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.
When I stop at a red light and I am next to a CAT bus, I look inside. At night it is all lit up inside and you can see the garbage that rides those buses.
What woman by herself would get on that bus? What man would for that matter? One can argue the stereotype that rides a bus all one wants but I know what I see and it is scary.
Back in the mid 70s there was a rash of bus driver slashings. Anyone remember that back in NYC? They caught the slasher but it continued. After half a dozen bus driver slashing incidents the oinkers learned it was copy cats. They ended up catching 3 slashers. They would just walk on a bus, after it started moving, they would slash their throats.
Us kids also used to take the subway to Shea Stadium a couple times a week during our summer vacation. In those days it was almost all day games. The things we saw during those subway rides I can write a book on it.
Mass transit is no place for normal people.
Wow, just when I thought I had read it all. Just. Wow.
Actually, my perfect home would be a nice two-flat on the street that I currently that I own completely instead of rent (that way I could choose my upstairs neighbor myself), but this comes awfully close. I have no desire for a house out in the country or suburbs (I hate maintaining a house and loathe yard work except for a small garden) and I love my neighborhood, loving living around other interesting people, I hope that I am able to spend many more years here (I've lived in Chicago proper since 1992, with three year hiatus to a small town in which I discovered I did not like small towns).
As for the comment about mass transit not being for normal people? I don't even know where to begin with that.
Perfect? I don't know. I know the question wasn't directed at me, but to a fellow Chicagoan, but I feel compelled to respond. I don't love the idea of living in a city forever. I mean, there are certainly drawbacks.
Still, do I like being able to walk down the block and get a sandwich or a cup of coffee? Do I like having a movie theatre 3 blocks from my place? Do I like leisurely strolls through parks and watching kids play and families eat ice cream together? Do I like being able to walk a hundred yards from my apartment, jump on a train, and go anywhere in the city (or transfer to the Metra and go all over the metro area? Or to O'Hare or Midway and go anywhere in the world?) To be able to see live bands without having to drive to some joint, find parking, etc?
Yeah, I like all of those things. And all of those things are indicative of my neighborhood. All cities are not urban jungles filled with crime and fear.
I travel a lot. Some is for work, and some is just for the heck of it since I like traveling and can work from anywhere. When I spend time in a lot of non-urban parts of the country, I do see a freedom from fear and suspicion. I see an abundance of it. I can ride the el and say "no big deal" when someone's acting a little crazy. As for the "hands-off" approach that some people talk about, with people standing idly by while others are victimized, I've never seen that, either. Maybe Chicagoans are a different breed, but I've seen strangers step in to help strangers tons of times. I've seen a lot of comraderie.
Back to the topic of public transit, it is somehow strangely unifying. Strangers inhabiting space together, albeit generally in silence, and dealing with the same delays and such. Comparing that to the rat-race I see on the expressways, with lots of cutting off and horns honking and such, I'd rather take the public transit. I know not everyone agrees, but let's all try a little perspective taking. I'll try to see to good things about living in the country (which I like!) or small towns (which I also like!) or suburbia (which.... has its plusses? I guess? ), and you can maybe try to see why living in a city has its perks.
Hey, I'll say it again. If nothing else, we're doing you a favor by taking up a little less space so you can sprawl out as much as you want (or, these days, as much as you can afford to support).
I guess it is just perception since I grew up in metro New York City mass transit was the way to go and we never owned a car until we moved to Florida. Lots of stigma attached to using transit including the perception it's for poor people only.It's funny because people won't ride a bus but somehow they endure being on a plane for hours and pay hundreds of dollars for it! Isn't that a form of "mass transit"?
When I stop at a red light and I am next to a CAT bus, I look inside. At night it is all lit up inside and you can see the garbage that rides those buses.
What woman by herself would get on that bus? What man would for that matter? One can argue the stereotype that rides a bus all one wants but I know what I see and it is scary.
Back in the mid 70s there was a rash of bus driver slashings. Anyone remember that back in NYC? They caught the slasher but it continued. After half a dozen bus driver slashing incidents the oinkers learned it was copy cats. They ended up catching 3 slashers. They would just walk on a bus, after it started moving, they would slash their throats.
Us kids also used to take the subway to Shea Stadium a couple times a week during our summer vacation. In those days it was almost all day games. The things we saw during those subway rides I can write a book on it.
Mass transit is no place for normal people.
Inside the Washington Metro system is one of the safest places in the city. It's all a question of management. Good management = safe efficient system.
About eight hundred thousand people a day ride the Washington Metro. Many are affluent white collar workers who value their time.
I don't mind using public money to "create" mass PUBLIC transit systems but I will be angry if they use public money to "maintain" mass public transit systems. The people who USE the system should be charged a fare that is needed to maintain the system. I won't tax people who don't use the system but I will tax them to create the system. There is a major difference in that, IMO.
There is a referendum on our local ballot today to continue a levy to support the local bus service. As a stand alone service, it does not support itself.
The majority of the ridership falls during the late mornings and early afternoons when the elderly, handicapped or otherwise disadvantaged get to medical facilities, shopping or 'out and about' in general.
Apparently the levy has passed many times over several decades, and I think that is a GOOD thing.
It's not bad to have a community offer support to those that are less fortunate, and the levy being passed by the voters themselves reinforces that sentiment.
I take a private mass transit bus every day. Far cheaper than drivng, parking and acidents. when i lived in NYC I took the bus, ferry and subway. Never had any problems. When I retire I expect to take a pick up truck or motorcycle until I need a wheelchair.
Use what is available wherever you are.
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.
), and you can maybe try to see why living in a city has its perks. 