RE: Need To Drive Autos?

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RE: Need To Drive Autos? - 11/2/2009 9:48:53 AM

sirsholly

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we are in the middle of nowhere. our cars are necessary.

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RE: Need To Drive Autos? - 11/2/2009 11:42:38 AM

submittous

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We are Americans, we have lived primarily in the West, in cities and in rural environs. We have always owned and used cars and trucks (even our bus!). Our prejudice would be that having a vehicle is positive for a better lifestyle. However our observation of live here in Mexico is counter to that. When we first started travelling and living in Mexico we would note that most smaller villages on the coast had a handful of taxi's, a few pick up trucks, tons of bicycles and was serviced by many excellent bus lines. People shared the pick ups for things needed but everyone used public transportation and it was good, fast and cheap. Today going back to those same places we find every family has a couple of vehilces, there are no taxi's to be found, the bus service is terrible and expensive. Additionally there is no place to park since the towns were designed for walking and carts. Now the people in those villages NEED a car since they can't get around with public transportation like they used to and we are putting millions more tons of CO2 and exhaust into the air for the same result. The quality of life for the people of these towns is not made better by the now neccessary cars and they are a financial burden.

We don't see how to reverse this trend, we imagine the same thing is going on around the world, Mexico's small 100 million person population is an example .... adding millions of cars to othe economy is good business for Pemex and the manufacturers but in the long run will bankrupt humanity. If the same thing goes on in India and China that will mean billions more cars and pollution and the only winners are businesses who make money in the short run from this inefficiency.

We have a truck and a car because the local transit systems have been dismantled and they are neccessary to our style of life, it is interesting to note that all of the older ex-pats here bemoan this situation and wish for the old days (20 years ago) when they came here and didn't have cars.

The locals are all proud to own cars and know how to drive (if that is an accurate way to describe first generation drivers) but the reality is they are poorer for the cars and life is harder.

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RE: Need To Drive Autos? - 11/4/2009 6:27:43 AM

OneMoreWaste

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I'm at a loss as to how a homeowner can be without a functioning vehicle. I'm a fairly strong guy, but if I had to haul a few 4 x 8 sheets of drywall home on my bicycle I'd be fucked.

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RE: Need To Drive Autos? - 11/4/2009 9:57:16 AM

Termyn8or

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FR

It was years ago I believe that the last of the streetcar tracks were paved over in this city. Thinking about it and the mopney game, many alternatives have been removed. My Father told me that a while back, GM was instrumental in pretty much destroying the options, even working against the railroad system. Why ? For money.

They made themselves a tidy sum over the years. First they made the public fall in love with cars by making them exciting. They were. Those 400 HP engines were alot of fun. Now you are lucky to get a car that is "peppy", but what are the alternatives ? A car with a payment bigger than a mortgage ? Totally unexciting, at least to me. My car had quarter inch tubes feeding so much fuel into the back barrels that without the air cleaner installed it would slpash all over the place. I didn't care, I never gave the waste involved a second thought. And now not even a week ago it cost me $45 to fill the puny tank on my Jimmy, which I refuse to call a truck. I agree that if it can't handle a 4X8 sheet of plywood it is not a truck.

You need these things as a homeowner, and they generally guzzle gas, but just for running around we now get into our little peppy cars and fight traffic.

While we enjoy the benefits of personal transportation, conditions are also in effect. Many of the alternatives have been removed. Public transportation is dismantled all the time, and new roads are built. And I am not sure what else is going on, but train fare is about as much as plane fare now. The old way is all but forgotten.

Things were different. When the railroads got greedy and started price fixing the government stepped in with the Sherman Antitrust act. This was vital, it seemed. Now the law is misapplied at best. Using it to cripple ATT was a farce, they emerged stronger and probably richer in the process. It is now all about money.

I used to take a cab to work, I think I wound up paying about six bucks plus the usual tip to get there. Care to venture a guess what it would cost now ? So the question become one of influence. Did they goad us into accepting this luxury, which of course seems to get more and more expensive as time goes by ? Or did we speak in the loudest voice possible, which is with our dollars ? Or maybe a bit of both.

Perhaps this is an important component of the OP's question. How much of this was shoved down our throat and how much did we want ? I enjoy my drive home from work. Nobody talks to me, and I can play any music I want, even Alvin And The Chipmunks. (I don't but I could). On the other hand at one time I took the bus home, and I could catch a little nap on the way because it was quite far away. Half dozen of one, six of another. It was 23 miles to work, that's pretty much a gallon of gas in a well tuned car that is not a land yacht. Bus fare was about three bucks at the time.

Interesting though, the bus routes upon which I depended to get to work have been discontinued. (some, enough so that easy connections can't be made) However there were quite a few days when I was the only one on the bus. Not being a dummy I got the hint that this convenience was not going to last forever. On the other hand, why would I need to ride a bus that has a gas tank the size of an olympic swimming pool ? I could've been in a Pinto.

And not to mention that in some parts of this area, public transportation is near impossible to implement. With the way the built certain roads and layed out new developments, it seems they are causing the problem. Hell there are alot of places in the east suburbs where I simply refuse to drive. Some of the roads simply are too small to drive a bus as well. Who's fault might that be ?

