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Some of the villages in the northern part of Luxembourg are still connected by rail to the world- Goebelsmuhle: Population :17. They have their own train station- less than one hour from Luxembourg City- From there, you can connect to just about any country in Europe.
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!
This true in most of the USA. But a person who doesn't want to drive can live in a metropolitan area such as NYC, San Francisco, etc. and never have to even learn how to drive a car.
This true in most of the USA. But a person who doesn't want to drive can live in a metropolitan area such as NYC, San Francisco, etc. and never have to even learn how to drive a car.
I'd be happy to live in one of the 10-20 places in the US where one can live comfortably without a car, but I would rather stay close to family. (not to mention the high demand for these kinds of places--since they are so rare in the US--makes them very expensive)
They were but never on the scale experienced after introduction of civil rights.
Knowing what happened to these neighborhood I don't think that white people moving out were racist: they simply wanted to avoid living in a ghetto. Wouldn't you, regardless what you skin color is/was?
Actually, most of the migration trailed off after 1970. the biggest migration was during World War II when lots of blacks moved to the cities to work in the defense industry.
In some circumstances I can understand it. But it was really racist to assume that when one black person moved to your block, the whole neighborhood was going to go to pot. And that racist fear was exploited by the real estate agents and bankers. The disinvestment in those neighborhoods is largely responsible for what they became.
Me, either. But I'll bet filling your gas tank hurts you just as much as me, whenever I fill 'er up. We both face far fewer alternatives than the folks in urban areas.
But that is not to say alternatives for us cannot be found or do not exist already.
Personally, I have the use of a horse any old time I want to ride one. I live in a town of 50,000; there was a time 30 years ago when I could, along with my friends, ride our horses out of the local stock yard and go whoop up downtown. And we did, on regular occasions. The local law here still gives horses the right of way over cars anywhere in town, too.
I'm not going to promote greater horse ownership within city limits, but this town functioned at 100% a century ago when there were no more than 2 cars in the county. My ancestors just put up with a different set of problems when they all kept horses in stables out in the back yard or down in the public stables.
The horse drawn vehicles of 1912 were at a technological peak that had started 2000 years before, and it's all still in easy researchable records. There is nothing at all to prevent using that technology and the horse again in all the places that are similar to our places.
Accommodations of all kinds to the needs of 21st century transportation will be met. I think it is possible that returning to the past may be included in some of the new solutions. For sure, a Shetland pony and a 21st century hi-tech cart would work fine and dandy for my needs 9/10ths of the time.
How much gas and what kind of power do you suppose it takes to feed that horse? I used to have horses too.
I have had pedal bikes and still have one. it's a cheap Mt Bike i got for free at a yard sale. It works ok... i don't use it much since there is no place to go.
When i want to ride for the hell of it i like to knock off about 200 miles in a day riding around my White Mountains with my wife on a Motorcycle that gets 42/46 MPG's..... Costs me what ever 3.1 gallons is that day.
In winter which is serious business in NH, no one other than a crazy person is going to ride a pedal bike and or a MC. I have never witnessed that yet in my life and i am 60.
If roads were not plowed horses would almost be useless in winter too. Back in the day the roads were rolled, which was how plowing was done for horses, sleighs and pungs.
In part horse are not and were not native to NH, or even modern horses to the North American Continent.
Pedal bikes are fun maybe for those people young enough to enjoy them. i used to, but not so much anymore. Maybe when I can man power one easy and go 70 MPH ..... let me know when that happens .
The point no one seems to get here is that the economy is already adapting. Single adults are getting a dollars-and-cents message that driving alone and on a whim is going to be increasingly expensive, neighborhoods in some large cities which are convenient to subway use are growing again, Los Angeles, capital of the auto-centric lifestyle, has been developing commuter-rail and some light-ralil/subway systems for over thirty years, And enough commitment has been made that a San Diego-Sacramento high-speed rail network will evolve, just as the Norfolk-Boston system did, but full development will take over fifty years, just as with its East Coast counterpart.
What we don't need is:
Youngsters who have yet to face alll the challenges of adulthood, let alone later life, deciding that everyone should ride a bicycle
Latter-day Luddites who, with the help of a few grandparents, try to turn back the clock without seeing that what worked then might not work now, often because of unlelated societal factors
Spoiled suburdan ditzes, who are all for progress --- until somebody convinces them that the iittle (often-imaginary) idyll in their back yard is threatened
And a clique of politicians trying to convince all three that they can have what they want -- if somebody else just surrenders more of their independence to Big Brother.
Ill pass, thank you --- and let the laws of the mrketplace, however hobbled, guide the choices.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 10-03-2012 at 11:44 AM..
We all know there are cars in Europe. But, in Europe, (and many other places throughout the world) one can choose to live without a car, and still live comfortably.
No, in my ideal Euro- hipster society, there will be light rail cutting through the Heartland- When I was in Luxembourg- the rail runs through farmland- You could live in a village of 1000 people and still commute by train to Luxembourg City
ROFL..they can't even get light rail working within cities.
In Austin there's the train to nowhere that no one rides
But what about connecting towns and cities in US which are closer to each other and densely populated. I will give you an example. In Texas, if you look at two metropolitan area Austin-Round Rock-san marcos and San Antonio-New Braunfels have 4 million people living in 80-90 miles stretch. every day thousands of people commute each way and the highway I-35 is choc-a-bloc with traffic. Can you tell me what logic prevents a commuter train between two metropolitan areas????People start giving example of wyoming and alaska but metropolitan areas where millions of people live, not having commuter rail/ light rail is retarded thought.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Glitch
You have to understand the history and demographics of Europe to comprehend why it works for them, and could never work for the US.
For example, every city, town, village in Europe is within spitting distance of another city, town, or village. They are packed together so closely that there is often less than a dozen miles between cities, towns, or villages. While Europe was building railroads between cities, towns, and villages, the US was building a trans-continental railroad across a vast wilderness. Instead of connecting towns and villages in the US, like in Europe, towns and villages sprang into existence because of the railroad in the US.
The only people pushing for more railroads in the US are Euro-centric anti-Americans.
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