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.
Personally, I'd love to be able to bike or take public transportation to work but it simply isn't feasable in my area. NE Ohio does not lend itself to winter biking, the bus is simply not reliable enough and we don't have trains/subways here. My job is very deadline oriented. Neither my Boss nor the client would accept "the bus was late" if I'm late and miss a deadline.
While I pretty much have to drive to work, my GF and I do walk quite a bit. Several of our favorite bars and restaurants are within a mile of our home as is our drug store and library. A grocery store is also being built within a mile of us. Very excited about that.
My GF is also able to car pool with someone close by. All this does cut down on our gas/car repair expenses.
I believe the mass transit system should be rebuilt. Every single American should have the option of walking to a convenient transit stop and using that to get to work, to shopping and entertainment. The cost of this should be through gasoline taxes on vehicles. If you want to drive your car you should be free to, and you should be free to pay $6.00 per gallon for gas.
So, buy a Chevy Volt, get $7,500 taxpayer rebate from Obama, and then don't pay your fair share of the mass transit gas taxes. Buy a Volt, and leech off the rest of us.
Mass transit only works for bigger cities, nor rural America, not in fly-over country.
I agree 110%. However, I also live in Chicago, which is one of the few US cities where owning a car is a convenience rather than a necessity. It is easy for me to live without a car. But it is not so easy for people who live in cities like Phoenix, Dallas and LA. They have no choice but to drive. People living today didn't create car culture. Car culture is the result of 100 years of awful urban planning.
Chicago has great public transportation and is very bike friendly. My sister and her husband live there and are perfectly fine with one car between them.
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!
If there is one thing about this country that makes absolutely no sense are these stupid, lazy people who because they don't agree with others likes, and dislikes and opinions is to call them infantile names.
Somehow it makes them feel superior when in fact it achieves just the opposite affect..
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!
i agree. it wasn't until i went to continental europe on vacation that i realized how insanely FAT young american girls are. (men might be too, but as a heterosexual male that isn't what I notice.)
After seeing all these genetically average (but fit and sexy) girls riding around on bikes, and coming back to America and seeing girls of a similar build sporting an extra 20 or 30 lbs of fat, with muffin tops and doughy arms and fat faces stuffing themselves with McDonalds, i wanted to move to Europe.
Actually a buddy of mine married an Austrian girl, and she keeps complaining about how easy it is to become fat in the US. I blame it on our car culture too.
Sometime between 1880 and 1940 or so. A major change was destroying the light rail/trolly connections to make owning automobiles more important.
Rail travel to small towns was actually still possible through the early 1960s, though the railroads started to close some of the smaller town stops in the 1950s. All US mail was transported on passenger trains through the 1960s.
We have 6 cars for 2 1/2 drivers (oldest son has his learner's permit). One car is out of service and will be sold soon, so it's really more like 5 cars. We're looking to add another, but may sell one to make that happen.
Nothing represents freedom like a car. You can climb into this wonderful machine and transport yourself anywhere a road can take you (and depending on the vehicle, places where there are no roads) in comfort and safety. If it's too cold, you can turn on the heater. If it's too hot, the air conditioner keeps you cool.
And on top of that, driving is fun!
As for exercise, there are a million other ways to do that. That excuse for being anti-car is simply flat-out stupid. If you want to bike to work, go for it - I hope you enjoy that as much as I enjoy driving my car. You don't have the right to complain about my chosen mode of transportation, though.
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!
???
You are seriously trying to blame obesity on people driving cars?
We have 6 cars for 2 1/2 drivers (oldest son has his learner's permit). One car is out of service and will be sold soon, so it's really more like 5 cars. We're looking to add another, but may sell one to make that happen.
6 cars! Wow, congratulations! Gas times 6 plus 6 insurance policies, plus maintenance times 6, impressive! You are a financial genius!
You are seriously trying to blame obesity on people driving cars?
Something has gone wrong alright.
It absolutely contributes. The dependence on the car limits the amount of exercise people get day-to-day. When people balk about walking a half-mile to the store, it's gotten really bad. Back in the 50s when people walked places, you didn't see the level of obesity you do now. I think it's definitely one of the contributing factors.
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.
