Originally Posted by Expatriate
I've been reading some of these threads, and there seems to be a common theme. Now, I'm all for seeing more people cycling for fun, and more commuters. Doesn't matter what you ride, or why you ride, just so long as you're riding. But please explain this contempt for car owners.
Contempt because they have allowed themselves to become dependent on a car... but it goes beyond that for me. I hate the selfishness a personal-use car represents. That means the owner is willing to poison the air, use up diminishing resources, and cover the landscape in pavement just so he/she can drive around.
We've gone from few or no smog-warning days to about 30 last summer. Every remaining green space in my neighbourhood is being removed for "transportation corridors". All because some people care more about themselves than those around them. The only good news is that I live in a city willing to work on the problem of car-use in urban centres. Unfortunately they are not addressing the real problem: selfish people.