Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm not sure I understand your reaction to Drover's post.
I could be wrong, but it looked like Drover tried to live car-free/car-light. But, because of job transfers, life, etc. that no longer worked out.
When plaidmom wished them luck, and hoped that they wouldn't give up on the idea of car-free/car-light living, if they were still interested in doing so, Drover answered with a .
To me, this looks like Drover believes a car is a necessity in today's world whether you or I like it or not.
Because I can't drive, this would mean that I'm screwed, and will have to go on welfare someday when the only job I can get requires a car.
Quote:
Why would you not have the ability to drive if you were laid off?
I could be wrong, but it looked like Drover tried to live car-free/car-light. But, because of job transfers, life, etc. that no longer worked out.
When plaidmom wished them luck, and hoped that they wouldn't give up on the idea of car-free/car-light living, if they were still interested in doing so, Drover answered with a .
Ahh. Actually what he meant is that if you arrange your life and living locale to allow you a car free life, due to everything being within walking distances, your job could change and sudeenly your bus routes, mass transit, and bicycle wont' get you to that job and due to things like ease of sellingyou house or getting out of your rental contract, you wont' be able to pack up and move to a location that DOES allow you to be car free in teh new job. Or your job could simply go away and you hve to find a job, which in this day and ge is not so easy to do within your non-car-use radius.
And if you already use a car for a lot of things, you can't necessarily just up and move to a location that allows you to live car-free, as it's hard to sel your house/get out of your rental contract/find a place that takes your pets/has good school for you kids while still keeping the job you have. And mving to a new location that necessitates getting a new job isn't quite so easy, either, and doubly so if you have kids.
So his facepalm smiley was to really indicate his opinion about the platitudes (both stated and implied) of "it's easy for anyone to live car-free. If we can choose to do it, so can anyone" as well as a sort of judgemental attitude of "if we can do it, everyon SHOULD." And simply put, not everyone CAN live within walking distance of their jobs. Living car-free for everyone would mean greater population density in concentrated areas.
Quote:
Because I can't drive, this would mean that I'm screwed, and will have to go on welfare someday when the only job I can get requires a car.
Because I don't have the ability to drive now.
Why not? Seriuosly curious. Handicapped? Yes, what WILL you do if you couldn't move (sell your house/get out of a contract/afford housing within walking/mass transit of an available job) and the job you have gets outsourced, downsized, or the company goes belly up, and the only job you can find that will hire you requires finding personal transportation to it at a distance too far to walk or bicycle? Maybe you work for the government and that's not much of a possibility, but still...
I really doubt you would see thsoe raods based justo what truckig pays or what thsoe use ass tranpotatio pay.All that would do is shift the cost to toehr s tha those who own cars now.Its owuld alos reesult i less commerce and require more to prodcue what they need to live.I often lught when people who use mass tramnport do not realaise they in fact are all subsidised by others who don't they actually beleieve that the gorcer down the street can offer tham the same thing at the same prioces if cheap transport was not available.Most are in inner cities that rely more on roadways and transport than most in rural areas really. Otherwise they would starve.
As I said earlier, I'd actually love it if peopel who dont' like cars took mass transit or other methods and freed up the roads for the rest of us.
Unfortunately, unlike most European cities and tows, a lot of our westward expansion and creation of towns and cities has been done on the backs of personal transportation and wide open spaces, making for longer travel times between home/work/supplies. With a lot of modern towns being built around automotive use and truck transport, it becaem feasable to build things at distnces from each other that had previously been a day or two apart fr walking or horseback, as those distances got to an hour or less apart. Giving up the cars returns those hour distances to a day (how long does it take you to walk 60 miles? How long to drive it?) and that' sno longer feasable.
Of course our CHOICES to live and work at those distances makes owning a car a necesssity in order to accomplish that livestyle. But the fact that it was achoice to begin with means the car sint' actually a necessity. Youd simply have to choose to live and work and get supplies in a much smaller area (of course, then your costs of living could go up due to having to rent/buy more expensive property that is closer and more convenient to work/play/supplies, so total costs could still be a wash).
Persoanlly, I'm not giving up my choice to own drive cars, preferably unique and fun ones. I like the artistic exopression of a custom car. I like the freedom to come and go on my schedule, not a bus or train's schedule and change up where I go (or go to multiple unrelated locations) easily. Taking a bicycle or train or bus to a wide range of locations in one trip is difficult, time consuming, and often very nearly impossible.
Interesting approach to the topic. It's true that it's a conscious choice to live and work in different places; I work close to a light-rail, so if I lived on the same line, that would take care of a lot of my need to drive. On the other hand, the fact that I don't confine myself to that opens up my options. If I wanted to work at the quarry in Cupertino, or needed to work a graveyard shift in an area with no afterhours bus service, with a car, I could. Without, I wouldn't have that option.
Yes, what WILL you do if you couldn't move (sell your house/get out of a contract/afford housing within walking/mass transit of an available job) and the job you have gets outsourced, downsized, or the company goes belly up, and the only job you can find that will hire you requires finding personal transportation to it at a distance too far to walk or bicycle? Maybe you work for the government and that's not much of a possibility, but still...
I don't have the answers to these questions. Since my boss owns the building, it's unlikely he will move the office somewhere not transit accessible. If the company does cease to exist, there are some other employment options in the central business district, or I may use my entrepreneurial spirit and go into business for myself.
In Northern IL it is quite possible to get along without a car as long as your work and home are along the same Metra line. Even in some cases if they are not. Not only possible but in some cases faster. Stores and other amenities are usually within a few miles, easy bike riding distance. Also, I was in southern California recently and found the public transportation there better than expected. Did you know there are subways in LA?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
.
