driving walkable distances

haffajappa

i'm not trying to act holier than thou because i don't have a car (though i use my moms from time to time) or that i take the bus and walk to things in walking range... but it kind of bugs me when people drive everywehre for everything. especially with the price of gas these days it doesnt even seem practical let alone responsible.

i say this because people i know do it and i just don't understand it. my best friend for instance... her mom will drive her to the bus stop or to work... not a big deal you might think but it, to me anyways, is a bit ridiculous. to put that in proportion, from my house to the bus stop is about a 2 and a half minute walk (8 minutes if you take into account a stop at the local coffee bar depending on the speed of the barista ). from my house to my best friends house is about a 3 minute walk (she lives on the street behind me).

she can hoof it for 5 and a half minutes to the bus stop but her mom drives her there... her old job is near that stop as well and she used to do the same thing.

i mean, i love her like a sister but it's always driven me crazy! i can see if you're in a time crunch or you're injured or not feeling well or something but i think its a sign of the times when an able bodied person chooses to drive over a short walk.

my brother does this as well, he drives 3 blocks to work every day... then preaches to others about being lazy if they need to grab something up the street quickly and are pressed for time.

i don't get it.

Indian Summer

I walk to my mailbox, but that's about it. It would take me 3+ hours to walk to work.

Cosmo

doin'the-evolution wrote:

i'm not trying to act holier than thou because i don't have a car (though i use my moms from time to time) or that i take the bus and walk to things in walking range... but it kind of bugs me when people drive everywehre for everything. especially with the price of gas these days it doesnt even seem practical let alone responsible.

i say this because people i know do it and i just don't understand it. my best friend for instance... her mom will drive her to the bus stop or to work... not a big deal you might think but it, to me anyways, is a bit ridiculous. to put that in proportion, from my house to the bus stop is about a 2 and a half minute walk (8 minutes if you take into account a stop at the local coffee bar depending on the speed of the barista ). from my house to my best friends house is about a 3 minute walk (she lives on the street behind me).

she can hoof it for 5 and a half minutes to the bus stop but her mom drives her there... her old job is near that stop as well and she used to do the same thing.

i mean, i love her like a sister but it's always driven me crazy! i can see if you're in a time crunch or you're injured or not feeling well or something but i think its a sign of the times when an able bodied person chooses to drive over a short walk.

my brother does this as well, he drives 3 blocks to work every day... then preaches to others about being lazy if they need to grab something up the street quickly and are pressed for time.

i don't get it.

...
I really could ride my bike to work.. but, i'm just too fucking lazy.

drivingrl

Agreed. If it's within a mile, there's no reason to drive there.

panthergirl

i would love to walk rather than drive but i live in miami...
nothing is within walking distance
and it's 50 thousand degrees with 700 percent humidity.

Indian Summer

itz harder to pik up da honeyz when you be walkin too.

vedder_soup

i drive to the station in the morning, but it is only a 20 min walk...
i just don't want to get up any earlier!!
anyway, i walk the remaining 25 mins once i get off the train at the other end

stevieraveon

drivingrl wrote:

Agreed. If it's within a mile, there's no reason to drive there.

Tell me that in Chicago in February when it's freezing and windy.

Daisy_Buchanan

I drive my lil Subaru so infrequently, my new neighbors (who have to do the car-shuffle incessantly in our shared driveway) were like, "Do you walk EVERYWHERE?" And I said, uh, yeah, we DO live in Boston...three blocks from the T...

*eyeing their Ford pickups with disdain*

(J/K about the disdain)

Wobbie

drivingrl wrote:

Agreed. If it's within a mile, there's no reason to drive there.

so, "drivingrl" is like Drive-In (movie) girl, not drivin' my car girl?

samick

I drive when I can walk..........if you don't like it.......Fuck you........

GraySaturday

I'm not gonna lie.. I drive around everywhere. I even drive to places that I could totally get to via public transportation, and then I bitch that there is no parking in sight.

It's a really bad habit, and it's expensive. Guilty as charged.

catch22

stevieraveon wrote:

Tell me that in Chicago in February when it's freezing and windy.

i wish i had a car from about october to march here. chicago winter is sick! i moved into a high rent high rise just so i'd only have to walk 2 blocks to class during the bad times.

