Re: [pf] we took the wrong track, in the '50s and '60s

by Sharon Flesher

11 December 2000 00:57 UTC

Tully wrote:
> I also live in the country with acreage and it is a 35 mile commute to
work
> with increasingly bad traffic jams at the remote end of the commute coming
> or going.  I've always felt guilty about the thousands of gallons a year I
> was using (even in a Geo Metro), aghast at how many times that was being
> multiplied around our nation and elsewhere as millions of others commuted
> to their daily jobs, so many in SUVs...  I found it hard to justify living
> out in the sticks, even though I paid off the place years ago.
>
> But as populations converge into tighter and tighter spaces, it becomes
> more difficult to find places where one could bicycle to work, especially
> in the corporate "campuses" springing up around airports and off
> interstates like is happening in North Carolina and elsewhere in the
> sunbelt.  Do I want to contribute to making that urban/suburban blight
> worse by taking up occupancy there?  Mass transit is better than car
> transit, but isn't the best solution no transit?

My parents live in the suburban blight of Cary, where they have lived since
1976 (I graduated from Apex High). My brother lives near Fuquay and my
sister and her husband recently purchased 5 acres near Pittsboro. I know of
the conditions of which you speak, and don't blame you in the slightest for
wanting to be removed from them! The sprawl makes establishing a public
transit system extremely difficult. Since we moved away from the away 12
years ago, Amtrak has started the Carolinian service between cities, which
is one bright spot; but I notice tickets for that route are always on "sale"
on Amtrak's web site. If the trains aren't well-utilized, I'm guessing it's
due to the necessity of having a car at either end of the journey.

Most people may be surprised to learn that a mere 20 percent of all car
trips involve the commute to/from work. The huge majority of car trips are
for shopping, errands, etc. That's why if you ever have a choice between
living near work or living near a grocery store, take the store. The store
likely is near a pharmacy, hair salon, newstand, bookstore, restaurant, etc.
I think mass transit could work for getting people to/from work at those RTP
campuses if houses were incorporated into "neighborhoods" with schools,
groceries, parks, bookstores, etc., instead of subdivisions with swimming
pools and golf courses, which seems to be the focus of most Triangle
"development." And how do people afford all those mini-mansions? We get down
to see the folks once a year, and I'm always aghast at the plethora of new
subs with such huge houses.
>
> How many people on this list, if given a computer, 2 phone lines, and a
way
> to tie to a network at their jobs could do their jobs from home?  How many
> others might be willing to share housing with those out in the country who
> did telecommute, and instead of working for the "man" were to contribute
> instead to the pooling of resources and tasks like meals, laundry,
cleanup,
> gardening, etc.?

Telecommuting has pros/cons. I worked via modem for a couple of years when
we first moved here. I was immensely productive, having no distractions from
co-workers stopping by my desk. But being a fairly social person, I found it
pretty lonely. I know there are people who don't need much social contact
and can handle it well. From a land-use perspective, telecommuting has been
negative, at least from where I sit. The farms, orchards and forests of
northern Michigan are becoming overrun with mini-mansions and subs, many
owned by telecommuters. And because, as I noted that most car trips are NOT
for commuting, it has put tremendous pressure on our road system. Because
most of these new homes are on 1-acre or larger lots, they will never be
served by a public transport system.

OTOH, someone posted to this list (I think it was this list) several months
ago an article from a Toronto paper that reported an increase in urban real
estate prices driven by telecommuters. The explanation was that many people
who worked at home all day wanted to live in a neighborhood where they could
pop out at 5 p.m. and walk to the corner tavern or coffee shop and have some
social contact.

> The premium would be paid if we doubled and later tripled the price of
> gasoline.  Things would really start changing for the better then, you can
> bet!  Even if the tax money didn't go to mass transit or alternative
energy
> research, the increased price alone would start fixing transit problems by
> encouraging mass transit, telecommuting, shipping and consumer reductions,
> environmental improvements, etc.  I see no other way to get all that to
> happen quickly enough.  Our artifically low fuel prices are costing us
> dearly.

Unfortunately, there's not an ounce of political will to raise gas taxes.
You could bet your house that Congress would have LOWERED the gas tax this
summer if they could have done it without gutting highway programs -- all
because so many people were squealing about $2/gallon gas.

Sharon Flesher
CarSharing Traverse, Inc.
Traverse City, Mich.
sflesher@traverse.net

"Be the change you wish to see." M.K. Gandhi