One of the things on my mind a lot lately is the way I get from place to place in my daily life. I recently decided to return the vehicle I had been borrowing from my parents and learn to navigate the city by foot, bike, and bus.
The choice to be car free in a car-centric city is motivated by several factors:
* My parents would benefit from having their van back.
* I felt silly driving around in a large vehicle by myself.
* I can't afford my own car and feel I should get used to living without one.
* I want to live in a city where walking, biking, and public transportation are easy and common. By utilizing what infrastructure is currently available for these options and supporting other people who do the same, I hope to help further these interests.
*Not having a car means more exercise, a closer physical connection to the city, and more daily interaction with other people in my community. Health, civic, social benefits abound!
* Biking connects me to a whole new network of people with similar interests and new information to share.
I am excited about this change, but I know there will be times when I feel frustrated and discouraged. Already I've run into a few complications. It is cold and snowy and biking is more challenging and dangerous than usual. The city is spread out and some things just seem impossibly far away. But I'm doing it! I still sometimes need rides from people, but riding the bus to work in itself cuts down on my car time by a huge portion.
I'm looking forward to some serious biking adventures when the roads are cleared up a little better and I don't feel quite so ill!
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i think i will sell Saturn. I'm digging walking and taking the bus a lot! But I'm still afraid to bike because of cars, so I dunno.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's a little scary, but a lot of streets aren't too bad. My plan is to stick to lower-volume streets when I can. The buses have bike racks now, so I guess one could hop on the bus at the scarier parts. That of course only works if your ride matches up with the bus schedule. Let's bike or bus to Benson together when the weather gets nice! Beers!
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