MRMinSF’s Recent Comments

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  By the way... today's New York Times features an article on Vauban, Germany, a suburb designed explicitly to reduce or eliminate the need for a vehicle. 

  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/science/earth/12suburb.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

  Its not the only such example, but a refreshing reminder that cars are not fundamentally required for a modern lifestyle.

  On I sold my car, and I couldn't be happier ... I think posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago 20 Responses

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  I'll challenge your notion of 'independence' given that it takes a fair amount of money to buy and operate a car... so, some # of hours per week at your job are actually dedicated to funding that possession. How that compares to the time you might spend walking/bussing is a formula you might enjoy working out. At a different level, there is a collective 'independence' our country has lost since we are required to import oil from foreign interests whose values around environmental protections, human/womens' rights, and democratic principles hardly align with our own. I certainly don't fault you for being practical: you're absolutely right that cars often get us where we want to go faster than busses. That is because we keep on building infrastructure that rewards car use rather than transit use and fails to create walkable/livable environments that meet our needs. Let's start asking our President to consider massive infrastructure stimulus spending that changes that misguided reward system.On I sold my car, and I couldn't be happier ... I think posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago 20 Responses

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  This goes a tad off-topic, but most people can save a lot of money and motivate themselves to limit their use of cell phones by going on a prepaid, per-minute plan. For 8-10 cents a minute (T-mobile in the San Francisco area) I can make the calls I need to but keep my monthly bills in the $10-12 range, which I consider to be a highly affordable convenience. When you know every minute counts, you regulate your chatter.

  And, I am happy to keep using my perfectly-functional 4-year old phone. One less item in the ewaste stream.

  But, like driving, cell phone use is fundamentally a lifestyle habit so many of us take for granted: never a bad idea to stop for a moment to ask ourselves if our lifestyle is healthy or not, and make adjustments that seem worthwhile. Its easy to get addicted to convenience, but that is not necessarily a good thing for our personal or environmental health.

  On I sold my car, and I couldn't be happier ... I think posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago 20 Responses

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  I use a car share company in San Francisco also... quite often the cars are available right away, so planning ahead 24 hours isn't always required. Sometimes, though, I actually have to be flexible and creative... not the worst thing in the world, when you think about it. I'm trying to be less greedy for convenience.
  
  This piece brings up the question about our addiction to cars, and forces us to consider that cleaner cars are by no means a silver bullet to a better future... if we could magically swap every gas-car for a 100% green/pollution-free car with a snap of the fingers, we'd still have unsustainable sprawl, obesity, and road-rage.
  
  Is a world of cars, cars, and more cars what we want for our future?On I sold my car, and I couldn't be happier ... I think posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago 20 Responses