The lack of Pedestrian culture in America

[Feng_Li]

Here are three articles by the same author I found very interesting. Freedom from the automobile is one of the things about living in Germany that I miss the most.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

There's plenty of people who ride public transportation daily. Most of them are those who can't afford a car, don't have one, don't have a drivers license, or have a car but can't afford to drive it. Fun fun.

 

[Viola]

I don't have a car. I walk everywhere usually because its easier to take a wire cart to the supermarket and walk the whole way there and back than it is to take even two bags of groceries on the bus.

-Viola

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

Wire car? Do tell.

Around here, it takes longer for the bus to arrive than it does to arrive at your destination. But it's improving.

 

[Viola]

Wire car? Do tell.

Around here, it takes longer for the bus to arrive than it does to arrive at your destination. But it's improving.

That's wire cart; you know, the collapsible metal wire shopping carts generally seen pushed around by old ladies. I am, apparently, an old lady in disguise. Now get off my lawn!

My main grocery stores are each at different spots on a five-mile radius from my house. With a cart you can carry back enough to be worthwhile; without it, I'd pretty much need to head out again as soon as I got home.

-Viola

 

[Feng_Li]

There's plenty of people who ride public transportation daily. Most of them are those who can't afford a car, don't have one, don't have a drivers license, or have a car but can't afford to drive it. Fun fun.

And that, unfortunately, seems to result in a social stigma against public transit.

 

[ShooShooBaby]

i live in a city where it's very, very easy to get around without a car. i bike almost everywhere i go, and take public transportation when i don't. i get very frustrated without my bike though - i can usually get places 15-30 min faster by bike than by bus/lightrail!

needless to say, i do a lot of walking, too.

and, uh, to tie this in with the golden era, i am fascinated by the amount of streetcar lines this city used to have. i can totally imagine where they went too, by the small bursts of storefronts here and there.

 

[AlanC]

There's a lot of American culture that is quite pedestrian.

 

[Lady Day]

Ive never driven.
I walk to everywhere, or take PT. Even as a teen I didnt have a need for a car. I have never been one to have to have a car. I hope I never do.

LD

 

[Dan G]

We didn't have public transportation in Sandpoint, buy without a drivers license, you quickly become an expert at catching the backs of hay trucks and cattle rigs.lol

 

[GoldLeaf]

I too, miss the wonderful public transportation available in Germany. A stop was about 5 minutes from my family's apartment, and we could be downtown in less time than it would take us to drive and park. It was so easy to get just about anywhere.

The small town in rural upstate New York that I grew up in was about 15 miles from the closest "city". The only public transportation was the busses that ran in the city, nothing ventured out to the small villages scattered around the countryside. Cars were a must.

Now I live in a city, but the public transportation is a bit frightening to me. People get shot riding the city busses here. I also work in a small town that is only 22 miles from where I live, but it would take me 2 hours to get there by bus We could move closer to my job, but I don't really like small town life.

So, I have a car, and I curse it often. It is a good car, but we could do so much with the money we sink into the car payment and insurance every month.

The problem is that most of America isn't dense enough to promote efficient public transportation. Europe is much smaller and denser, making transportation cost and time efficient.

Part of my job as a community planner is to try to encourage development that is walkable and dense enough to support transit. Of course, not every place is suited to this kind of development. Some small, low-density towns will always remain that way. That is part of their identity and the identity of America. However, there has been a renewed interest in recent years in compact downtowns and the ability to walk. Downtowns that had been struggling are seeing revitalization. Chicago's downtown that had been nearly abandoned in favor of suburbs is becoming vibrant with people living and shopping down town again.

Not every place in America will be a good candidate for transit. At least, not until our population becomes so large that land is a true commodity and valued enough that the only place we have to go is up.

 

[Pilgrim]

For effective public transportation, you need population density, and you need towns and cities designed to provide that density at places proximate to the transportation access points. In the US, outside of major urban areas (and excluding Los Angeles), we have neither.

Pat Bedard wrote a very pertinent column in Car & Driver recently - based on years of living in Manhattan and using public transport, he made the point that most people will walk about 4 blocks willingly to get to public transport - after that, they look for alternatives.

The only place I've ever lived that had a shot at providing the needed density was Denver - but even so, they can't afford a bus system that covers all the extended neighborhoods. In Fort Collins (pop. @120K) where I live now, to get to a bus I'd have to walk a half-mile and then endure a 30 to 40 minute trip with one bus transfer - to go 4 miles. I can drive it in 10 minutes even when traffic's heavy, and bike it in 20 (although biking involves some major streets that I prefer to avoid).

