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How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

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Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#21

Post by EpicEng »

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 grew up in Rockford IL. Pretty sure you have an issue between September and May.

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#22

Post by couchand »

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'm a parent to a one-and-a-half year old in New York City, and I grew up in a mid-sized midwestern city. I'm obviously biased, but I think we've got it much better off here.

A block and a half away is one of the best playgrounds in the city, and three blocks the other direction is another fine playground. Both of them are packed with kids at all hours of the day. When we go visit family in the midwest, we make a point to take walks and visit the neighborhood playgrounds. We're almost always the only people there. Of course people have their yards so nobody needs the playground... I think something is lost.

Walk a few blocks in any direction from our house and you'll see tons of wonderful daycares, family-friendly restaurants, and other parents' necessities, most of them locally owned and operated by another member of the community.

We travel all around the city, we take the train. My son passes the time on the ride charming the other passengers and subway surfing. It's much more civilized than strapping him into a car seat and not looking at him for an hour every day.

I'll grant you that New York City is something of an outlier as far as American cities go.

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#23

Post by arenaninja »

I'm a little torn. I don't remember my apartment days fondly (except during college and in Houston where apartments can be LARGE). Noise/smell/bugs from neighbors is awful to deal with, crummy stairwells (never an elevator), fighting for a parking spot and hauling groceries was a hassle.

But I dislike driving for a commute, I've done as little as 30 minutes and up to 1.5 hours of commute, it's very stressful to be constantly alert for a good chunk of your day just to get from A to B.

I think I've found the best of both worlds; a house that's my family's own space, and Houston Park and Ride stations. I drive 10 minutes to the station, leave my car there and commute on a bus to my job. The stop is about 5 blocks from the building I work at, I'm relatively stress-free and I can choose to make good use of the time spent riding the bus (generally reading books, news, sports, etc.). The bus gets there at the same time I would have in spite of the stops it makes because it uses the HOV when I would be stuck in traffic on the freeway

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#24

Post by claydavisss »

ta1234567890 wrote: post #17
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. Wh…

No living in the country is actually not a vast alt-right conspiracy.

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#25

Post by mkempe »

DougN7 wrote: post #20
goodells wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It is in Boulder, Colorado. The bike paths are generally cleared of snow separately and before the roads.

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#26

Post by [deleted] »

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.

[deleted]

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#27

Post by colechristensen »

ta1234567890 wrote: post #17
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. Wh…

"America" doesn't consist of LA, NYC, and SF. There are a lot of people even in those places that don't want density but choose the environment because there are jobs, and there are jobs because so few people are willing to leave. (catch 22)

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#28

Post by kalleboo »

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.)

15 minute bike ride to the hardware store

Re: How the Car Keeps Americans Apart

#29

Post by couchand »

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.)

I walk a block to the locally-owned hardware store and give my dollars to my neighbor, obviously. What do you do, throw your money into the giant corporate black hole?
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