Commute Update
I continue to search for ways to refine my commute; not so much make it shorter in fact I don't mind if its a bit longer, but to find safer routes. Most of my close calls occur in ugly town, the stretch of 5 lane road lined with auto shops and no bike lanes. On my ride home I take a detour through some suburbs to avoid most of ugly town, but the suburbs aren't completely safe either. In Bellingham everyone parks on the road. I mean everyone. This time of year, when people stop using headlights it becomes real difficult to tell which cars are moving and which are parked, I've really got to be cautious about it.
It just continues to surprise me how the automotive culture just drains one's quality of life. When I'm locking up my bike at work I often watch the people driving in, estimating the thousands of dollars they have paid for their vehicles, observing their expanding wastelines and I wonder wheres the benefit? Surely these people are aware of our global climate situation, so that aside where do they get off on the lifestyle? The car drivers whine about traffic even more than I do, but don't they see the solution is slapping them in the face?
Why do people feel ashamed to walk? To bike? To take the bus? Has the auto culture so permeated our society that it now controls the way people think, and if so who serves to benefit from this thought control?
If I were to have my wish fulfilled it would be this: Dense walkable cities built primarily around cycling and walking in which the main role of the automobile would be for transporting goods, not people. Extensive rail and bus systems could take people anywhere they didn't want to bike such as far off cities and sights. Since parking lots occupy 30% of city space (nevermind the roads themselves), and you can fit 12 bikes in one car parking spot, my dense cities would actually be largely made of vegitation. Imagine, a quiet, clean community in which people could easily walk down to the grocery store, bike to work or school, and have clean air to breath and green forests to enjoy. Its not hard to stay healthy when exercise is just a part of your life. Yet, to car obsessed America this is unreasonable. Well, if my wish is extreme then label me a freakin extremist!
I keep thinking of the last scene in the move "The Matrix" where Neo tells the machines something to the tune of, "I'm going to show them a world without restraints, without controls. I'm going to show them a world without you." While I'm no Neo, it sure would be nice if someone could fill that roll and bring in a little reason to the problem.
Well its late, and I'm hopping on the bike in about 6 hours so I'd better get some ZZZZs.
It just continues to surprise me how the automotive culture just drains one's quality of life. When I'm locking up my bike at work I often watch the people driving in, estimating the thousands of dollars they have paid for their vehicles, observing their expanding wastelines and I wonder wheres the benefit? Surely these people are aware of our global climate situation, so that aside where do they get off on the lifestyle? The car drivers whine about traffic even more than I do, but don't they see the solution is slapping them in the face?
Why do people feel ashamed to walk? To bike? To take the bus? Has the auto culture so permeated our society that it now controls the way people think, and if so who serves to benefit from this thought control?
If I were to have my wish fulfilled it would be this: Dense walkable cities built primarily around cycling and walking in which the main role of the automobile would be for transporting goods, not people. Extensive rail and bus systems could take people anywhere they didn't want to bike such as far off cities and sights. Since parking lots occupy 30% of city space (nevermind the roads themselves), and you can fit 12 bikes in one car parking spot, my dense cities would actually be largely made of vegitation. Imagine, a quiet, clean community in which people could easily walk down to the grocery store, bike to work or school, and have clean air to breath and green forests to enjoy. Its not hard to stay healthy when exercise is just a part of your life. Yet, to car obsessed America this is unreasonable. Well, if my wish is extreme then label me a freakin extremist!
I keep thinking of the last scene in the move "The Matrix" where Neo tells the machines something to the tune of, "I'm going to show them a world without restraints, without controls. I'm going to show them a world without you." While I'm no Neo, it sure would be nice if someone could fill that roll and bring in a little reason to the problem.
Well its late, and I'm hopping on the bike in about 6 hours so I'd better get some ZZZZs.
Labels: Commuting
posted by Joel at
11:58 PM
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