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Having lived in both, the car only world for 22 years and the public transit only for 12 I would EASILY take public transit over going back to doing everything with a car. I just feel a lot more freedom in the world not having to be tied down to a car and worrying/paying for it.
Maybe if you actually paid your fair share of public transportation you would think differently. Why should car drivers pay for their cars and for YOUR public transit?
It seems like one of the big minuses of cars is cost, but public transit would be a minus too on cost if riders actually paid for their fair share.
Public transit works best when density makes driving and parking a bigger hassle than taking a bus or train. Trying to make it work in areas built for cars is hard to rationalize.
Maybe if you actually paid your fair share of public transportation you would think differently. Why should car drivers pay for their cars and for YOUR public transit?
It seems like one of the big minuses of cars is cost, but public transit would be a minus too on cost if riders actually paid for their fair share.
you do realize that you can't cherry-pick where your taxes go, right? Public transit users also pay taxes that subsidize gasoline and oil costs, roads, car company subsidies, airplane subsidies etc. My federal taxes still get divvied up to pay for expressways in Georgia and Alaska or a tax break to make cars in Michigan and South Carolina even though the likelihood of me driving on those expressways or owning a car from those locations is likely close to zero.
Prefer a less car centric environment ; used to cycle virtually everywhere, but now I live around between more open spaces in several locales. Am a slave to the car more than I would like. FWI, there are places in Denver where people actually walk, cycle practically everywhere.
I'd rather live in Minneapolis but prefer cities where I can use public transportation and that is also the main mode of transportation.
You used 3 cities that have fairly capable public transit though for your "drive" cities, which I found odd...
Most cities have public transportation options, but in those 3 paticular cities the majority of people drive and do not utilize public transportation...certainly not to the extent of NYC, Chicago, San Fran or Boston.
There should be a third option: combo of both. I'd love to take the train/bus to work sometimes, but I definitely don't like living in high density areas. Took a trip to New York last summer and I just couldn't get used to the fact that there were people EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME. I enjoyed living back home in Texas where it got quieter at night, and there was space between me and my neighbors. My ideal way to commute to work would be a <10 mile trip to a rail station, and then taking the train to my work area. I do enjoy the fun of downtown, but at the end of the day I'd like to go back to quiet suburbia.
I choose based on the city choices. I imagine outside of CD these results could be very different given the question
I prefer the cities listed because what they offer, guess PT is part of that but not to me the sole reason by any means (I have a car and also take PT from time to time, walk or taxi more frequentyl in my home town but will use PT to get further when it works for what I am doing)
I'd rather live in Minneapolis but prefer cities where I can use public transportation and that is also the main mode of transportation.
You used 3 cities that have fairly capable public transit though for your "drive" cities, which I found odd...
Well, Atlanta may have a capable public transit, but it's not extensive enough. The rail lines of MARTA extend to just outside the Perimeter, and 90% of the Atlanta metro lives outside the Perimeter. It's great if you need to go downtown, to watch a Falcons game, or to the airport, but anywhere else you're better off driving, even with the terrible traffic, because the buses have to sit in it too. And you'd still have to drive to a transit station.
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you do realize that you can't cherry-pick where your taxes go, right? Public transit users also pay taxes that subsidize gasoline and oil costs, roads, car company subsidies, airplane subsidies etc. My federal taxes still get divvied up to pay for expressways in Georgia and Alaska or a tax break to make cars in Michigan and South Carolina even though the likelihood of me driving on those expressways or owning a car from those locations is likely close to zero.
