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But I am not sure what the point of this thread is? Sure, people waste time commuting, urban, suburban, rural, all have time lost commuting. Most people consider commute times and how to use that commute time. People who commute by car can only do one function while commuting which is driving. People who commute by transit is able to do multiple functions that allows them to make the most of their time while commuting.
I would often times write emails and set my day up while commuting in NYC. This made it so my commuting wasn't always wasted time.
Of course there is also the option of living close to work so that the commute time is short so that it doesn't waste any time to commute.
Currently my commute to work is about 25-50 minutes by bike, I would hardly consider that time wasted because I spend it on my bike which is something I enjoy.
In the case of Pittsburgh, it sounds like you lived in the suburbs and commuted by car to downtown. Your commute would have been lessened if you lived closer to work or even within walking distance to work. Of course if Pittsburgh had a better rail system, you could have lived in a more suburban area near a rail station and taken the train into downtown and would have been able do other things on the commute and would be able to save time not having to sit in traffic.
I think Pittsburgh missed a big opportunity by not putting trust in their small rail system.
How many times do I have to say that the 1 1/2 hour commute was on a bus, and I lived in the city but 5 miles from downtown. Pittsburgh doesn't have residential neighborhoods downtown. The internet and smart phones hadn't been invented when I was riding a bus to work. I rode a bus.
How many times do I have to say that the 1 1/2 hour commute was on a bus, and I lived in the city but 5 miles from downtown. Pittsburgh doesn't have residential neighborhoods downtown. The internet and smart phones hadn't been invented when I was riding a bus to work. I rode a bus.
Sorry, I missed where you said you rode the bus, therefore you could have used that commute time for other things. Though that makes more sense that the commute would take that long on a bus from the suburbs to downtown in Pittsburgh. This is why a rail system would be much more adequate for commuting to help reduce commute times. It really looks like Pittsburgh did a poor job with this, thus the long commutes.
Phones might not have been around when you rode the bus in Pittsburgh, but books were definitely around then. Downtown Pittsburgh is tiny, but there are plenty of neighborhoods surrounding downtown.
Sorry, I missed where you said you rode the bus, therefore you could have used that commute time for other things. Though that makes more sense that the commute would take that long on a bus from the suburbs to downtown in Pittsburgh. This is why a rail system would be much more adequate for commuting to help reduce commute times. It really looks like Pittsburgh did a poor job with this, thus the long commutes.
Phones might not have been around when you rode the bus in Pittsburgh, but books were definitely around then. Downtown Pittsburgh is tiny, but there are plenty of neighborhoods surrounding downtown.
I'm going to bed. I fly off to Pittsburgh in the morning. Goodnight!
Well, that's mostly your fault. Even at the extremely high end, taxis aren't that much. I mostly use Uberx in San Francisco when I need to get somewhere that I can't walk to and transit isn't convenient. It's $2.20/drop and $16/hr or $1.30/mile. A five mile trip would cost <$15, maybe $17-18 with tip. Of course, it depends on how much traffic we're talking but if surface speeds are 15 mph, you'd be there in 20 minutes. I'd spend $15 every day to save an hour. Also, where the heck were you that there wasn't any parking? There's one or two neighborhoods in San Francisco where parking is actually hard.
Now I live in a suburban area, sometimes work in San Francisco and frequently in the East Bay. It's a trade-off. I cover more geography here than I would in the Bay Area. In the Bay Area, traffic is much worse. It ends up being not really that different. I'd regularly drive up to an hour and a half either way, I just sit in more traffic going to the Bay Area. If there wasn't the extreme COL difference, I'd prefer to live in the Bay Area, although not in San Francisco itself.
Not all of us can afford to spend $15 (or 30RT) to be driven around everyday. I don't get you super privileged people sometimes.
In SF, I lived by the Great Highway in the Outer Sunset, and worked in the Civic Center area.
The N Judah, depending on its mood, would get me downtown anywhere from 30min to 1 1/2 hours. I always had to plan on the latter to be on the safe side, which resulted in me usually being super early for work and exhausted from having to lose sleep to account for Muni's unpredictable dysfunction.
And invariably late for social things because I can't always buffer in an extra hour for everything.
It should be obvious that the OP was living in one of the worst possible locations for the commute. Most cities would not take that long. Further, mass transit by definition, in most cities at least, is a way to waste countless hours. I haven't been on a bus in years. Urban planner tears are sweet. I took the light rail once when I was going to a major event in a downtown setting because that is what light rail is good for. Since I was smart enough to carpool, 4 people to a car, there was basically no savings on parking vs buying tickets, but it did mean I wouldn't have to drive in the most congested area where some idiot would cause an accident and back up traffic for miles.
There are awful things about living in some cities, and there are awful things about living in areas that are too rural. Each of us has to find the best in between ground for us. Some people want to be in walking distance of a grocery store. Usually, that means walking distance of an over-priced grocery store. I'd happily compare my receipt at Sam's club to theirs at whatever place they walk to.
