https://xkcd.com/2832/

Alt text:

If they’re going to make people ride bikes and scooters in traffic, then it should at LEAST be legal to do the Snow Crash thing where you use a hook-shot-style harpoon to catch free rides from cars.

  • jjjalljs@ttrpg.network
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    1 year ago

    Yep. The combination of moving to New York City and reading “death and life of great American cities” really pushed me into being anti car culture. That and looking back at growing up in the suburbs where I couldn’t do anything without a car. Age like 10-17 sucked. I was so jealous of the kids that lived in the city and could go out and do things.

  • OceanSoap@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    I was in very bike-friendly Copenhagen last summer and yes, it was nice. I do think in order for cars to move out of cities, we need to focus more on public transportation in the suburbs of big cities, so people could easily access the city without paying an arm and a leg for parking.

    I lived in a suburb about 20 min outside of Philadelphia in high school, and It was nice hopping the train in and out, then getting into my car and driving home.

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Yeah, parking really kills it.

      In Houston, by the time you’ve paid for the parking and the light rail ticket you’ve spent more than you would paying for extra gas and for a space in the parking garage at your destination.

      So public transit ends up costing more AND adds 30-60 minutes to the commute, plus a 5-block walk in 115°. Why wouldn’t I take my air-conditioned recliner?

      • OceanSoap@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, NYC is horrible for this too, and even the parking in NJ across the river is ridiculous if you want to ride in from there. There is a train, but that’s gotten expensive too. It’s just a shitshow.

        I’m not anti-car or bike but we really don’t have a good system in place for either when it comes to cities.

        • nandeEbisu@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          As a resident, I just use a monthly pass and it’s cheaper than when I had a car and the insurance, gas, and maintenance in a lower cost of living area.

          Sure, the MTA isn’t perfect, but you can access a lot of the city through the trains and buses. If you’ve ever driven in the city it can be a lot worse when you include parking. If we were to convert buildings into parking, you would end up with a ton of sprawl and a less walkable city.

    • Asymptote@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      The Danish public transit infrastructure is a joke and there isn’t any political will to improve it so it’s just unreliable and extremely expensive.

      • OceanSoap@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        I did have a very confusing time taking a bus out of Copenhagen. I got yelled at by a driver but I didn’t understand how to pay (I thought you paid on the bus?) And there was no instruction on how to do it and no one would help. He just let me get on, but he was mad about it, lol.

        I figured out how to pay for my trip back though, due to a very kind lady.

        • Asymptote@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          If you’re ever in Copenhagen again, there are 24, 48 and 72 hour tickets that are a bit more expensive than figuring out the system but worth it for short visits.

          Also, there’s a variant that gives access to almost all museums and lots of other interesting places.

    • Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz
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      1 year ago

      Take a look at Oulu. If you don’t live in the city center, you can ride your bike to get there. The lames for light traffic are numerous and we’ll maintained. The busses are fine, as long as you are mindful if the schedules.

  • rsuri@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Sometimes I feel like I’m in a cult. Other times I feel like everyone else is in a cult. Is that bad?

  • adriaan@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    I’m so happy this is becoming more mainstream. Huge props to people like NotJustBikes for such effective propagandizing.

    • uis@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      St. Petesburg is flat, but it doesn’t have a lot of bikes. Moscow is hilly(and called city on 7 hills) and has more bikes. Sooooo, extrapolating US should be better for bikes than Netherlands.

    • Rozaŭtuno@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOP
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      1 year ago

      Changing urbanism culture doesn’t mean that everywhere needs to be exactly like the Netherlands, if a place is too hilly there are still better solutions than car-centrism.

  • quindraco@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I’ve never been to Amsterdam, but I am always skeptical whenever someone claims to me that any city isn’t a shithole.

    Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, New York City, New Haven, Paris, Toronto… hard pass. Being that close to that many other people is fucking gross.

    • Savaran@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      So don’t live in a city. But for those of us who do, and enjoy doing so, our cities shouldn’t be built to cater to you, they should be built around catering to those of us who enjoy living in them.

    • Damionsipher@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      How much “space” does one person, or even a family need? When you were in those cities, where did you stay? There is a big difference between visiting a downtown core and living in a near-to-downtown neighborhood. Still not everyone’s cup of tea, sure, but if we all lived in an acre property we would collectively go bankrupt from infrastructure costs alone.

    • palordrolap@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Counterpoint: Read panels 6 and 10 again. (The ones beginning “We’ve ceded” and “People approach” if I’ve messed up my counting somehow).

      • XbSuper@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It really doesn’t matter to me, I hate big cities, and am currently in the process of selling my home to leave one.

        • Vittelius@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          And that’s totally fine. You do you. But

          1. Why do those who like cities have to live in a car-centric hellscape
          2. More people on bikes makes cities more bareble even for people who for some reason like driving because more bikes = less traffic jams and less noise
          3. Why does biking automatically mean big city. Small cities are in theory even better for that since they tend to be more compact. Stuff is less spread out even if the relative density is lower.