Post #255,377
5/13/06 7:58:38 PM
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Baloney
For lots of Americans, it would be cheaper to live close to work. Oh wait, they couldn't have their 3,000 sq ft McMansions on the postage-stamp lot for the same price closer in to downtown. Sure, they could get a lovely 2,000 sq ft Victorian with hardwood floors, leaded glass built-ins in the dining room, plaster walls, oak woodwork, right on a bus line to downtown for less than half the cost, but they'd have to live next to those people.
In my one and only job where I actually worked downtown, I drove 4 miles to the train station, then rode downtown, after which I walked the final 6 blocks, in all weather, for over a dozen years. Since then, I've lived in one suburb and worked in another. In NONE of these situations could I have taken bus routes and made it to work in less than 2 hours ONE WAY assuming a perfectly met schedule every day. And my wife would not accept moving away from exemplery school systems into towns with lower quality school systems just to shorten my commute. Right now I drive 2/3 of the way to downtown, then head back away for several miles. This is the fastest and most direct way of getting there - and I average 1 hour each way at the beginning of "rush hour" in both the morning and afternoon. With the way Americans are getting laid off right and left every day, no one can plan on having one job downtown, followed by their next one being downtown also. lincoln
"Chicago to my mind was the only place to be. ... I above all liked the city because it was filled with people all a-bustle, and the clatter of hooves and carriages, and with delivery wagons and drays and peddlers and the boom and clank of freight trains. And when those black clouds came sailing in from the west, pouring thunderstorms upon us so that you couldn't hear the cries or curses of humankind, I liked that best of all. Chicago could stand up to the worst God had to offer. I understood why it was built--a place for trade, of course, with railroads and ships and so on, but mostly to give all of us a magnitude of defiance that is not provided by one house on the plains. And the plains is where those storms come from." -- E.L. Doctorow
Never apply a Star Trek solution to a Babylon 5 problem.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the United States.
[link|mailto:bconnors@ev1.net|contact me]
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Post #255,475
5/15/06 9:07:50 AM
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You just proved my point
And my wife would not accept moving away from exemplery school systems into towns with lower quality school systems just to shorten my commute. So there are houses closer to downtown. With the way Americans are getting laid off right and left every day, no one can plan on having one job downtown, followed by their next one being downtown also. And with the jobs having moved out to the suburbs, you're stuck commuting from suburb to suburb. That was my whole point. If all or most of the businesses were still downtown, you could plan on that. ===
Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats].
[link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
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Post #255,481
5/15/06 11:12:10 AM
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Your point was not easily discernible
Since the growth in jobs in any major US city has been in its ring suburbs or far collar suburbs for the past few decades, planning on having a job "downtown" has the odds against you. Living in the city in one of your old Victorian houses and commuting to the suburbs every day would accomplish ... what? It would still take time and gas to commute every day. Why would I want to do that? Ideally, I'd live and work in the same suburb, but that's pretty close to living in a fantasy world.
As it is, the two times I've worked in this area the companies have been located in a suburb and city where the schools are average and below average, compared to an exemplery rating for the schools where I live now. My job in the city is NOT located downtown, but is a good 15 miles away.
Moving closer to work was/is an option, but not a very smart one.
lincoln
"Chicago to my mind was the only place to be. ... I above all liked the city because it was filled with people all a-bustle, and the clatter of hooves and carriages, and with delivery wagons and drays and peddlers and the boom and clank of freight trains. And when those black clouds came sailing in from the west, pouring thunderstorms upon us so that you couldn't hear the cries or curses of humankind, I liked that best of all. Chicago could stand up to the worst God had to offer. I understood why it was built--a place for trade, of course, with railroads and ships and so on, but mostly to give all of us a magnitude of defiance that is not provided by one house on the plains. And the plains is where those storms come from." -- E.L. Doctorow
Never apply a Star Trek solution to a Babylon 5 problem.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the United States.
[link|mailto:bconnors@ev1.net|contact me]
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Post #255,488
5/15/06 11:41:58 AM
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I wasn't suggesting what we should do now
I was saying how we got to the untenable position we're currently in. You're absolutely right that there's no good solution. We got this way through our fanatical reliance on cars. We've been so determined to use our cars for everything that we've built a society that requires cars for everything. The big problems is that even if everyone suddenly agreed that sprawl is bad, how do you reverse it?
===
Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats].
[link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
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Post #255,494
5/15/06 12:04:24 PM
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Example of car "dependence"
When I was stationed in Germany. The building I worked in was located at the back of the kasern (post). The officer I worked for lived in officer housing across the street from the entrance to the kasern. She drove daily to work. Entire distance driven? .5 (half) a mile each way.
And she wasn't the only one doing so.
We, the enlisted, were either bussed (15 minute, 5 mile drive) or walked (1.5 mile using back streets).
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. (Herm Albright)
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Post #255,539
5/15/06 4:53:45 PM
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I'm not the only one seeing the cycle
[link|http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/dick_feagler/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1147509011181800.xml&coll=2|Feagler] (You'll need to enter a zip code, birth year and gender.) Things happen, and then they happen all over again.
We call it news and often put it on the front page. But news is always just an old story, recycled.
We write about the shortage of gas and oil and alternative fuels. We write about finding a new way to do away with gas-guzzling cars. It's the same stuff we were writing about in the '70s. Except now it's now, and now it's worse.
...
And now representatives of both political parties are braying the same song they brayed 30 years ago.
Thirty years ago.
In those 30 years, we have ignored alternative energy. We are still scrabbling for oil in the Middle East. No one from either party has freed us from oil. In the meantime, Brazil has figured out a way to run cars on fuel made from sugar cane. And we're left holding Splenda.
And now, it's Groundhog Day again. We have an oil crisis - again. The congressmen are talking about alternative fuels - AGAIN.
And nothing much is going to happen - AGAIN. There's one thing he's wrong about, though. Something is going to happen. We're going to pass some more laws to keep the price of gas down. We're going to build further out into the ... gosh I guess we'll need another name past "exurbs". Then we're going to bitch some more about the horrible commute. ===
Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link|http://DocHope.com|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats].
[link|http://DocHope.com|http://DocHope.com]
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Post #255,544
5/15/06 5:51:39 PM
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What is wrong with
That burb of New York called Los Angeles?
Or is that The burb of Los Angeles called New York.
Oh wait you are complaining about the Ferry, so it has to be the burb of Los Angeles called Honolulu.
-- [link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg], [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwetheyFreedom is not FREE. Yeah, but 10s of Trillions of US Dollars? SELECT * FROM scog WHERE ethics > 0;
0 rows returned.
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Post #255,545
5/15/06 5:58:06 PM
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It's all Iraq's fault.
[link|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_babel|Tower of Babel].
"Can't we all just speak the same language^w^w^w^wget along?"
Cheers,
Scott.
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