Living Car Free - Good Car Free Article - Parked

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/custom/altoday/bal-al.nocar03aug03,0,6348143.story?page=1&track=rss

Here's a good positive article on how a woman tested becoming cer free for one week and came away satisfied. It's amazing how you're starting to see this now that gas reached $4.00 dollars a gallon and lets hope we see more!

I guess it wasn't too hard after all, her commute was only 1.79 miles! Still, it's very rare to see a woman use a bicycle for transportation period. I told her to buy a Take A Look miror to see the traffic coming from behind.

She also noted that bus transport is the slowest of all compared to lightrail, subway and commuter rail. I think the OP should move several blocks from the lightrail station and use that along with a folding bike to open up vast opportunities in transportation. I won't go back to living in a town without a lightrail.

I liked the article because the writer took a realistic approach. She didn't confiner herself to only cycling or only walking but incorporated those with transit. As a result, she had a system that worked very well in her city. She was also realistic enough to realize there would be changes as she worked to get around without a car.

Will wonders never cease? Usually this type of article harps on the negatives.

With half of all car trips being less than five miles and a quarter of them less than a mile, Miller thinks small lifestyle changes might work for a lot of people.

Like me.

"Walking or bicycling will save you money, but it's about the things that are priceless, too," he says.

"Having your health come back to you. Walking to work and seeing and smelling and noticing the cool things in your community. Encased in glass and steel, you never noticed."

The more I think about it, the more true this seems to be. We tend to take short trips in cars. It would be great if more people tried alternative means of transport for such distances.

It seems like every time gas prices make a dramatic climb, some hotshot reporter gets the notion to write an article about alternative transportation as if it hasn't been done before. More often than not, this reporter will commit themselves to a very short time, such as a week, and expect to learn all there is to know. I cry BS.
When people talk to me about my cycling/public transportation lifestyle, I try to make them understand that attitude is a big part of the lifestyle. You have to be WILLING to make the changes necessary and not expect to live a car dependent lifestyle in a carfree way. I emphasize that their first bike commute will likely not be a this-is-fantastic-why-haven't-I-done-this-before experience. More likely, they will discover it to be a challenge. They will discover hills they never knew existed, traffic can be intimidating, a backpack can be uncomfortable on a long commute, etc. BUT, if they commit themselves to keep at it for a fair period of time they will discover that the hill isn't so long and steep, there are better routes than the six lane they're used to driving, it's possible to let the bike carry the load. Time, fitness and experience will smooth out the obstacles and they will learn the subtle lessons that make bike commuting/public transportation work, and work well.

I cant believe she had never walk/ridden/bussed to work for 6 YEARS with a commute of only 1.79 miles! In a dense city like Baltimore no less! While the article ends on a "happy note" much of it is just *****ing about not knowing bus routes, being intimidated by traffic, and not going to the places she wanted because of rain. 1 week is FAR too short of a time to really learn squat about living car free. For those of you who are car free or car lite right now, think back to the first week you made that decision. I bet you have an entirely different setup on your bike, take a way different route, are much much more safe on your bikes with better knowledge of how not to die, and that just for bikes. How about the first take you took public transit in the US! There is a lot to learn but people do not realize that there is a lot to learn for a new car dependent person as well, we are just used to those things.

Still, it's very rare to see a woman use a bicycle for transportation period.


:roflmao2:

What about longer than a week?

I've been considering making September car-free for me. I think I can pull it off. If so, I'll do it every year.

I haven't committed to doing this yet, just thinking about it.

Still, it's very rare to see a woman use a bicycle for transportation period. I told her to buy a Take A Look miror to see the traffic coming from behind.

She also noted that bus transport is the slowest of all compared to lightrail, subway and commuter rail. I think the OP should move several blocks from the lightrail station and use that along with a folding bike to open up vast opportunities in transportation. I won't go back to living in a town without a lightrail.

1) Of the 4 people riding bikes to work in my building, 3 are women. My landlady rides her bike to work once or twice a week (She works about a block from me... we usually ride together when she rides) And one of her co-workers (also female) rides her bike a couple times a week (She lives about 5 miles past us... we ride partway together sometimes)

2) Lightrail is nice... with a folder it would be better... the lightrail near my house is overcrowded with bikes. :(

We have a pretty good number of women commuters around here... but on bike to work day I was amazed at the number of women riders I saw... probably 55-60% of the riders I saw were female.

This whole story seems more about journalism, then about living without a car. The writer lives car-free for a week, so she can have a current events story to write about her experience of living without a car.

She only lives 1.79 miles from work, and she only did this for a week. Maybe it's just me, but I can't help but think she did this just to have an article to write, not to see if she could do it.

She only lives 1.79 miles from work, and she only did this for a week. Maybe it's just me, but I can't help but think she did this just to have an article to write, not to see if she could do it.

This pretty much describes most non-fiction writing in the lifestyle sections of newspapers and magazines; thinly-veiled accounts of personal experiences. :^)

Man this board is full of some

well something.

