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A comment on Cyclists Now Outnumber Motorists in City of London. Parent comment

Re:Cyclists Now Outnumber Motorists in City of London by estebank on Monday March 20, 2023 @01:14PM (#35234928)
Even if proximity to work were to be completely irrelevant for everyone, a lot of people (most?) would want to be close to something, be it their hobbies, hospitals, restaurants or at the very least shops. If your hobby is growing groceries and something outdoorsy (including road/gravel/mountain cycling!) and don't mind doing big shops/having to drive when you open a drawer and you realize that you ran out of oregano, then living in an isolated area is a valid choice (despite it increasing your individualized carbon footprint; if you fly more than once a year then that will dwarf almost any other lifestyle choice you make on that front).

I live in a city despite working remotely since the pandemic started, not because of proximity to the offices I might have to go back to, but rather because I can walk a block to buy groceries. I know people that live <.5 mile away from a Safeway in the peninsula that drive there because the streets are not very pedestrian or cyclist friendly.

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Re:Cyclists Now Outnumber Motorists in City of London by zamnos on Monday March 20, 2023 @02:21PM (#35236176)
I mean the reality of it is that cars are damned convenient and it's way easier to drive, even for three minutes, than walk for 15 minutes, especially if there's a suburban parking lot at the other end. Getting people out of that habit is an uphill battle, and I'd be lying if I said I've never driven those three minutes to Safeway vs walk. Especially if I'm grabbing a months worth of groceries for the whole house.

What's different now is ebikes/related which allows those three minutes to be done via bike. Dean Kamen claimed that cities would be redesigned around the Segway. He was too early, and only half right, but I think his claim was more prescient than we give him credit for. Ebikes, as we're hearing about here in London, really are enabling a new kind of city design that takes advantage of this semi-new technology.

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