We are in an environmental crisis. There is no doubt about this, unless you happen to be one of those people who ignores scientific evidence and believes that fossils are the footprints of the devil.
As we have heard from news stories, public service announcements and Al Gore, the time has come for us to reduce our impact on the environment. A simple way to do this is to drive less (or not at all). I'd also like to think of driving less as an anti-war effort too.
I also live in NYC, as in the best public transit system in our entire country. Admittedly, DC and Boston have good metro transit as well, but NYC has got to be the best. After all, it is one system for everything and $2 gets you all the way from Coney Island to the Bronx and from the Lower East Side out to the Far Rockaways. You just can't beat it.
That's why it surprised me so much to be asked where someone could find parking in downtown Brooklyn. Are you kidding me? You are actually going to drive? There are 7 trains that go to downtown Brooklyn and more buses than I can even keep track of. Really, you have to drive?
I am challenging anyone who lives in a large enough city to have mass transit to use it. I promise you, it is not nearly as scary or difficult as it seems. After all, it was built for the masses. So get a move on already, grab your bus/train schedule and truck your way to where you need to go by bus/train/foot/streetcar/monorail. You'll do something good for the environment and you'll never have to worry about a parking space ever again.
P.S. I have heard complaints before about people not using their city's mass transit system because "it sucks" or "it doesn't go anywhere" or "it's inconvenient," which might very well be true. If you want your transit system to work, however, you need to use it. As a whole, cities normally won't spend money on things people are not using. So yes, it might suck for a bit, and yes, you may have to still use your car a bit to get around, but public transit is still worth it.
As we have heard from news stories, public service announcements and Al Gore, the time has come for us to reduce our impact on the environment. A simple way to do this is to drive less (or not at all). I'd also like to think of driving less as an anti-war effort too.
I also live in NYC, as in the best public transit system in our entire country. Admittedly, DC and Boston have good metro transit as well, but NYC has got to be the best. After all, it is one system for everything and $2 gets you all the way from Coney Island to the Bronx and from the Lower East Side out to the Far Rockaways. You just can't beat it.
That's why it surprised me so much to be asked where someone could find parking in downtown Brooklyn. Are you kidding me? You are actually going to drive? There are 7 trains that go to downtown Brooklyn and more buses than I can even keep track of. Really, you have to drive?
I am challenging anyone who lives in a large enough city to have mass transit to use it. I promise you, it is not nearly as scary or difficult as it seems. After all, it was built for the masses. So get a move on already, grab your bus/train schedule and truck your way to where you need to go by bus/train/foot/streetcar/monorail. You'll do something good for the environment and you'll never have to worry about a parking space ever again.
P.S. I have heard complaints before about people not using their city's mass transit system because "it sucks" or "it doesn't go anywhere" or "it's inconvenient," which might very well be true. If you want your transit system to work, however, you need to use it. As a whole, cities normally won't spend money on things people are not using. So yes, it might suck for a bit, and yes, you may have to still use your car a bit to get around, but public transit is still worth it.
That's a very good point you made about people having to use the system in order for more money to be spent on it.
Here in Florida, they veto every mass-transit bill that comes through. I live in Tampa Bay, which is a fairly large city, but doesn't have a very good transportation system. My boyfriend takes the bus sometimes from St. Petersburg to Tampa (a common commute) and sometimes he's the only person on the bus! Not only is it foolish for people to not take advantage of this availability, but it's tragic that all that gas is being used for one person.
Unfortunately, I live out in the suburbs, and it would take me about 2 hours to get to work if I took the bus. I would take public transportation if it were, say, an hour. In the car, it takes about 20 minutes.
However, I work on a university with mostly commuters, and so many people drive their cars to other buildings on campus! We have a 5-route shuttle system that takes you anywhere you would need to go, even the nearby shopping center. Even if I have to wait 20 minutes for a shuttle, it beats wasting the gas (not to mention, trying to find a parking space).
As I mentioned before, I really do understand the need people have for cars in cities where there is no mass transit. However, good for you for trying to be less car dependent!
I always felt that when I lived in cities where cars were the thing, it was hard to convince anyone to walk or bike to a destination. Just as you said with people driving to another building on campus, I have definitely been in the situation before where people want to drive what would be an easy 10 minute walk.
It really does suck to not have good public transportation. That was the reason I qualified my entry with saying that I lived in NYC. After all, it's easy for me to preach mass transit; not so easy for those who live in the suburbs or less developed cities.
Of course the great thing about having a car is that you can carpool...
Happy travels!
If I didn't live close to where I worked, I'd move. If there was no public transit, I wouldn't live there. I have a lot of trouble feeling sorry for people who sit in traffic for two hours a day. Yes, it's stressful. Yes, it's a huge waste of time. Yes, it's terrible for your pocketbook. Yes, it's destroying your ecosystem. It's not unfortunate, it's ludicrous. People choose this? So they can live in big ugly houses and hide from their neighbors? No way. We live in a crazy culture.
We do live in a crazy culture, and unfortunately people feel like they have to hide from the cities and their suburban neighbors. As it stands, America with all of its valuable and sparse landscape has developed the way that it has. Older and more progressive cities (New York and San Fran, respectively) developed in a different way than most newer or less progressive cities. I do believe, however, that as the environment becomes more of a priority, these cities will follow this better example.