XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science   
   From: YourName@YourISP.com   
      
   In article , Greg Goss   
    wrote:   
   > David DeLaney  wrote:   
   >   
   > >Right - this is why 40 miles out of London used to be an all-day affair to   
   > >get to (also taking into consideration that you were packing up a few   
   > >servants and a driver and some trunks of clothing because you weren't going   
   > >to turn right back around and come HOME the next day, gracious no...). And,   
   > >in a way, why the urbs that have grown up in the USA feel so large and far   
   > >apart to denizens of the UK and Europe, where the towns and cities and   
   > >hamlets were generally built at horse-type distances apart...   
   > >   
   > >(Ours originally were too, of course - and you can see the difference on   
   maps   
   > >as you scroll from the East Coast over to the Rocky Mountains and the West   
   > >Coast.)   
   >   
   > When we moved to Toronto briefly in the early twokays, we bought an   
   > apartment near the end of the subway line, so once I got a job   
   > probably downtown, it would be an easy commute.   
   >   
   > When reading on the damage from Hurricane Hazel in the fifties, some   
   > of the photos were of the ferry dock where weekenders from Toronto   
   > would arrive in the boat to the cabins in Etobicoke.  It was between   
   > me and downtown.  A friend dragged me around to famous haunted places.   
   > One of them was a former hotel about a day's journey from Toronto,   
   > where people would stop overnight before catching the river crossing   
   > in the morning.  It was about halfway between my apartment and   
   > downtown.   
   >   
   > Modern North Americans just cannot fathom the scale of a horse-based   
   > society.   
      
   Not just North Americans this time (for a change)  ;-) Few people in   
   modern "first world" countries undertand it. Which is also part of the   
   reason why the personal car isn't going to disappear any time soon -   
   for the majority of people it's simply way more convenient and useful   
   than other forms of transport.   
      
   In ye olde days, "commuting to work" for most people meant walking a   
   relatively short distance. These days some people can travel for two   
   hours or more on a fast train just to get to work, working and living   
   in what are actually two different cities ... which is rather crazy.   
      
   The car (including buses and trucks), the train, and the plane created   
   fast travel over long distances.  For those near water, the boat also   
   opened up travel distances. Of course the horse itself also created a   
   leap in practical travel distances over what was previous only as far   
   as you could walk on your own two feet.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)