<p>And you will be the great decider of right and wrong?</p>
<p>No Barrons - you will be. And apparently your first decision is that it’s wrong for Hanna to have an opinion. ;)</p>
<p>That’s not a job I want. Hanna can have her big city lawyer gal on a bike look how good I am for the environment lifestyle. I have nothing for or against it, really. I used to live on Lake Shore Drive and Belmont and bus it to work myself. Now that I think about, I feel so virtuous. Was I a better person then?
I just can’t ride my bike 25 miles to work and feel fresh all over. Nobody wants to work with a big old sweaty guy. And my poor wife has had 13 knee surgeries and has no kneecaps–she does not ride so well and drives in with me. I guess I could get one of those little cart things you put the kids in and throw her in there.</p>
<p>Hey - take the chip off the shoulder, okay? Hanna’s point is simply that it’s foolish to think that you don’t have to consider how your choices affect everyone else. And Hanna thinks that you do consider those things, whether you want to admit it or not. </p>
<p>It’s just that sometimes we get blinders on about which actions we take actually affect others in a bad way, because, well, we’d just rather not think about it. Smoking is a classic example. Smokers don’t want to believe that their personal choice is anyone else’s business, so they don’t want to think about second hand smoke (or cigarette litter, for that matter.) But their decision to smoke actually creates a weight that others have to carry, whether the others want to or not. The principle holds true in many other situations as well - and yes, choices in transportation are definitely one of them. No one is going to put a gun to your head and make you get on a bike, but that doesn’t mean that planning new communities in ways that it’s not a Herculean feat to get groceries without getting in a car isn’t worth working on.</p>
<p>I’ve been catching up on all these posts! I’m still stuck back on the one about an hour and half to 2 hour commute each way to work! I can’t imagine. I whine about driving 15 min to the mall–so will only go once a month or less. </p>
<p>My D. is spending summer in DC—I say DC, but she is living in a suburb. She thought it would be so exciting and wonderful, but has found that it is just too much hassle to take advantage of much in the city—many metro changes, or too much traffic, difficulty parking, etc. Think this summer may have gotten the big city bug out of her.</p>
<p>Kluge, you need a humor tune-up. I walk to my grocery store now—in the cozy planned community I love. But I don’t get all high and mighty seeing the SUV’s lined up at Costco for the $400 grocery run. Just don’t hit me up for gas money.</p>
<p>mkm:</p>
<p>I would have thought that the experience would have gotten the suburban bug out of her! My SIL lives in a suburb of DC and decided to call it quits after a 3 hour round-trip commute daily on the Beltway. </p>
<p>My commute takes 20 minutes, but it involves walking only.</p>
<p>MKM: I walk to work! It’s about 30 minutes each way. I’m not very convenient to the Metro, so I pretty much have to drive to get groceries (boo) unless I only pick up a few things, and then there is a (sub-par at best) Giant on my route home from work. </p>
<p>DC in the city is a different world than the suburbs, especially if you’re near Capitol Hill or Dupont or Adams Morgan. It’s so nice to spend 10 minutes on the Metro, get wherever I want, and have a great time.</p>
<p>My H and D both Metro to Pentagon/DC for work/internship respectively. I on the other hand have Metro’ed exactly once in the past 6 years because I usually go into the District on Sundays when parking is free.</p>
<p>In terms of car pollution, VA drivers used to get HOV privileges by using a hybrid during rush hour. This doesn’t work on all the interstates anymore. :(</p>
<p>I just can’t ride my bike 25 miles to work and feel fresh all over. Nobody wants to work with a big old sweaty guy.</p>
<p>True- Sally Jewell ( who is now CEO of REI) complained that when she worked at WAMU, they got all huffy if they saw her in her bike clothes- at REI- she fits right in!
( I do know lots of attorneys though who bike to work- so I guess if more do it, you aren’t so noticable)</p>
<p>People where we are now can’t believe that when I lived in New York it took me almost an hour to get to work on the subway. H’s office is now one traffic light away from our house. He can still be a workaholic and be home in time for dinner. Major lifestyle change. I guess its all what you’re used to. Growing up I watched my father commute by carpool every day into the city. I thought all dads did that.</p>
<p>“I guess its all what you’re used to”</p>
<p>How true. Growing up, my father came home for lunch everyday and now my H. does many days. I too thought everyone was like this until I noticed all those old movies showing moms driving dads to the train station every morning to go to work in the city. I remember thinking how sophisticated those people seemed to me.</p>
<p>My neighbor’s husband came home for lunch once. She had her days planned to the minute. When he walked in, she informed him that while she married him “for better or worse” that did not include lunch!!</p>
<p>barrons, your posts are giving me a chuckle. You’re right. Sweaty guys, or gals, big or little, are no fun to work with. Push for a shower at work. My hubby has one & rides at lunch. I’m getting fatter while he’s getting fitter. </p>
<p>I love my leafy suburb with turn-of-the century homes (20th, not 21st), sidewalks, parks, and bike paths. Most things are walkable, if time permits. But even a short walk to work during a humid NJ summer day would place an unfair burden on coworkers in most offices. </p>
<p>funding father is correct: The suburbs in NJ are being bled dry while $$$ is pumped into the cities. Newark, for example, spends more per pupil than any school district. And it’s suburban property taxes that provide the money.</p>
<p>I grew up in the beauty that is Hunterdon County, NJ. Just a house in the country with Clinton as the nearest “big” town. Property taxes are out of sight there. I’d love to retire there but the taxes keep me out.
As kids we rode bikes everywhere so being fit was not a problem. Now, well I’m a little soft. We try to go walking every night but in this rainy cool area where it is dark about half the year it can be tough to stay motivated.</p>
<p>“for better or worse” that did not include lunch!!"</p>
<p>Had to laugh there. Yes, my H. knows if he comes home, he fends for himself!</p>
<p>
Gee, can you eat those dollars? Where did you get that steak you had last night, or the chicken for lunch? How about the wheat for that loaf of bread, or maybe corn?</p>
<p>Agree bandit–I don’t know whose money goes where, but I do know our area for instance manufactures about 90%of furniture made in US, most of socks and hosiery, 90% of grocery carts. Of course, we’re losing some of that to China now :(.</p>
<p>Newark, for example, spends more per pupil than any school district. And it’s suburban property taxes that provide the money.</p>
<p>Seriously I know very little about the east coast.
our school here the property taxes do come from the county but if you live in Kirkland then your education bit, goes to the lake washington school district.
If in seattle- then the seattle school district
Seattle does spend more per kid than Lake washington, but the needs are higher.
MOre low income- more immigrants that dont speak english, more special education students- so over all the students have greater need.
Although the city as a whole is for example, 77% Caucasian I think I read somewhere, the school district has only about 44% Caucasian students. Same with income, average city income is much higher than the average income of a family in Seattle schools.
( I wont even go with the way the district spends money)
BUt yes, while the city does spend more money, the surrounding districts seem able to have more to show for it.</p>
<p>Uh, bandit_TX - I got that stuff at the supermarket, but the steak and chicken were raised here in California. The wheat and corn were grown here, too. So… what, exactly was your point? By the way - did I send you that bill for using “our” internet?</p>