"We are raised on cars. For many Americans, the idea of riding a public bus or train seems foreign and inconvenient. Car owners who have no experience with public transportation may believe a car is always the necessary method to get from here to there.

Two years ago, I moved to Denver from Chicago, well practiced in public transportation and committed to life without a car. To me, there is independence in the car-free lifestyle. It is freedom from hefty car payments and dealings with insurance companies. It is the freedom to walk any way I want down one-way streets, to cut through fields of untouched snow on the way to the store, to observe the moving city around me without worrying if I am holding up traffic or about to cause an accident."

[....]

"This freedom, however, comes at a cost. Without a car in Denver, it takes longer to go just about anywhere. It takes more planning and more patience. The appeal of owning a car is not lost on me, especially in Colorado, where cars are necessary for trips to the mountains and Sunday rides in the foothills.

Like most American cities, Denver's adequate but inefficient public transit system will never reach its full potential without more citizens who use it. Denver could lead the country in greener, community-oriented practices that encourage lifestyles where we walk, ride and bus more often.

Denverites, in general, love the environment, are committed to healthy lifestyles and will do anything to be outside. So why does it seem like the number of Denverites who support those ideals is disproportionate to the number who use public transportation?



Read more: Guest Commentary: A car-free life in Denver - The Denver Post https://www.denverpost.com/commented/...#ixzz1PvPFkDqa
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