Moreover, many Americans don't WANT to live in areas where population is concentrated in public transportation-friendly density. As a country, we clearly prefer single family homes, green lawns and elbow room. I don't see this changing in the near future.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Other than my six-month foray to the West Coast many years ago, I've never lived anywhere with public transportation -- but I've *always* lived within walking distance of everything, simply because I can't imagine living any other way. I walked to school, I've always walked or ridden my bike to work -- not to make any kind of a social/political/philosophical point, but because that's simply the way I was raised. Gas costs money, cars cost money, and money isn't something to waste. That was true when gas was 40 cents a gallon, and it's even more so when it's $3.15. I do own a car, and I do drive it when I need to leave town for one thing or another, but I try to buy and shop and live locally wherever possible. Because, to me, it's the only way that makes sense.

 

[dhermann1]

I don't have a car. I walk everywhere usually because its easier to take a wire cart to the supermarket and walk the whole way there and back than it is to take even two bags of groceries on the bus.

-Viola

Like Philly, New York is a pedestrian's city. I've read that people in cities like New York and Philly do a lot more walking than folks in western cities, and are thus less overweight. I accidentally rode 2 stops past my normal stop last night (nose in a book, also a pleasure of public transportation) and had a lovely walk through Brooklyn last night. Glorious! On a Satuirday evening (or any other evening) I can stroll down 5th Ave in Brooklyn and choose a restaurant. Then I can walk off the extra calories on the way home, and window shop along the way. A civilized way to live!

 

[Helen Troy]

I remember when I was ten, my family went to Orlando, Florida. I remember when we went out to eat at a pizza restaurant that was literary right across the street from the hotel. It felt very surreal when we had to drive there, as it would have been impossible to cross the street any other way!

 

[WideBrimm]

We didn't have public transportation in Sandpoint, buy without a drivers license, you quickly become an expert at catching the backs of hay trucks and cattle rigs.lol

I've seen bus stops in Billings, but never a bus!lol

 

[WideBrimm]

Metro Denver has probably the best public trans (bus & Light rail - even bike racks) system in the Rocky Mountain west, and yet it takes at least twice as long to get anywhere on PT as in the car. Frequency is a big problem. Who is going to wait an hour for a bus if you can jump in the car and be at your destination in 15 minutes? Biggest challenge as a pedestrian, however, is drivers who go "bowling for pedestrians" Just try crossing against motorists doing a left turn at the same time. You've got to run for your life!:rage:

Then there are bike paths. We've got lots of great ones. But then there are the idiot cyclists who insist on riding in the traffic lanes right next to a great bicycle path [huh]

 

[plain old dave]

You can't live in Knoxville without a car. The busses don't run past dusk this time of year,and they aren't too reliable as to schedule. The attitude hereabouts is:

"I've got a car. Why would I want to ride the bus?"

I've rode busses in Europe and the US, and given a choice I would never set foot on one again. Too slow and inconvient.

 

[Gary Crumrine]

Mrs. Crumrine and I are right at the cusp of retirement and beginning the search for our next home. State first (low taxes, clement weather, shall-issue, etc), then city. It should be a rather large city, because many of our interests require support from a pretty significant population base, but -- and this is where we segue into this thread -- we deeply appreciate a "walking city". That means, probably, a city whose bones were laid prior to the advent of the motorcar. San Francisco comes to mind, as do Houston and Miami and
a few cities (not all, due to weather considerations) on the east coast.

We currently live in a condominium less than ten minutes from the central business district. There is much joy, to our minds, in simply walking outside, turning right at the light, and following the aroma to Porto's bakery. Live theatre is nearby, and two bookstores are on the same block as the bakery. And all this without the difficulties of motorcars. Yes, I think a pedistrian city has much to recommend it.

 

[jamespowers]

Public transportation here stinks---literally. It can take hours to go from one city to the next---my brother-in-law does it. I know. Its ridiculous. The accomodations are dirty. The seats look like Freddy Kruger had his way with them and the drivers---polite is not the word. Think the bus driver from South Park. "Shut up and sit down.":rage:
The only pedestrian thing I am doing is walking to the corner to see if the mailman is coming. Otherwise, I am jumping into one of the six and taking off.
America has been a car culture since just about the inception of reliable and reasonably priced cars. After WWII, public transportation took a dive and they ripped out all the public transportation that actually was worth a damn around here. To put it back would cost billions---by their own estimates. :eusa_doh: Forget it. I'll drive because I know who would end up paying for it all---the man in the mirror.

Regards,

J