64bd77f2   
   XPost: alt.autos.toyota, rec.autos.driving, alt.society.liberalism   
   XPost: alt.fan.michael-moore   
   From: sharx35@hotmail.com   
      
   "TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher"   
    wrote in message   
   news:aa518b7b-0e97-4b77-9804-7deb863ba00f@r4g2000vbn.googlegroups.com...   
   > On Aug 26, 8:33 pm, Dänk 42Ø  wrote:   
   >> On Sun, 26 Aug 2012 13:40:01 -0700, TibetanMonkey, the Beach   
   >> Cruiser   
   >>   
   >> Philosopher wrote:   
   >> > Banning is a strong word that must be avoided, but let's say   
   >> > that you   
   >> > let in essential vehicles to a city a center and you could   
   >> > actually ride   
   >> > a donkey in NYC. Well, that's something extreme --except for   
   >> > the mounted   
   >> > police-- but you get my point. Then people could walk and bike   
   >> > around   
   >> > with no stress whatsoever.   
   >>   
   >> > An American goes to the city of Groningen and goes "Wow, no   
   >> > cars!"   
   >> > Actually he repeats it many times because it looks impossible.   
   >> > Hey,   
   >> > nothing is impossible. You just make it possible. Remember,   
   >> > THE   
   >> > REVOLUTION IS ABOUT SOLUTIONS.   
   >>   
   >> Unfortunately, many American cities sprung up after the   
   >> invention of the   
   >> automobile, so they are designed for cars.  Even older cities   
   >> have   
   >> extensive suburbs whose residents absolutely require cars.   
   >>   
   >> I lived in the Bay Area for four years, and only drove into San   
   >> Francisco   
   >> a few times, quickly discovering that the price of parking and   
   >> parking   
   >> tickets made it much more inconvenient than using public   
   >> transportation.   
   >> And I can't believe what great physical shape I was in by using   
   >> it --   
   >> having to walk a few blocks to the bus stop, and sometimes   
   >> deciding that   
   >> walking a mile was faster than waiting for the next bus.   
   >> Burbites are so   
   >> fat and lazy than they drive to visit their next-door neighbors.   
   >>   
   >> I visited Europe and Asia in 2009, and in Europe cars are a   
   >> luxury -- but   
   >> it doesn't matter since public transit is so good.  Vietnam does   
   >> not seem   
   >> to have much public transit, everyone rides scooters.  Same in   
   >> Cambodia,   
   >> except that scooters are a luxury and you see bicycles instead.   
   >> Safe to   
   >> say, I saw very few fat Vietnamese and Cambodians, and only   
   >> slightly more   
   >> fat Europeans.  I come back to America and see 250kg blobs   
   >> driving their   
   >> fat asses to a buffet two blocks away.   
   >   
   > I can't say how polluting those little scooters are --some   
   > critics say   
   > they are-- but they are a lot of fun. I think they can coexist   
   > with   
   > the bicycle as a "liberating option" --the car is often referred   
   > to as   
   > a "cage." I don't even see the point of needing a license for a   
   > small   
   > scooter.   
   >   
   > Anyway, our cities are designed around the automobile, and even   
   > though   
   > you could get around your community on a bicycle, you find a lot   
   > a   
   > hostility out there. One issue that turns me off is cars sitting   
   > on   
   > the driveway/pedestrian crossing --waiting to go on the road--   
   > and   
   > ignore you. It's assumed that the pedestrian/cyclist is some kind   
   > of   
   > idiot with time to spare. Sidewalks are often in disrepair or   
   > simply   
   > blocked by cars or trash cans.   
   >   
   > You find no people and that's the greatest turnoff.   
      
   When I go up to the Rocky Mountains, OFF the beaten path, I find   
   few or no people and that is the greatest TURNON!!!!!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)