Let me explain part of my confusion.
I have been reading some of these car-free and car light threads for some time and some of the general contentions have been;
1. It cost more to own and operate a car than most people realize.
2. If you live in a city with good transportation you don’t need a car to get around.
3. People living in the city can save time and money by not having a car.
4. Daily expenses are less for city dwellers than for suburban dwellers.
Then a contention comes around that on the surface seems to say:
Two people working in Toronto separate because one of them wants to move to the suburbs and commute back to the city. The one that moves has the expense on putting a down payment on a home and the monthly expenses of utilities, house payments, property taxes and repairs. Because the employee that moved now lacks mass transit they buy a car and now have the expenses of a car payment, insurance and fuel costs. The suburbanite also has to consider parking costs when they drive back to the city.
The question I now wonder about is how did this employee become the wealthier of the two?
Where does the rich suburbanite come up with their funding? If they work in the city with their ex-fellow city employee why isn’t the city dweller just as wealthy? Does the company pay suburbanites more money? Is there a fund that pays conservatives more to live in the suburbs? If these suburbanites are so stupid that they voted against a proposal that would have benefited them in part or in hole how are they so smart they managed to convince the urban majority to help them deny themselves this new transportation benefit?
I am just trying to follow the logic of the rich conservative suburbanite concept being at war with the poor liberal urbanite. This in an urban city rated as one of the two wealthiest cities in Canada with one of the better mass transit systems and rated as one of the 15 best places to live.
Or just in case, are we saying someone gets rich working in Toronto and then becomes a conservative so they decide to move to the suburbs and take their money with them?
To be clear I also believe we need more transportation options. I support mass transit but I have a hard time placing blame the nebulas “them”.
Last edited by Robert Foster; 12-31-10 at 11:46 AM.