tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post4468116286931492184..comments2024-02-01T04:37:41.878-05:00Comments on Cap'n Transit Rides Again: What people wantCap'n Transithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17057887736728828646noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-54792525747082423672011-09-16T21:58:35.786-04:002011-09-16T21:58:35.786-04:00I was walking in a neighborhood near mine yesterda...I was walking in a neighborhood near mine yesterday (unfortunately, my neighborhood is a little more sprawly, though still reasonably walkable), and I noticed the style of the houses of the street I was on (Union Avenue).<br /><br />This was the approximate location of where I was walking: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&sugexp=gsih&cp=35&gs_id=3n&xhr=t&q=300+Union+Avenue,+Staten+Island,+NY&qe=MzAwIFVuaW9uIEF2ZW51ZSwgU3RhdGVuIElzbGFuZCwgTlk&qesig=fwVSGgGz00Gpk2LLxP1Abg&pkc=AFgZ2tkBUR7l-0zuQONG6HFhk1XR8VxdBgaOFoH11HCty8_jWES-SJbxAhLGfJhKlXGhx4nignHAg1pYvTe4iIvbTmOFiCkCqA&biw=1280&bih=619&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&wrapid=tljp1316224277328052&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl<br /><br />If you notice, a lot of the older homes in that area don't have any parking next to the home, and street parking isn't too easy in the area. But you notice that those older homes are still reasonably large (they're not small like the rowhouses in Philly). Look at the street: It has a reasonable amount of trees and seems fairly quiet, but it's still possible to live there without a car.<br /><br />So this is one example of how you can give people what they want. Somebody might say "I want a bigger place to live, and I want a quiet, tree-lined street". They might think that they need to get a car and move out to the suburbs, but they could move to an area like this one and get that same environment without a car (this particular area has an undeserved bad reputation but the general layout of the area is what I'm showing)George Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15288033149559815848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-8931038459094557512010-04-25T13:35:32.394-04:002010-04-25T13:35:32.394-04:00I find myself wondering about the inherent bias to...I find myself wondering about the inherent bias toward owning rather than renting or sharing. <br /><br />It's built into the tax code--I get to deduct my property taxes and mortgage interest. There are policy reasons stated for this--for example I hear the idea of greater stability and attention to external maintenance if you own rather than rent.<br /><br />As new models emerge like Zipcar that enable the convenience of car USE without the ongoing expenses of car OWNERSHIP, maybe we'll see some shifts in this. Or to take it a step further, the Zimride model of ride-share matching through Facebook--all private owners willingly exchanging uses and needs.<br /><br />I wish my neighborhood (small houses close together within walking/biking distance of downtown and on a transit line) had a "big tool exchange" system whereby we don't all individually have to own a lawn mower, edger, hedge trimmer and all the other big, noisy accoutrements of lawn maintenance. 99% of the time we're not using these things so why couldn't someone else? But someone has to create, manage and fund such a system, as well as get everyone to change the psychological orientation toward ownership. That's a big job.<br /><br />This co-op mentality is probably practically communism to some, and American individualism gets in the way. Perhaps the up side of the economic downturn is that people won't be able to afford all the ownership they want and will have to look for other models.<br /><br />@BarbChamberlainBarb Chamberlainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09000768706045663322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-51263700708863137062010-04-18T00:28:29.333-04:002010-04-18T00:28:29.333-04:00A couple of points.
There are actually fewer good...A couple of points.<br /><br />There are actually fewer good apartment buildings/row houses in the US than people who would like to live in them. As a society we could help those people get what they want, and it would actually help people who want to live in a single-family home.<br /><br />Also, there are a lot of people who want more space because they don't have any. Back when I had my first apartment, one of my acquaintances said that she had never known anyone before who had had a whole apartment to themselves before. There are one bedroom apartments in my city with as many as ten people living in them.<br /><br />Most of these people cannot afford a car or they cannot afford decent housing because of the money they have to spend on their cars.Helen Bushnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14177708490995175178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-32990124180469390452010-04-13T18:01:33.483-04:002010-04-13T18:01:33.483-04:00Those are excellent points. I definitely want a bi...Those are excellent points. I definitely want a big capacity truck that I can haul my camping gear in and pull a boat with...but not enough to pay to drive one every day, or have one sitting around for those summer weekends that I can use it. We all makes these tradeoffs. It's just that I wonder how many people are conscious of them? In my town, people react with shock if you mention that you don't have a car. In their minds, there is NO alternative. Some of this mindset has got to stem from ignorance of the alternatives.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12735773174293220515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-74270917209556081972010-04-13T13:00:07.853-04:002010-04-13T13:00:07.853-04:00Great post. What about the idea that you can have ...Great post. What about the idea that you can have automobiles and auto-ways without traffic, that we can just continue to widen the BQE and Koszciuszko Bridge until that nirvana state is reached?<br /><br />I don't think there's anything particularly abhorrent about auto ownership; what I find abhorrent is the sense of complete entitlement to the streets, that Marty Markowitz thinks there's something wrong if the land under Brooklyn's streets isn't 100% consecrated to the automobile.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-65144663546343674962010-04-13T07:41:52.788-04:002010-04-13T07:41:52.788-04:00Here's the one that gets me: "I want tran...Here's the one that gets me: "I want transit-- but I want to live in a low-density community that developed during the automobile age. And I want to be able to take transit to the office park located off the highway, and to New York City. And don't raise my gas taxes to pay for it."Sillihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05806433366389639322noreply@blogger.com