, bought a Jeep, and was super excited to have the autonomy and ability to travel between ci…

What happens if/when you have kids. I’ve seen many people biking around Amsterdam with their kids in protective bike high seats. But this is unheard of in many US cities. Minivans are the usual solution. Would you teach them to take public transport or try to live within walking distance of everything? Obvs doesn’t apply if u don’t plan on it, but curious if anyone has found a solution in US cities.

I live in San Francisco and have kids. We walk a lot and my older one is a big fan of muni. I really dislike taking the car out.

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#17

Post by ta1234567890 »

claydavisss wrote: post #14

Americans want to be "apart"! Most people in America see high-density living as a negative. Most want a yard and a garage. The country is huge - you can fit three UKs into the state of Texas alone. We have the space, we have the roads, we like our yards. I have moved our family into progressively rural environments and will continue to do so until the distance to basic necessities is intolerable. In most rural enviro…

Maybe you mean American corporations and people in power love space and their cars and the money they make off of selling and developing those things?

For example, LA used to have a great train network for public transportation until the automobile industry made sure to tear it down so people would be forced to drive cars.

In SF/BayArea people want zoning to change so there can be more housing/apartment buildings. Who's blocking that from happening? Homeowners who think that would devalue their properties.

Also, doesn't seem like people in NYC value cars or yards that much (at least not over living in NYC).

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#18

Post by goodells »

roymurdock wrote: post #12
yosito wrote: post #4

Anecdotally, I always loved having a car and the sense of independence and freedom that came with it. Then at the age of 25, I moved out of the country to a small, walkable town in Latin America where I either walked, drove my scooter, or took motorcycle taxis everywhere. After two years of living there, I moved back to the US, bought a Jeep, and was super excited to have the autonomy and ability to travel between ci…

What happens if/when you have kids. I’ve seen many people biking around Amsterdam with their kids in protective bike high seats. But this is unheard of in many US cities. Minivans are the usual solution. Would you teach them to take public transport or try to live within walking distance of everything? Obvs doesn’t apply if u don’t plan on it, but curious if anyone has found a solution in US cities.

Anecdotally, I am in Madison, WI and it would be feasible with kids in the right neighborhood here. Lots of bikes have little carriages for small children.

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#19

Post by sillysaurus3 »

MarkusAllen wrote: post #15
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope the first HN comment is always a book suggestion. :) I recently got rid of my car after four years of living in a city. I don't know why I held onto it for so long, but my life has improved dramatically. Not only can I go anywhere I want, but I never have to worry about permits, tickets, or parking. This lifestyle can't work for people outside of cities, though. There's no way to get anyplace without a car, an…

In a city, how do you handle buying a socket wrench to fix something in your house? (It sounds like a MAJOR hassle.)

Amazon prime 2hour delivery. $22 has it at my doorstep in two hours.

If I want it faster than that, or cheaper, I walk to the home depot a mile away.

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#20

Post by DougN7 »

goodells wrote: post #18
roymurdock wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What happens if/when you have kids. I’ve seen many people biking around Amsterdam with their kids in protective bike high seats. But this is unheard of in many US cities. Minivans are the usual solution. Would you teach them to take public transport or try to live within walking distance of everything? Obvs doesn’t apply if u don’t plan on it, but curious if anyone has found a solution in US cities.

Anecdotally, I am in Madison, WI and it would be feasible with kids in the right neighborhood here. Lots of bikes have little carriages for small children.

I doubt it’s feasible year round.
Post reply on HN