So it is kind of a fluffy piece. So she only did it for a week.

SO WHAT.

It is a decent article pointing out some good things about LCF. Better than an article about gas prices, or the local dog show or something.

If it gets just one person to maybe think again about "maybe I can do that too" seems like a good thing right?

-D

Let's not be too hard on the writer. She does play up her total cluelessness a little too much -I can't believe that anyone who lives 1.79 miles from work never considered walking there- and she seems a little too wimpy to be an adult, but you have to admit this is evidence of progress. A couple of years ago, another too-pleased-with-her-own-writing journalist wrote a similar article about a similar experiment, and her conclusion was very much, "We can never survive without cars." The fact that a very car-centric person can try it for a week, and come away with, "Hey! Maybe car-lite is possible!" is a very positive development.

I think $4.00 a gallon gas, is what initiated the article, and high gas prices will be the overall factor in people using alternative modes of transportation, rather than this article.

The bicycle, bus, and walking are not new inventions. Call me a realist, but I find it hard to believe that this article is going to enlighten the masses to some 'alternative' modes of transportation we're already aware of.

Not slamming this journalist or her article, just calling it as I see it. And I see this article as a 'thinly-veiled personal experience story' (as Uke pointed out), for the sake of journalism.

Not slamming this journalist or her article, just calling it as I see it. And I see this article as a 'thinly-veiled personal experience story' (as Uke pointed out), for the sake of journalism.

Right. And at least it is on a useful topic, rather than some less useful topic. Like maybe "My week long experience with sun-less tanning creams"

-D

Right. And at least it is on a useful topic, rather than some less useful topic. Like maybe "My week long experience with sun-less tanning creams"

-D


Agreed!

First-person stories in newspapers and magazines are nothing new. I've done my share of them in the past. They tend to draw in the reader and elicit some support. At the very least, they generate discussion afterward.

I've seen the transportation stories from time to time. If they're written by someone who is closed-minded, they will emphasize the dangers and difficulties of bicycle transportation. If they're written by someone who is genuinely interested, as is the case with this article, they will have a much more positive tone.

As far as the writer not considering walking or cycling to work earlier, consider her work environment. She may be required to have a reliable car with her in order to cover some of her stories. This is the case at a lot of newspapers. Some might say she can get around just as easily by bicycle, on foot or on transit, but from my own experiences, this isn't always practical. News reporting has its own unique demands.

Where I live you will not be hired to deliver newspapers,even in your own neighborhood,unless you own a car. I don't doubt but that the same is true for reporters,copy writers and such.

More often than not, this reporter will commit themselves to a very short time, such as a week, and expect to learn all there is to know. I cry BS.

Mellow out. Of course reporters only commit themselves for a week. How long do you think their editor gave them? At least the subject is being discussed.

I was just sad that her experience with the bike was essentially negative. But I think she was tasked with trying out all the alternatives.

She only lives 1.79 miles from work, and she only did this for a week. Maybe it's just me, but I can't help but think she did this just to have an article to write, not to see if she could do it.

Considering that she is a reporter for the Baltimore Sun, that is a fair assumption. :roflmao2:

Mellow out. Of course reporters only commit themselves for a week. How long do you think their editor gave them? At least the subject is being discussed.

I was just sad that her experience with the bike was essentially negative. But I think she was tasked with trying out all the alternatives.

True. But if they are tasked to cover a topic in such a short amount of time, shouldn't they do the initial research necessary to help make the task quicker and easier instead of passing along in a public way misperceptions based on poor choices? It wasn't long ago when I read something similar from another reporter doing essentially the same type of article. One of his conclusions after a week of bike commuting was he couldn't substitute his bike for his car because the sidewalks on which he rode his bike to work were disjointed. Duh. Perhaps if he had done a little more research and learned from experienced cycle commuters how to safely and correctly commute in the street, he wouldn't have passed along such a silly conclusion and perhaps discouraged others that may have been beginning to think of bike commuting.

I get the same negative tone from the content of this article, though the conclusion is more positive.

Think back to when you went car-light or car-free. You may have done a lot of research or more likely, you may have started and then learned as you went along, slowly making changes along the way. There is a transition period where a lot learning takes place about workable alternatives to cars.

Around here, we often talk about theoretical aspects of car-free or car-light living. The journalist who wrote the article is looking at the more concrete and practical elements.

Considering that she is a reporter for the Baltimore Sun, that is a fair assumption. :roflmao2:

I'm glad I made somebody's day! :thumb:

Here's a great car free article, and another below that:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080810/ap_on_re_us/colleges_bikes

http://siren.auxserv.duke.edu/parking/bikes/

It seems odd to me that she found it much faster to drive the 1.79 mi than walk, nor did she mention the speed gains for cycling vs. driving.

In my experience, parking, walking to and from parking spots, one way streets, and queues at traffic lights generally make short trips in the car very slow.

Driving during the day is for those who have a lot of time on their hands - bikes and subways are for people in a hurry. I guess Baltimore is different.

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