I mean, I hate cars yet I probably use either a family member's or a friend's car every now and then, or will take taxis. It's not about, do anything possible to not use a car (although if you can, better, I guess) but it's about changing the way we as a society rely on cars. In fact, I believe even in a society where trains are predominant there are still scenarios where certain people will need electrical automobiles, mostly in rural areas for people who need to move a lot around specific hard terrains. Your case, though, could be easily solved with trains.
this post was submitted on 14 Jan 2022
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Your case, though, could be easily solved with trains easily solved
while I agree with a lot of your post (certainly more informative than the others), I disagree that the issue could be easily solved. There is a lack of political will (at best) and an outright hostility (at worst) to the very idea of trains and public transportation.
While a country connected by train sounds unrealistic and futuristic for most Americans the exact opposite is the case. The US ran on trains for the most part of its history. Almost every town built before 1940 had a train station at some point in time.
The answer is to use a car. Ideally the smallest and most efficient one that fits your common use cases.
Fuck Cars is not anti-rural but it's more applicable in urban and suburban places, where your essentials are within a few miles and there are viable alternatives. There are areas where cars can't be avoided, and nobody is suggesting you never leave your house.
I think our shared goal is easily accessible modes of transportation for everyone. Sadly cars are quite exclusive (elderly, children, drunk people, poor people...) and have a big negative impact on the environment (pollutants, noise, space required to park them 23 hours per day and much more).
You correctly picked up on the conflict between people living in the city and people living in the suburbs. People driving into the city makes the city a more dangerous, noisier and worse place to live in wich results in even more people (who can afford it) moving to the "quiet and peaceful" suburbs.
That said we can't blame people for making rational choices for their lives. We need to create a society where taking the train or moving near your workplace (in Europe most people live within 5 to 10km of their workplace) is a viable and comfortable option for the individual.
For your specific case it seems that you're best option is to rely on a small, pre-owned, efficient car. That said there are still some things you can do to reduce your negative impact. -Most importantly take part in your local politics. A small grocery store or some form of public transportation would make life easier for many folks in your community
- Buy in bulc so that you can cut your grocery trips in half
- Use park and ride when driving into a city. We would be really happy about cleaner air, quieter streets and more space for people instead of cars
Having your groceries delivered or buying a moped or motorcycle might be an option for you. I don't think anyone on here would begrudge you using a car in that situation, though.
I think the anti-rural sentiment you sometimes see, mostly stems from how unsustainable and car dependent the lifestyles a lot of people who live outside cities are. People who find a job in a city to get a high pay, move out of said city to get a garden and then commute back and forth between their home office and their work office, with very little concern for how they effect the world around them. They take no personal responsibility and don't want to take collective responsibility either, because that could threaten their lifestyle.
People who live in suburbs, villages or rurally because that is where it makes sense for them to live, isn't an issue. It makes sense to move to the countryside when you retire and no longer have to be anywhere. It also makes sense to live in the countryside if that is where you work or if you work from home. Some of these people would benefit greatly from owning a car, while others can get by just fine with a bicycle or their own legs.
You can also do a lot to lessen the dependence on cars outside city centers. You can easily run metros and trams into the suburbs and encourage a higher density (more row houses and smaller apartment complexes). Rurally you can encourage people to build villages (clusters of houses) instead of every house being spaced evenly apart, and you can run bus lines through those villages.