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The 1.4 Million people in Los Angeles, 482,000 people in Atlanta, and 206,000 people in Dallas who use public transportation on a daily basis disagree with you. (Source) Try coming with facts before you start laying out the standard misconceptions.
Are there a lot of people joined at the hip to their cars in those three cities? Yes, but there are also a awful lot of people who aren't. It is also cheaper to park and own a car on those cities, so guess what most people will do.
But the fact remains that all three cities have great public transportation systems. And I'm just talking about the cities themselves. Don't start talking about some suburb if you care to respond.
There is a HUGE difference between being able to commute to work susing public transportation and being able to live without car and still be able to get around the city at all times.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by justintheneighborhood
There is a HUGE difference between being able to commute to work susing public transportation and being able to live without car and still be able to get around the city at all times.
You think that's just people commuting to work? You think that places like NYC, Boston, or D.C. don't have a large, if not a majority, of the people using those systems just to commute to work?
You think that's just people commuting to work? You think that places like NYC, Boston, or D.C. don't have a large, if not a majority, of the people using those systems just to commute to work?
Add Charlotte to this list, cities with good bus service but no rail, I lived with my mom and older brother for the First 8 years of my life with no car and been everywhere in that city.
40 or so route meeting in one place makes the bus service great.
Nah, not really. Despite Charlotte having light rail, Milwaukee is 3x denser. It's an apples to oranges comparison. Milwaukee is still the easier city to live sans automobile.
Since many are making the fact known that if you live in an area served by great rail, bus, and circulator sevice (like downtown areas, central cities, etc) I'd add Phoenix to the list. Not only can you get to three urban centers (downtowns) in metro Phoenix via rail (Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa), you can get to many other downtowns via LINK, RAPID, or Express services. In Phoenix you can get to the airport, universities, hospitals, stadiums, arenas, the largest and most dense central business districts in the state (downtown, uptown, midtown, Gateway, Tempe, and near Metro Center), among other heavily visited cultural centers and amenities (Childrens Museum, Science Centers, art museums, theaters/performing arts, Desert Botanical Gardens/Zoo, Heard Museum, etc etc) by rail.
It is not possible to live in Phoenix without a car. It's one of the most sprawling cities in the US. People would die of heat stroke walking between transit stops and their travel destinations.
You think that's just people commuting to work? You think that places like NYC, Boston, or D.C. don't have a large, if not a majority, of the people using those systems just to commute to work?
All I know is that 50% New Yorkers do not own a car so unless you believe they stay at home after work it indicates people use public transportation in their every day lives.
I think walkability and other scores are meaningless, percentage of people w/o cars tells a true story about the city and it's mass transit.
I lived in phx and used the public transit. It was horrid. abysmal. It would take two hours to get to a destination that would normally take 20 minutes by car. I dont disagree that these cities have sufficient transit, but what they do not offer, by any stretch of the imagination is a system that makes it possible to live well. I have lived in these different cities and experienced it myself, there is NO COMPARISON between LA, ATL and PHX and cities like NY, DC or Boston. This isnt a "misconception" as one post labled it, this is based on MY OWN EXPEREINCE. Do you SERIOSULY feel like people are down in LA with voluntarily giving up their cars? "Best cities to go carless" and you list LA????!!!?!?!?!?!? People please, stick up for the facts. This is ABSURD.
I lived in phx and used the public transit. It was horrid. abysmal. It would take two hours to get to a destination that would normally take 20 minutes by car. I dont disagree that these cities have sufficient transit, but what they do not offer, by any stretch of the imagination is a system that makes it possible to live well. I have lived in these different cities and experienced it myself, there is NO COMPARISON between LA, ATL and PHX and cities like NY, DC or Boston. This isnt a "misconception" as one post labled it, this is based on MY OWN EXPEREINCE. Do you SERIOSULY feel like people are down in LA with voluntarily giving up their cars? "Best cities to go carless" and you list LA????!!!?!?!?!?!? People please, stick up for the facts. This is ABSURD.
DID ANYONE SAY THAT THERE IS A COMPARISON BETWEEN L.A. OR ATLANTA & NYC? No, no one said that. Please stick to the actual comments, not ones made up in your head.
One thing that sticks out like a sore thumb in your post...L.A. and Atlanta are head and shoulders above Phoenix when it comes to transit, so that tells everyone that you don't know much about any of them if you're lumping those 3 together. L.A. and Atlanta don't have the transit systems of Boston or NYC, but they have very adequate systems for car-free living and are currently expanding.
Why is this such a sore point for you? You seem awfully passionate about this for some reason. I would never try to tell people from other cities what is possible or impossible in THEIR city.
I tried to live in those cities without acar. I want people to know, who might really be considering a move to one, my personal expereince rather than taking advice from someone posting a subway map of LA and misrepresenting it as another form of transit in a city that is almost 100% dependant on cars. You're a second class citizen in LA or ATL without a car. I just want people to know my expereince if they choose to make similar desicions. That's all.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
8,485 posts, read 14,990,056 times
Reputation: 7333
Quote:
Originally Posted by adambos
I tried to live in those cities without acar. I want people to know, who might really be considering a move to one, my personal expereince rather than taking advice from someone posting a subway map of LA and misrepresenting it as another form of transit in a city that is almost 100% dependant on cars. You're a second class citizen in LA or ATL without a car. I just want people to know my expereince if they choose to make similar desicions. That's all.
LOL, ok.
I grew up in Atlanta, took the train and bus every day. I managed to go to college, work several jobs, live in about a dozen different neighborhoods, and was never more than a mile away from a train station and always had several bus options.
I didn't even purchase a car until I was 30, and even then it only has 10,000 miles on it since I use it mostly for trips to the beach, the mountains, or if I want to get a ton of groceries or something.
It is 100% possible for you to live in the City of Atlanta without a car. Who cares if people look at you as a second class citizen without a car in Atlanta or L.A.?
How about you give an example of how you couldn't live without a car in Atlanta?
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