Hold on, let me just load up the family onto my bicycle and ride the 15 miles to the grocery store.
Comment on Anon finds a plot hole
TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 2 months ago
setting has bikes and trains still using cars as main form of transportation
kbobabob@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
fnrir@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Can this argument just disappear from discourse? People don’t always drive around with their partner, dog and 2.5 kids AND groceries AND spare tires AND grandparents.
The majority of people in car-centric areas use their car only to haul around themselves, which could be done with public transport or bikes.
TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 2 months ago
That, and the nearest grocery store being 15 miles (25 km) away is highly unusual even by US standards. The fact that someone chooses to live in bumfuck nowhere shouldn’t mean that the other people who live in a town with population > 5 shouldn’t get to have safe, affordable, well-kept walking/micromobility/public transit infrastructure.
People don’t suddenly stop driving cars when not-cars becomes the predominant form of transportation. Like I said, “main form of transportation”. That cars are by far the main form is the problem because, among other huge problems, it induces reliance on cars and creates expensive, unmaintainable sprawl that makes other forms of transit completely impractical. Hell, even bumfuck nowhere towns used to have passenger rail that came through them before the tracks were ripped out.
“What do you mean ‘boats shouldn’t be the primary form of transportation’? Did you ever consider that I chose to live on an island off the coast of Michigan??”
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
True. However “food deserts” do exist in some US cities. Though that’s another consequence of unfettered capitalism.
driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 2 months ago
Im surprised everytime I see a car with more than 2 people, just 1 is the norm
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Legit. If my wife wants to come on a trip I’m driving on, she can hop on her bike. The two of our bikes together cost a fifth what our car cost, and the “fuel” expenses are negligible with solar.
Honestly thinking of a way to solar recharge the bikes while we’re camping. Like, an umbrella to shade the battery, with a solar panel on top and an extension cord up connect the battery under the damn thing. Maybe solar panels on the bike too and some active cooling for the batteries idk
kiagam@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Oh yes, the grocery store commute. You can clearly see in traffic that every car is full of groceries and people everyday at all times, and is rarely one person alone
vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org 2 months ago
I leave the 8-story building (with an elevator), walk 5-10 minutes (one road crossing with lights), buy groceries, in 30 minutes I’m back home.
Something is wrong with that murrka thing.
Taldan@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Most Americans are used to very spread out cities. It causes a lot of problems with groceries since you have to make far fewer grocery trips, which then means fresh foods are rare. Probably a huge contributor to America’s obesity problem
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Yeah many of our cities in statesia have tiny urban centers and sprawling suburbs
balsoft@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
The closest grocery store is literally in the same building I currently live in. It takes me ~30 seconds from my apartment door to grocery store door… This is the norm in a lot of places.
vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org 2 months ago
When I lived in my own house in the woods (literally no neighbors), I could bike ~10 minutes to the nearest small farmer’s shop, or ~20 minutes and get to a bigger grocery store. The fact that you must drive to buy groceries is, frankly, insane.
I live in Russia, dachas are common enough here (mostly summertime and not heated houses on small plots of land, used for gardening and sometimes growing food). So, we have one. When I’m there, I only bike for fun. I can literally walk to the neighboring town with a cinema and a mall and plenty of conveniences in 40 minutes on foot. I mean, people who have cars do drive to that kind of distances, but it’s not necessary. It’s the kind of place where in like 1 in 20 houses people live most of the time. And still.
TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Some people are completely unable to understand that not everybody lives in a city with everything on their doorstep, some people have children, and some people need to be able to transport more than a few small items at a time.
Taldan@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Therefore the majority that do live in a city must use cars too?
No one is coming to your rural community to build a bike lane. These discussions are never about the rural folk. Y’all are going to be left alone. Bikes and transit don’t make sense in low-density rural areas
Now please stop fighting the change the rest of us want in our cities
rustydrd@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Big city people: Boy, it’d sure be nice if there were fewer cars in the center of this big city right here, and more people would use the public infrastructure already at their disposal.
Country people: Some people don’t live in cities, therefore this statement is also about me! There tryin ta tek muh cur!
balsoft@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
You know that your family can ride too?
