zlacker

>>amathe+(OP)
I've been railing against cars in the US for years and years. The thing is that today most people in the US under the age of 60 grew up in cars, usually in a suburban environment, and it's actually impossible for them to imagine what life without a car might even look like. It's like trying to describe a color. If we can't even visualize an alternative, how are we supposed to achieve the alternative?

Only by traveling to places that were developed before cars took a chokehold on the world can people realize how nice it is to live without them absolutely everywhere.

Many Americans get a taste of that when they vacation to Europe. They often choose to leave their suburb and spend their 2 weeks in urban environments like Barcelona, London, Munich, Paris, Rome, etc., that where built for people and not cars, because it's so pleasant to live like that, and because letting cities develop for people first leads to cities that people actually want to be in, with car-free streets, plazas, promenades, etc. (Yes, today those places are also full of cars. But, unlike American cities, their skeletons are people-first and cars are the invasive element.)

It could be argued that so many problems of American life - weight gain, loneliness, fracturing of the social fabric - stem from how we've isolated ourselves in unwalkable suburbs, where there's no spontaneous social interaction because everyone's always in a car, and where our only exercise is the walk from the parking lot to our desk.

What's depressing is visiting developing countries and seeing them start to ape the worst of American car life. Places like Colombia, which I visit often, are building shopping malls, big-box stores, parking lots, suburbs, and freeways, while after almost 100 years of that type of car-first development in America we're only just starting to realize that actually it might not be that great.

>>acabal+Zc
I live in a city which has horrible public transit. It’s the result of faddish idea after faddish idea.

The reforms and improvements have consistently made things worse.

Now the city is completely changing bus routes.

Maybe you’ll have a ride to work. Maybe not. Maybe it will be quick. Maybe not.

People’s entire lives are being rearranged.

The folks at the lowest level of importantance are folks who send their kids to private schools.

The municipality is like “not our problem - public schools offer free transit. You’re chosing to send your kid to a private school, you drive them yourself.”

Note how the city is telling people to use cars, not public transit, because the city doesnt endorse what they’re using it for.

And if you want to take a bus to church Sunday morning? Hahahahahah! There would probably be a lawsuit from church/state people.

Etc.

I simply don’t have confidence public transit will be there when I need it.

>>pyuser+vz1
Feels like you're taking reasonable prioritization personally. Over 90 percent of students attend public school:

https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=55

And private school attendance is mostly higher income families:

https://www.educationnext.org/who-goes-private-school-long-t...

Unfortunately public transportation resources are limited, but prioritizing the vast majority of lower income public school routes over the vast minority of higher income private school routes makes sense