Rural living often means longer commute distances that jack up the cost of gas. It also means higher costs for internet, cell phone service (really rural places are verizon only, and having verizon means you are overpaying), water, trash, etc.
Find a city that works for you and live there. Some people will love cities that refuse to build roads and "discourage" using cars. Others will want cities where they can actually move, or where houses aren't prohibitively expensive. Others still want things that barely qualify as villages, let alone towns or cities.
Finding the ideal city is a process that takes months of searching, a process which the vast majority of the population is incapable of performing properly.
It should be obvious that the OP was living in one of the worst possible locations for the commute. Most cities would not take that long. Further, mass transit by definition, in most cities at least, is a way to waste countless hours. I haven't been on a bus in years. Urban planner tears are sweet. I took the light rail once when I was going to a major event in a downtown setting because that is what light rail is good for. Since I was smart enough to carpool, 4 people to a car, there was basically no savings on parking vs buying tickets, but it did mean I wouldn't have to drive in the most congested area where some idiot would cause an accident and back up traffic for miles.
There are awful things about living in some cities, and there are awful things about living in areas that are too rural. Each of us has to find the best in between ground for us. Some people want to be in walking distance of a grocery store. Usually, that means walking distance of an over-priced grocery store. I'd happily compare my receipt at Sam's club to theirs at whatever place they walk to.
Rural living often means longer commute distances that jack up the cost of gas. It also means higher costs for internet, cell phone service (really rural places are verizon only, and having verizon means you are overpaying), water, trash, etc.
Find a city that works for you and live there. Some people will love cities that refuse to build roads and "discourage" using cars. Others will want cities where they can actually move, or where houses aren't prohibitively expensive. Others still want things that barely qualify as villages, let alone towns or cities.
Finding the ideal city is a process that takes months of searching, a process which the vast majority of the population is incapable of performing properly.
I totally agree with what you are saying and the driving aspect was taken into consideration before moving to a rural area.
As for gas and wear and tear on the car. I think you would agree that it's more efficient to drive at 55 mph for 15 minutes than to sit idling for 15 minutes while crawling through city traffic and stopped at traffic lights every block. Where I currently live, it takes less time to go to a major shopping area 3 miles away than it did driving to a grocery store in the city. Furthermore, who walks to do their shopping if it is cold, rainy, or snowing. Who in this day and age buys one can of soup at a time or a roll of toilet paper. Can't you just see it, "Oh I'm out of toilet paper, I better walk to the store and buy another roll." No, they go to Costco and buy the super jumbo pack of 50 at a time. Couldn't you just see some urban dweller lugging home the super jumbo pack of toilet paper. This urban dweller meets their neighbor and the neighbor invites the shopper to see what they invented. It's wheels to attach to the super jumbo pack of toilet paper so it can be towed behind their bike. Boy, what a great idea. I think you should show it to everyone at the next urban dweller block party.
Or, do a major shop once or twice a month and be done with it. To do that a person gets in their car or truck and get the job done quickly and efficiently.
I totally agree with what you are saying and the driving aspect was taken into consideration before moving to a rural area.
As for gas and wear and tear on the car. I think you would agree that it's more efficient to drive at 55 mph for 15 minutes than to sit idling for 15 minutes while crawling through city traffic and stopped at traffic lights every block. Where I currently live, it takes less time to go to a major shopping area 3 miles away than it did driving to a grocery store in the city. Furthermore, who walks to do their shopping if it is cold, rainy, or snowing. Who in this day and age buys one can of soup at a time or a roll of toilet paper. Can't you just see it, "Oh I'm out of toilet paper, I better walk to the store and buy another roll." No, they go to Costco and buy the super jumbo pack of 50 at a time. Couldn't you just see some urban dweller lugging home the super jumbo pack of toilet paper. This urban dweller meets their neighbor and the neighbor invites the shopper to see what they invented. It's wheels to attach to the super jumbo pack of toilet paper so it can be towed behind their bike. Boy, what a great idea. I think you should show it to everyone at the next urban dweller block party.
Or, do a major shop once or twice a month and be done with it. To do that a person gets in their car or truck and get the job done quickly and efficiently.
Having been involved in these, er, "discussions" for a few years, to hear tell it on this forum, a lot of people shop like that. Some seem to like to go to the grocery store every day, think it's sad that some of us "have to" confine our shopping to monthly or weekly. I personally have better things to do with my time, including posting on CD!
I certainly don't buy a pack of 50 rolls of toilet paper, that's a bit much. Don't want to devote my home to be a storage yard.
And yes, I do shop in the cold, rain and snow. There things called coats, rain jackets and umbrellas to deal with such weather. And driving in the snow can be as bad or worse than walking in the snow, I used to walk more when it was snowy. I find this fear of the weather mentioned on the forum rather strange. I did a morning shopping trip on foot, it looked like it was about to rain so I was going to bring my rain jacket, but it wasn't raining.
Can you really plan all your grocery shopping needs in just two shopping trips a month?
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