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Old 02-14-2013, 08:10 PM
 
6,337 posts, read 11,503,792 times
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I hope this isn't too off topic, but I was boggled that it made economic sense to drive 430 miles each way, with gas at $4/gal, to get 2 root canals at WVU. So yes, I think heathcare is a bigger issue.

My point is you can carpool or rideshare (and I think we'll see more of this) but you can't share your teeth .

 
Old 02-14-2013, 08:13 PM
 
Location: Hong Kong
1,329 posts, read 1,094,972 times
Reputation: 217
Quote:
Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948 View Post
cars are very expensive. and almost impossible to function without.
this is only intelligible to the 46% of americans that work, to the rest its utter nonsense.
LOL.
Do you think only car-owners work?
I would invite you to pay me back the taxes that I have paid to the US government,
while living outside the US and not owning a car - have you got a spare $1 million?

No doubt, some of that money went to build and maintain highways, where oil was squandered (weakening the US dollar) and on foreign wars, to protect Israel and "our oil routes."

Let's put an end to the wasteful spending, and reduce taxes !
 
Old 02-14-2013, 08:16 PM
 
Location: southern california
61,289 posts, read 87,129,640 times
Reputation: 55550
u can still get a very good used small japanese car cheap and save a bundle. americans if they are squeezed need to choke down their spending instead of getting another credit card and a refi. dave ramsey says it all.
 
Old 02-14-2013, 08:19 PM
 
Location: Hong Kong
1,329 posts, read 1,094,972 times
Reputation: 217
Quote:
Originally Posted by almost3am View Post
I think the change is less dramatic than you say. Suburbs may become denser, some far flung burbs may wither (as cities have done forever), we may spend more on public transport, but I see burbs surviving. I believe burbs will adjust to changes people want, some will become denser, some will fade away over time. Suburban living has many advantages that people want, I don't see that changing.
You are probably right.
And the retro-fitting of suburbs is a very interesting (and urgent!) topic IMHO
 
Old 02-14-2013, 08:21 PM
 
Location: Hong Kong
1,329 posts, read 1,094,972 times
Reputation: 217
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkarch View Post
This part is not necessarily correct. They don't have to drive long distances if the transportation infrastructure doesn't require it...
Supposedly my neighborhood will have a rail line to downtown in a decade or so. I'm just far enough west of the Holman/15th route that it's not *quite* walkable to the planned stations in bad weather. However with that option why would I bother driving my car all the way downtown?
"Your neighborhood" - I wonder where that is?

How is the rail link being paid for?
If by real estate redevelopment profits, it is wonderfully innovative
 
Old 02-14-2013, 08:29 PM
 
Location: Southern California
15,083 posts, read 20,403,636 times
Reputation: 10343
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geologic View Post
...

But, please at least TRY to address these questions:

1. Are you concerned about the vulnerability that car-dependent people, and a car-dependent country have to rising oil prices?

2. Have you thought deeply about why America is getting poorer, and why some other countries, which are also oil importers (but much less per capita) are getting richer? And I mean getting behind the headlines, and superficial nonsense you read in the mainstream media, and trying to really understand what is happening.

(#2 might be a very interesting topic for discussion, if people want to take the thread that way.)
1. Define vulnerability.

2. Do you have data to support this statement?

[what is really happening - tell us]
 
Old 02-14-2013, 09:26 PM
 
Location: Hong Kong
1,329 posts, read 1,094,972 times
Reputation: 217
Quote:
Originally Posted by MIKEETC View Post
1. Define vulnerability.

2. Do you have data to support this statement?

[what is really happening - tell us]
Vulnerability:
There are figures on the "cost of car owning" thread

Do you doubt that Americans are getting poorer on a Per capita basis, while BRIC countries, and esepcially China and India are getting richer on a per capita basis?

I would have thought this was obvious - I live in Hong Kong, and visit the US and China, and it could not be more obvious
 
Old 02-14-2013, 09:27 PM
 
Location: Hong Kong
1,329 posts, read 1,094,972 times
Reputation: 217
From the cost of car owning thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by JR_C View Post
Somewhat off-topic, but since we're sharing personal accounts, I'll share mine.

I don't have the option to drive. So for me, living in a place that isn't auto dependent is a must for a higher quality of life. Generally, I try to be a "live and let live" type of guy. But I can't help but have some resentment toward the automobile, because the saturation of the automobile into our society over the last 50-60 years has greatly reduced the number of options for those people who don't want to--or can't--drive.

Getting back on topic a little: While I don't think it has been discussed much--if at all--in this thread, there is the issue of the poorer members of our society being pushed into greater financial distress by needing a car to sustain themselves. The everyday expenses of owning/operating a car (gas, maintenance, etc.) are the same regardless of wealth.
Good point.

But the car-dependent who so far control the political agenda in most cities, presume:

+ THEIR right to drive wherever they want, and have convenient parking must be perserved
+ THEY have the right to expect others to pay for half of highway upkeep through sales taxes
+ US Military personnel must risk their lives "to keep the oil flowing", and everyone must be taxed to keep a global military presence that costs American twice as much per capita as any of its allies
+ We all must breathe toxic air, contaminated by car exhaust, whether we approve of the subsidies to car owners or not
+ Precious oil reserves must be burned up (at low) prices so they can keep driving

You are angry, and have a right to be so !
A fairer system would increase taxes on gasoline, so these various subsidies and incentives-to-drive disappear. Then the US might have $6-10 per gallon gasoline, as most advanced countries on our planet have. The higher prices would accelerate the trend away from suburban living.
 
Old 02-14-2013, 09:47 PM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,259,082 times
Reputation: 35920
^^The figures in that thread you liked are bogus.
 
Old 02-14-2013, 10:03 PM
 
Location: Southern California
15,083 posts, read 20,403,636 times
Reputation: 10343
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geologic View Post
Vulnerability:
There are figures on the "cost of car owning" thread

Do you doubt that Americans are getting poorer on a Per capita basis, while BRIC countries, and esepcially China and India are getting richer on a per capita basis?

I would have thought this was obvious - I live in Hong Kong, and visit the US and China, and it could not be more obvious
I thought car ownership was on the rise in China. Are they not, therefore, similarly vulnerable?

[it isn't obvious]
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