No matter what luxuries we enjoy, it seems they eventually become necessities. Is that "our" fault or "their's" ? Think of running water and sewers, piped in gas all that. Even that wasn't enough. Phone lines. Uncle Ano out in Utah got a phone free off the government. Live(d) in a trailer with coal heat. I got videotape. They are talking and when asked "Does it ever ring ?" he answered yes. Did he pick it up ? No. Had no use for the thing. Now it's not just phones, we need internet, and now that the FCC made it so, cable is mandatory for quite a few people who want to watch TV. Back then you just put an antenna on the roof. Now it is not quite that simple.

Did we want that ?

Sorry to pose a question within a question, but I think it needs to be addressed. Who called for this ? We The People or they, those who make the money ?

T

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RE: Need To Drive Autos? - 11/4/2009 10:03:37 AM

pahunkboy

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Gosh I am glad my car works. Back in the 90s I was always breaking down. The car had crush blue velvet seats and was heavenly to sit in. But to drive it- that was another matter.

I bummed rides off of others to get to work. It might have been ok once in a while- but I was broken down often.

So- I am glad now that I am an old fart that my car works. It is not new - but it also is not a car to be junked.

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RE: Need To Drive Autos? - 11/4/2009 10:04:28 AM

Moonhead

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There are a few American cities that look like they'd be pretty much unlivable if you don't drive and own a car. Los Angeles is probably the most obvious example, and I'm told there's a load more in California and Texas.

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RE: Need To Drive Autos? - 11/4/2009 11:45:31 AM

pyroaquatic

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I do not have a car, nor do I even have my license.

I realize that I need both of those things AND insurance to get me from here to where I want to be but with this one job I have it is not enough. No way in Hades. It is a vicious cycle that I am quite used to by now.

To get a decent job you need a car. To get a car you need a decent job.

I've done the bus thing. As someone stated before it is like a part time job that does not pay.

Bus: 2 Hour trip, two transfers...
Work: 8 to ten hours...
Bus:2 Hour trip, two transfers...

and this was in ohio. Damn you ohio I want my soul back. Give my illusioned state back.

I walk around this town, putting my applications in every where I could. To no avail, none are hiring. I thought that since school is back that getting another job would be easier.

NOPE. Guess again.

As a plus... to not having a car...

I can't put any points on my license.

A positive is in there somewhere.

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RE: Need To Drive Autos? - 11/4/2009 2:14:28 PM

rulemylife

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Termyn8or

It was years ago I believe that the last of the streetcar tracks were paved over in this city.

What are you talking about?

Heard of the Rapid? What would you call that if not a streetcar?

Visit the East Side once in a while.

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RE: Need To Drive Autos? - 11/4/2009 11:55:52 PM

Termyn8or

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I know about the rapid. But it still is not the same as having streecars. I am talking about when I was a kid I actually saw some of them tracks. They used to pave right up to them like some railroad crossings. They might be still down there, under layer upon layer of blacktop or whatever. At least in some places.

And if you want to talk about Cleveland, the changes are right here. The Euclid corridor is the biggest nosebleed in town. They keep on merging buslines and eliminating others. Transportation used to run 24/7 in this city, despite the glib rumors about us rolling up the sidewalks at eight PM. The rumors have stopped, but now they seem to be true.

I used to take a 43F the wrong way to get to work. Time was money. It took me almost to the door. The route is normally considered an inbound route so it took the streets into town, but I was going away from town so it took the highway. Good for me. After all if you want the bus to pick up people there and bring them here, of course you must bring the bus there. For some reason, the eastbound run was shut down. I have no doubt that the westbound run still existed, and the bus still had to go there. But they would no longer take riders.

When I wasn't driving, at that point I had to find a ride to work, I could still get home but needed a ride to the stop to get on the 39F. So someone had to drive approximately 46 miles every day, well every work day. How is that helping anything ?

Or now is it practical to ride a bicycle 23 miles to work ? In the snow belt almost.

But then what would people do about 100 and some years ago ? Move there ? I did consider it. This was a very good job, and really if I ever agreed to move there I would have an absolutely bulletproof job for life, with decent pay. But to leave my home ? I stayed in town. While I do not regret that decision, I have considered whether it was best for me. Sometimes I wonder.

Other solutions in the past included moving near work, even temporarily. Mining companies built small towns just for that purpose, but fucked it all up due to greed. The major untreated addiction in the world throughout time. Others could pitch a tent. Do something. find a rooming house. All kinds of solutions.

What I wound up doing was to trade jobs with someone else who can do the job. His one way trip to work went from about 25 miles to about 10. Mine went from 23 miles to 7. It worked. But that was a matter of luck, nobody can take something like that to the bank. It was a total fluke in a way.

And indeed what of the people who literally live twenty miles from nowhere ?

So then it is our choice to imbibe in these new "advances" ?.

That is my conclusion de jure.

T

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RE: Need To Drive Autos? - 11/5/2009 6:34:17 AM

einstien5201

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I live across the street from my job. There are three grocery stores within a half-hour walk of my apartment. I could live without a car, and in fact my family's one car is rarely used. But I'd say that for most of the population of Colorado, this would be absolutely impossible. We won't give up our car, either. Our nearest family lives a hundred miles away, and that's not a trip I'm going to subject my pregnant wife to on a bike.

When I was younger, I routinely did without a car. But I was willing to walk 11 miles home from work if I missed the last bus. Getting home at 4am wasn't fun, but it was neccesary, and I couldn't afford one of the damn things.

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