Roody

Yes, it's a bleak picture in many areas. But low density development (AKA sprawl) will continue as long as cars are dominant, and cars will dominate as long as there is sprawl. It's a loop baby! It's hard to see what will break the loop, but it's going to be a complex solution involving tax codes, land use regulations, and changing real estate patterns as well as improvements in infrastructure and better public transit.

Around here we're seeing some infill development, but strong pushback against a BRT system that would help to tie all that development together. The next couple years is going to be very interesting!

wolfchild

Here in Canada a drivers license is a very important piece of ID. It also makes getting a job a lot easier...Then again, I also realize that some people are in no hurry to get a job because they are "too busy" to get a job and it's too much of a hassle to write a resume and apply for a job...The truth is that, there are no disadvantages to having a drivers license, it makes life easier.

1989Pre 

That wasn't my only point. I think we are seeing a lot of positive trends, all-around, toward an increased use of bicycles for commuting and utility. I am particularly pleased to see many individuals under the age of 30 becoming engaged in "alternative" lifestyle.
Look at all the "trends" that were once fringe activities and are now main-stream; yoga, organic foods and natural, preventive medicine. Love takes time.

Ekdog

Really? Which people are those? The idle rich?

Ekdog

What a cool word! It had me scurrying for my online dictionary:

Suburgatory: Life in the suburbs that is very layed [sic] back and boring.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/sub...37/Suburgatory

wahoonc

Hmmm... not MY definition! I consider the definition to be more of a paved purgatory with limited or no allowance for pedestrians or bicycles, not to mention lack of mass transit. Places where the front door of the store is 1/4 mile from the road across a parking lot. Stores are so far apart that walking is unpleasant, parking lots are isolated with no cut through for pedestrian or cyclists... and the list goes on.

FWIW there was a US television show by that name that ran for 3 seasons.

Aaron

Ekdog

To me that sounds more like hell than purgatory.

wahoonc

One bus stop shy of...

Aaron

I-Like-To-Bike

Voluntary Car Free Living and eschewing a Driver's License Free may be considered "mainstream" by people who consider themselves Ethical Dirtbags.

gerv 

I have one son who doesn't have a DL. He lives in Canada and gets around on a bus pass.

This morning I was at the grocery store and recall how 10 years ago I would be the only bike parked... this morning I couldn't get a place to lock up... I'm not sure who owns all the bikes. But it tells me there are a lot of people riding on this cold Sunday morning..

At work, we have the same problem... there is an issue with *some* of the bike being abandoned (I think one at my favorite lock-up spot...) but there are quite a few more just ordinary commuters who make the trip every day...

B. Carfree

Cool. Most of the time my bike is the only one in the rack at the stores I ride to and it makes me kind of sad. I take solace in the fact that there are always bikes in the racks at the stores I walk to. I walk to the ones that are closer to my house, so I live among people who ride, or at least ride more than is typical hereabouts.

B. Carfree

A couple of days back, the local newspaper's web page had three stories about roadway incidents. An 80-year-old who killed someone while driving the wrong way on the freeway four years ago had just died in prison (very difficult to do where he did it). A 77-year-old who went for a drive was found dead in a ditch he had driven into. Finally, a 76-year-old put a moped driver in the hospital when she violated his right-of-way and turned right into him.

These people are all older than us Boomers, but not by much. I fear this is only going to get worse. My fear is tempered only a small amount by my belief that we Boomers are better people than the generation that preceded us (but much, much worse than the ones that have followed us, imo).

Roody

The internet makes life easier--you don't get punched in the face for insulting my grandson. I'm done with you.

Machka 

Nice. Really nice.

Roody

I don't think elderly people keep driving because they're bad people. I think they often don't realize that they've lost their skills, or they're pretty much in denial about this sad state of affairs. They don't want to lose their independence--which wouldn't be an issue if we had better accommodations for non-auto travel in our communities.

Roody

You quoted me out of context, which is also not very nice. This guy is a big bully on the forum and I'm sick of his moronic insults. I'm just putting him on my Ignore list. Nobody needs to worry about it.

amos77

Here in Israel the prices (of cars and gas) are much higher than in the US and still the car sellings are just increasing every year (and so the traffic jams and accidents..).
On the other hand I see more people riding to work/school and much more people riding on weekends for fun.