Also, if you build your cities correctly, your grocery store will be a <3 minute walk. Your spouse or kids can just walk there themselves.
kbobabob@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
If, if, if… That’s not how the real world works
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
I mean, it’s literally already how it works for billions of people.
balsoft@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
This is precisely how the real world works unless you live in under a dictatorship of capital so brazen they have even stolen the concept of a livable city away from you.
bountygiver@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
And when they are close, you don’t need to hoard 2 weeks or a whole month worth of groceries per trip, you can just get them more frequently and enjoy fresher produce
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Step one: leave the family (especially toddlers and infants) at home with a trusted caretaker or dog. Step two, ride about 15mph so you don’t drain the battery too fast. Step three, wake up
CancerMancer@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
I’ll be sure to tell my brother (single parent) he can just leave his kid at home with the caretaker he can’t afford
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 months ago
i think you missed step 3
mudkip@lemdro.id 2 months ago
You do know steam powered locomotives started appearing in the early 19th century, long before than cars?
Cruel@programming.dev 2 months ago
Trains and bikes are much more inconvenient. Though bikes are good for close proximity.
Damage@feddit.it 2 months ago
There are bikes that have motors, it helps reach further away locations.
Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
Do those motors keep the rain and snow off you?
And look at all these single non-parents trying to tell everyone they should only use a bike…
wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
Don’t forget that most of them live in dense urban areas as well, and to say they “look down” on those who don’t would be an absurd understatement.
Like, I moved to a place that is aiming to be an entirely walkable town, but it’s not there yet. The pandemic put a lot of the development on hold and things are finally getting back up to speed now. My closest grocery store was going to be two blocks away,but that was scrapped. There’s one being built that will be a 30 minute bike ride away. Currently, the closest one(s) are ~10 miles away. I work a job that is entirely possible to do remotely, but the execs have forced us all back into the office, ~20 miles away. I drive a hybrid because I can’t afford a full EV right now. My home’s power is nuclear and solar.
Some of the chucklefucks in these comment sections act like I’m personally clear cutting the rainforests because I dare to say that I require a car in my current life situation. Motherfuckers, I’m doing all I personally can. So go sabotage some private jets, or locally campaign for more bike lanes and public transit solutions, and get off my balls.
Taldan@lemmy.world 2 months ago
There are carts you can pull behind your bike that your kids can ride in. Some of them even have up to 4 seats for kids
Cruel@programming.dev 2 months ago
Seriously. Last winter here was -25 C. Miserable for bike rides.
balsoft@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
Your partner can just ride on a second bike. What a concept, I know!
If your kids are younger than 6 yo, they can probably fit in a cart behind your bike. If they are older, they can ride a bike themselves. This is the norm in many places in europe now.
Cruel@programming.dev 2 months ago
Those same vehicles also have a 4-wheel model that’s pretty nice.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Three wheel is lighter and more efficient
Taldan@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I find the opposite to be true. Taking a train is so much more convenient. Don’t have to find a place to park, don’t have to do any work to get there. Just sit down and wait
Bikes are nice because I don’t have to worry about traffic much, and generally parking isn’t an issue
Cars are really inconvenient. You have a gigantic vehicle that you have to navigate around many other vehicles, then find a parking spot, usually not close to where you’re actually going
Cruel@programming.dev 2 months ago
Finally a place to park a car is inconvenient, but locking up a bike someone isn’t?
And you must live within walking distance of a train.
TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 2 months ago
And you must live within walking distance of a train.
Or they just take a bus? It’s crazy to think about, but not all buses are US and Canadian ones that come every hour and take two hours and five connections to get you to the station.
Also, locking up a bike is comparatively very easy to parking a car. The only reason car parking is often easy in North American cities is because of ridiculous parking minimums that subsidize car ownership through free storage for giant metal boxes, blanket the landscape in otherwise-useless asphalt, and vastly inflate the distances between locations for the people not using cars (including from, say, your house to the train station).
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I can’t speak to trains (our rail system is a joke here) but I’ve been having more fun traveling and saving money by using my bike. Since I’m on the ground floor, it’s very convenient.
RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz 2 months ago
Cars are much more advanced tech than bikes. Hell we have partly self driving electric cars now. That’s some sci-fi shit
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 months ago
huh, now i want to slap some sensors on my ebike so it can do ACC
Damage@feddit.it 2 months ago
That’s why I can’t understand how some bikes can cost as much as a small used car.
TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 2 months ago
And some watches cost far more than both.
Price isn’t always perfectly aligned with complexity or utility 🤷♀️
Damage@feddit.it 2 months ago
Yeah, some watches, but you can buy perfectly competent watches for very low prices.
You can’t buy a perfectly competent electric bike for a low price, at least not where I am.
Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
Buying something at the beginning of its usefulness vs the end where it’s practically falling apart and worth only what you can sell its parts for…
wander1236@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Economies of scale and subsidies
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I basically have a teensy weak motorcycle that I can “fuel up” at home or bring a spare battery for long rides. I’m bothered the used cars are so expensive, not the bike
I also ain’t looking at $12k frames, (mine was $700) so it’s got that going for it too.