RSSDrivin’ Me Wild
We’ve built a way of life around our car. We’ve built strip malls with big parking lots, but not easy access to train stations. Major cities like New York or San Francisco have subways, trolleys, or major bus lines; but overall, we like our cars, and we aren’t willing to give them up, or plan alternatives.
For decades, “The American Dream” has included a backyard and a basement. Low gas prices made it possible to have a slice of land to call your own within commuting distance of the city where you worked. The prices of that land continued to go up, so recently we’ve seen the growth of the “exurb.” If a suburb can be defined by living about an hour commute from a city, an exurb can be defined as living around two to three hours away from the city.
But, all of this assumes, that transportation costs are low enough, if you’re willing to tough out the inconvenience, not to offset the price of land. We may see the day when transportation costs become too high, and people would rather work locally than drive to the city. We then may see every suburban area morph into the city it was meant to support. With a new paradigm of city living, we can look to Japan (or maybe even Star Wars ) to look for what our future may bring.
5 Comments, Comment or Ping
"A Mom"
I’m so use to driving, I even go to the corner market when I can surely walk. I was working out four to five times a week but now that I have been laid off from my job I’ve gotten lazy. The good thing about it is that I know I will be back and that I’m going thru some things. Knowing to me is getting better.
This car thing is bad. Gas is killing us with a lot to things we do.
[Reply]
Q.
i play both sides of the fence.. as a city kid, i grew up with public transportation.. so, i can deal with both.. sometimes in nyc, the trains are just horrible.. i’ve been driving a lot more recently (and complaining the entire time) and i don’t really like that either.. i’d rather just walk everywhere.. i’d rather just condense my way of life to a walking distance.. i’m working on that, but that comes with a heavy price..
then again i feel like NYC is trying to compete with gas prices, as the public transpo costs continue to rise higher and higher.. for what? i have no clue.. cuz the trains ain’t running any better..
[Reply]
*SB*
That was one of the reasons i decided to leave Cali…i felt that the public transportation system was whack and expensive. In DC as well as Ny its much cheaper although still whack! I really want to invest in a bike. I recently rode one for the first time in years and realized how much fun I was missing. They are convenient, gives you an exercise and you get aroud faster than if you were to walk. So you might catch me in the streets on a two-wheeler.
[Reply]
"A Mom" reply on June 3, 2008 2:57 pm:
I guess it’s all about habit The transportation in the city is not so bad. Where I live is right near city hall and in that area public transportation will take you anywhere in the city and the fare is only $1.50 plus you get a transfer that lasts about four hours. So I’m just a creature of habit.
[Reply]
Talisman
Love public transportation!
[Reply]
Reply to “Drivin’ Me Wild”
SEE ALSO
♦ Rob Mania - Drivin’ Me Wild Pt. 4
June 12, 2008
♦ Rob Mania - Drivin’ Me Wild Pt. 2
June 5, 2008
♦ Lag - Background Noise
June 14, 2008
♦ Lag - Native Lands
June 3, 2008
♦ Q - Anatomy of a Gangster Part 3
December 24, 2007