Roody

I never understood why people drive so much in a small country like Israel. Do most people have long work commutes? Do they travel by car much outside the country? Is public transit really crappy?

amos77

I think the average work commute is about 45 minutes. Most of the work places are in the center of the country (Tel Aviv and around) but the apartments are very expensive so a lot of people have to drive from the suburbs.
The public transit is not much attractive here but in the last years there are a huge investments in this area.
I live in Jerusalem so my commute is hilly and not much people commuting here on bikes but in Tel Aviv (on the shore) about 15% of the transition is by bike.

Lucillle

I gave up my car because my hearing is poor and that led to a couple of near accident driving incidents. I am fortunate to have one of my sons who is very knowledgeable about biking so he helps with bike questions and issues. I have 3 cycles including the trike I use to get groceries.
Part of maintaining independence comes from an ability to make my own decisions- the number of people using cycles at the local grocery store is very small, but I do not let that stop me from doing it. And my grocery shopping bike is a Schwinn Meridian, bought at Walmart, and there is considerable anti Walmart bike sentiment here.

I do think that if smaller towns such as the one I live in had public transportation available there might be far fewer vehicles, but many small towns and large cities as well find themselves in financial crunches these days, and I'm thinking that might affect the initiation of public transportation services.

wahoonc

I also think part of the problem is that traveling by car is so ingrained in today's society that they feel they can't give it up.

My dad quit driving when his vision started going bad, mom quit after she was involved in a wreck. We kind of let her come to her own conclusion on that one, but the rest of the family had already decided she WASN'T going to be driving anymore.

Unfortunately options are limited. In the case of my parents, cycling is a no go, mom has never ridden a bicycle and dad can't see well enough to do so safely. Currently they are using GoGoGrandparent, which leverages Lyft and Uber for people without smart phones. Dad rides the city buses to get groceries and go to the Y to work out. For doctor appointments they use the para-transit, which unfortunately has been a bit hit or miss. There isn't a whole lot within walking distance of where they live anymore. When they moved to that area back in the mid 70's there was everything you could need within 3-4 blocks, dry grocer, butcher shop, bank, drug store, etc. Now it has all moved several miles out.

Mom walks, but can't do it for long distances due to a previous back injury. We borrowed a Segway for her to try, the jury is still out on that...



Aaron

Roody

Thanks, that's very interesting.

You know, the US is kind of the opposite. Housing is usually cheaper near the city centers, but a lot of people prefer living in the more expensive suburbs. Either way, you end up with people doing a lot more driving than they really need to or want to. It was such a mistake to place work sites so far from home sites--although it seemed like a good idea at the time.

(And yes, I do know that in some American cities the situation is more like Israel with expensive housing nearer the city centers.)

wahoonc

If they would divert some of the money they spend on automobile infrastructure to mass transit...

We had a bridal, pageant and formal wear shop in a small town of ~10,000. There was no mass transit, the town was only about 6 square miles and for the most part laid out on a grid, so getting around by bike is fairly easy. There were exactly 3 of us that rode bikes regularly to get places. They did a huge down town revitalization plan, and spent nearly $1.2 million... to add parking lots and make main street easier for cars to get down. Because people won't come downtown if they can't find parking. In addition they gave WM huge tax breaks to build a massive strip mall on the outskirts of town. Seven years later the tax breaks expired, WM wanted them extended, the city said no, so they closed up and moved 2 more miles down the road to a different town that gave them more tax breaks. We no longer have that shop, I was in the downtown area of that town the other day and there are fewer businesses there than when we were there, but they have added 4 new turn lanes out on the edge of town where the big box stores are.

Until people wake up, and zoning laws are put in place to stop "free parking", it will continue.

Nothing wrong with some of the WM bikes, just have to go over them with a fine tooth comb to make sure they are assembled correctly and have grease in the proper places. Some are better than others.


Aaron

Ekdog

Except that buying them helps to encourage this type of behavior :

Lucillle

Walmart moved its store because of a tax issue, not anything to do with buying bikes. There are some individual residents of my town that decided to move because property taxes are rising.