GraySaturday

catch22 wrote:

i wish i had a car from about october to march here. chicago winter is sick! i moved into a high rent high rise just so i'd only have to walk 2 blocks to class during the bad times.

thats how I feel, and then when its super hot here, I don't want to get all sweaty by driving.. its good weather to walk like 2 weeks out of the year.

haffajappa

samick wrote:

I drive when I can walk..........if you don't like it.......Fuck you........

ahah.
that made me laugh... and i'm assuming that fuck you was a lighthearted "i really am not offended at your point" fuck you :rolleyes:

haffajappa

i can see under bad weather conditions or if your walk would be 3 hours, heck even half an hour... (hence the thread title 'walkable' ) but COME ON, 5 minutes? and the weather has been hot and sunny here... but not unbearably melting your face off hot.

peacegirl

panthergirl wrote:

i would love to walk rather than drive
nothing is within walking distance

Same here and we don't have public transportation either

polaris

people are lazy but the only the worst is people don't like being called lazy ...

see WALL-E ... great representation of society today ...

eyedclaar

polaris wrote:

people are lazy but the only the worst is people don't like being called lazy ...

see WALL-E ... great representation of society today ...

No, people used to be lazy, now they make Jabba the Hut look like Eduardo the aerobic instructor.

solrac

It just takes getting used to. About a year ago, my car died and I decided to try not getting one for a while. I'm still without a car, and now I'm completely used to the idea of walking everywhere. If it's far away, I'll take a train or the bus (when I can't get a ride). It's funny when I'll be out with friends and we start walking somewhere and halfway they're already complaining about how far away it is... even though it might be a few blocks away.

polaris

eyedclaar wrote:

No, people used to be lazy, now they make Jabba the Hut look like Eduardo the aerobic instructor.

shit ... no kidding ... sad part is how true that is ...

chiquimonkey

Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.
-Steven Wright

Collin

In my home town I always take my bicycle, and in the city where I go to college I always walk.

I rarely take the bus because I think the prices are ridiculously high.

angie76

I hate when you are at the mall and people will keep driving around to get a close spot. All that time they are wasting, they could be parked and in the mall. There are so many lazy people.

the wolf

angie76 wrote:

I hate when you are at the mall and people will keep driving around to get a close spot. All that time they are wasting, they could be parked and in the mall. There are so many lazy people.

this drives me insane!! and my gf is guilty of this at times.


as to driving to places close to home, im usually pretty good about this. but i always find myself jumping in the car to go right up the street to get beer ! and every time on my way there, im like "shit, i could have just walked"

will have to get better about this.

Rygar

the wolf wrote:

this drives me insane!! and my gf is guilty of this at times.


as to driving to places close to home, im usually pretty good about this. but i always find myself jumping in the car to go right up the street to get beer ! and every time on my there, im like "shit, i could have just walked"

will have to get better about this.

But those are special cases. It's not the walk up you're avoiding, it's the walk back carrying beer

the wolf

Rygar wrote:

But those are special cases. It's not the walk up you're avoiding, it's the walk back carrying beer

could be that. or maybe im just a in a big hurry to get back and start drinking said beer !!

rybes

It doesnt end there though... my bigger pet peeve is people taking an elevator for 1 or 2 floors. I'm sure walking up those flights of stairs is just too much to handle.

I've walked and biked to work for the past four years, I love it, I don't depend on a car or public transportation. It takes anywhere from 20-40 minutes, time that I would otherwise be spending in traffic anyways. Sure its horrible in the winter and sometimes I may jump on the bus, but after all I do live in Ottawa, which I'm sure can compare to Chicago winters

dawng

This does drive me crazy.

Example - my kids' home school is a no bus school. All houses are within a 10 block radius. We're on the far end of that - 10 blocks away. My daughter rides her bike, younger son goes on his scooter, always accompanied by one of us parents. When we arrive at school - there is a line of cars going out into the street. Some of these folks have driven two or three blocks to sit in line and waste gas! :eek:

So when the kids were creating their own "laws" for a government unit, my little girl created her "law" that you must walk or ride a bike if:
* the trip is less than a mile
* you are not handicapped or elderly
* you do not have small children

She had her law passed by the other students. Mommy was so proud

angie76

rybes wrote:

It doesnt end there though... my bigger pet peeve is people taking an elevator for 1 or 2 floors. I'm sure walking up those flights of stairs is just too much to handle.

That's how it is where I work. There are 3 floors. My office is on the 2nd floor. Mostly everyone I work with and the other office take the elevator. It's so silly imo.

EquallyWorthless

maybe if youre too much of a bitch to handle walking for five minutes in the cold then you shouldnt live in fucking chicago. oh no its ok coz we all have heated SUVs that we can drive in just remember that one barrel of crude oil holds 42 gallons but yields merely 19 gallons of gas 28 PEOPLE HOLD THE SAME AMOUNT OF BLOOD the next time you fill up your car to drive what you could walk in five minutes do the math on how many gallons of blood the over 4000 us soldiers and 1.5 million iraqis have died since 2003 hold.