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If there is one thing about this country that makes absolutely no sense is this stupid, lazy, car-centric culture.
After having spent sometime in Europe, it is really hard to become one of the sheep- so I ride my bicycle to work everyday and there is nothing better!
I was comparing obesity rates in countries like Germany and the Netherlands-where walking and riding a bicycle is widespread and they are about 10%. The United States will have obesity rate of 75% by the year 2020.
If there is one thing about this country that makes absolutely no sense is this stupid, lazy, car-centric culture.
After having spent sometime in Europe, it is really hard to become one of the sheep- so I ride my bicycle to work everyday and there is nothing better!
I was comparing obesity rates in countries like Germany and the Netherlands-where walking and riding a bicycle is widespread and they are about 10%. The United States will have obesity rate of 75% by the year 2020.
Something has definitely gone wrong here!
When you get to be my age (59) you`ll lose your enthusism for pedalling uphill but I understand what you`re saying. Most European countries have very good rail systems and they`re not addicted to driving. Our driving addiction is getting unaffordable when you consider the state of our highways and bridges and the cost to maintain them not to mention outrageous military expenditures to keep the oil flowing.
Good for you! Isn't it great to have the freedom to choose? As someone who lived over a decade in Europe, I have quite the opposite view. I love my car and the freedom it brings.
Good for you! Isn't it great to have the freedom to choose? As someone who lived over a decade in Europe, I have quite the opposite view. I love my car and the freedom it brings.
Yes choice is a great thing. Im pro choice in everything
When you get to be my age (59) you`ll lose your enthusism for pedalling uphill but I understand what you`re saying. Most European countries have very good rail systems and they`re not addicted to driving. Our driving addiction is getting unaffordable when you consider the state of our highways and bridges and the cost to maintain them not to mention outrageous military expenditures to keep the oil flowing.
I'd say I have a couple of weeks on you (67), and I use my bicycle for virtually everything. If it won't fit in the basket on the bike, I also have a small trailer to pull behind it.... Like for grocery shopping. I don't have a problem going 10+ miles one way. And, no, it is not electric or gasoline powered.
I'd say I have a couple of weeks on you (67), and I use my bicycle for virtually everything. If it won't fit in the basket on the bike, I also have a small trailer to pull behind it.... Like for grocery shopping. I don't have a problem going 10+ miles one way. And, no, it is not electric or gasoline powered.
Good for you but riding a bike in Fla. is nothing like riding a bike in southwestern Pa. We have hills...lots of them.
the only driving i like doing is on the track. I hate driving on public roads. Walking and cycling makes me feel much better. Just not sitting in a metal box like a rat in traffic does wonders to reduce your stress.
Indeed. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, depending on one's mindset), American cities have been built on the promise of suburbs which, in most cases, do not allow for higher density. Even if one wants to maintain low density (and there are certainly benefits to having low density areas), urban planners could have incorporated options into their designs. Until recently, they have failed to do so. Instead, they have focused on pure bedroom communities that offer nothing else unless you get into a car.
This, of course, has started to change and there are more and more communities that either attempt to fake an urban experience, or which incorporate suburb design around a central core. Such planned communities are hit or miss these days and there seems to be a general lack of experience when it comes to properly designing such places AND getting the public to accept and adopt such designs.
One place that has long struck me as a great mix of the two is a few miles south of Atlanta. Developers in the 1950's decided to built a suburban city from the ground up. They centered the various subdivisions around three "villages" - or shopping centers, if you will - that offer all the essential services from groceries to clothing to toy stores. The city also incorporated various outdoor recreation areas - such as lakes and many, many public parks.
Next, they connected all neighborhoods by a system of multi-use pathways that are off-limit to cars and which are generally far removed from automobile traffic. Thus, residents can run their errands, bring their kids to school, go to work, etc. either on foot or by bicycle. In addition, the municipality allows golf carts to use these paths. There are something like 11,000 households of which 9,000 own a golf cart - more than anywhere else in the world.
It is one of the very few, but also one of the earliest, planned communities conceptualized around the idea of providing alternative modes of transportation and thereby, engender a more tight-nit community.
The community has been very well accepted and particularly draws young families with children. As a result, the city is vibrant, very much alive, neighbors generally know each other, schools are excellent, etc.
One must also take into account the much larger distances we have here in the US. When I ride my bike in Europe (and I do so quite often), it only takes me a few minutes from one town to the next. Sometimes, it's just two km to the next town, sometimes as much as five. Here in the US, the distance between two towns can easily be 20 miles or more...I do ride my bike a lot in my neck of the woods in part because there are converted rail road lines that connect various towns - it is NOTHING like riding from one town to the next in Europe.
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