Secretary of Transportation

[Sandy G]

I think it will be difficult as America is basically laid out for cars...Even in this dinky little town where I live, its a good quarter/half mile to the nearest store, & it IS walkable, but you gotta deal w/traffic, rudimentary/nonexistent sidewalks, who wants to fool w/that when its 90 degrees, or 30, or when its pouring, do I/can I carry groceries that far etc... European cities are walkable because at least the older parts were DESIGNED that way...And the rails for the old trolleys/innercity rail systems here were pulled up long ago.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

I think it will be difficult as America is basically laid out for cars...Even in this dinky little town where I live, its a good quarter/half mile to the nearest store, & it IS walkable, but you gotta deal w/traffic, rudimentary/nonexistent sidewalks, who wants to fool w/that when its 90 degrees, or 30, or when its pouring, do I/can I carry groceries that far etc... European cities are walkable because at least the older parts were DESIGNED that way...And the rails for the old trolleys/innercity rail systems here were pulled up long ago.

Well, around here it's about 100yds to a couple of resturant/beer joints, and around a 1/2 mi. hike to the 7-11. A couple of mile hike to the grocery store. And there's no such thing as a cab in this town.

We've got five vehicles. 3/4 ton van full of equipment, 3/4 ton FWD pickup which is always hooked to my debris trailer, my 1 ton "Sunday go to meetin" FWD pickup (the junk trailer will put a 1/2 ton's bumper on the ground when it's full), my wife's Vibe, and an old Blazer for her to drive when the weather gets rough...she has a 90 mile commute to the "Home for the Criminally Insane".

I suppose we could dispense with the Blazer and she could drive my pickup, but it gets 12 MPG, and I have to unload my equipment when she does it, so the Blazer makes sense. Besides, it's nice to have a spare.

The people who live in the cities in the East have no conception of what it's like down here in Dog Patch. Worse than that, they don't much care. They have an agenda, and they'll pound the square pegs into the round holes if it bankrupts half of the country.

Chas